It was a secret that Katie Fitzgerald had to hang onto for two solid months but now she can tell all of her friends and family members about the day that she got to hang out with TV and pop star Bridgit Mendler.
“It was pretty hard,” she admitted, remembering the day she was in school when she found out the great news. She didn’t really think she was going to win.
“We had time after a test, so I went on my e-mail. I just freaked out in the middle of class!” she explained. “I tried to be quiet.”
The fantasy adventure and celebrity mentorship was orchestrated by contact lens manufacturer, Acuvue. It offered its 1-Day contest as a way of giving tomorrow’s leaders ideas on how to achieve their dreams.
“Through the Acuvue 1-Day Starts Today Contest, we are able to offer talented and inspired young people – like Katie – a mentor who can help direct and inspire them toward achieving their 1-DAY dream,” stated a company spokesperson.
Fitzgerald has been in the news a lot lately. Last month, she was one of three recipients of the Young Achiever of the Year given out by the International Leadership Network. Just before that, she was also given the Leader of Tomorrow Award (13 to 15 years) from the Community Information and Volunteer Centre.
Apart from that, she is well known in this community for her extensive volunteer commitments covering everything from social service to the environment to local events and more. She is one of the four lead members of the youth volunteer promotional crew called Soaring, as well as a competitive athlete and multi-talented artist and musician.
She entered the contest with the hopes of showing youth the power of music.
“I was just on YouTube one day and I just came across it. It just said, ‘Send in your video of your 1-Day dream’ and I thought it was pretty cool. It’d be cool to work with kids, teach them how to play guitar and sing.”
She teaches swimming classes to kids at Fountain Park Recreation Centre but she hasn’t taught music yet. She said that she got to do exactly that on her trip. She spent an afternoon with Mendler, talking about dreams and how to achieve them.
Mendler already knows a fair bit about success, even though she’s not much older than Fitzgerald. She plays characters on the TV shows Wizards of Waverly Place and Good Luck Charlie, but has also found success in the music industry. She released her debut album Hello My Name Is last year and her song, Ready or Not, was an international Top 40 hit.
Together, they met with Scott Burstein, the regional program director in the Los Angeles branch of Little Kids Rock. The American organization works to promote music education for kids especially in schools where budget constraints have forced music programs to be cut. It believes that learning to play a musical instrument is a transformative experience and that music can lead to success in school and in life.
There were also other young people who won their own experiences through the contest. They got to take part in their own special 1-Day adventures with people like Joe Jonas, Dwight Howard and Demi Lovato.
Along with the mentorship, Fitzgerald was also given a cash prize to use toward achieving her dream. She said that she intends to do her research and figure out a way to make the best use of the funds so that it helps the most kids. It’s still in the early planning stages, however.
To view the 12-minute video of Fitzgerald’s experience, visit Acuvue’s Facebook page or check it out on YouTube.
