Dillon has participated in programs with us for eight years. It has been a pleasure to watch Dillon grow up over the years. He’s a fantastic young man who has a great foundation and a strong sense of doing the right thing – we look forward to seeing all of the things he will accomplish.
“My first memory of the program was when I started in the 5th grade with a bunch of friends. Over the years, most of my friends dropped out because their parents didn’t make them keep going. I was one of the few whose mom didn’t make me do it. I wanted to keep going because it was fun.
I’ll never forget the first Ball I attended. It was at the Beacon Club downtown, I loved the feeling of being treated like a grownup. Mrs. Vega always made it clear that there was a time and a place for everything, we could still be kids and have fun, but we could be kids AND be polite and have good manners at the same time.
I loved being an assistant and teaching the 7/8th graders all of the advanced stuff. It was really neat when I was a senior and I remembered some of the freshmen and sophomores from when I was an assistant during their previous years.
During the High School program, I really liked all of the different outings. Eating sushi and practicing using chopsticks with goldfish was fun. Going to the Civic Center and seeing the Broadway plays and musicals was always a highlight.
I really enjoyed getting to meet people from other schools. This summer I was at a rush party at OU and ran into a friend I had met in the program a few years ago. He attended Heritage Hall and I attended Deer Creek, but we met when we were both assistants for Mrs. Vega. He’s an upper classman and it was great getting to visit with him and felt good knowing I already had a connection at college.
Over the years, all of the things that Mrs. Vega has taught me has become second nature and so natural now that I feel at ease and know how to interact with other people, especially adults. During enrollment at college, I had to talk to a bunch of adults and always felt comfortable and confident and felt I knew how to carry on a conversation with them.” – Dillon
