Debut - 18th Birthday Celebration,

About the event

The Debut celebration is an event in which its honored significance relates to Gwen Elizabeth’s coming of age. Having the Debut celebration is a special sign of loyalty and commitment to God, family and the community.

Why should you sponsor?

My immigrant family came to America chasing the American dream; lavish living in posh homes, bank accounts filled to the brim. My mother, unexpectedly coming along with her parents, found her Filipino college degree unaccredited, trapped in low-wage jobs. My menial crafts projects, the only thing my tiny hands could do for her, created a beautiful mosaic in my mother’s eyes of inspiration and hope for the future. Unfortunately, these small projects were not always intriguing; in fact, they were the result of a permanent fracture that left family photos empty.

 The battles through immigration, abusive relationships, all while raising inquisitive minds forced my mother to stay in these low-paying jobs—enough to put food on the table and pay the bills, but never enough to eat in diners or pay for extracurricular opportunities. Watching my family grow up in struggle, working endlessly without having the financial flexibility to pursue education or better opportunities, I ended up internalizing the priority of survival, putting self-actualization aside.

 As I began to navigate the world, I crafted my life to my own design, searching for gratitude and beauty in the smaller aspects of life. Attending public school gave chances I would never imagine, joining clubs and AP classes in searches of monopsonies and oligopsonies (although researching types of imperfect competition wasn’t an award-winning idea), and applying concepts to real-world projections. My opinions on public policy, delving deeper into effects of political socialization while statistically observing how communities in Nevada interact through politics, it seemed that textbooks of microeconomics fell into my hands at my local public library. Taking control of my career and education is my way of surviving through self-actualization, reversing the mentality of ‘live today’ to ‘love tomorrow’, paving the way for future generations to be able to take risks and curate their futures.

Although still being in a poverty-strucken family, we work hard every day, united to make it out of poverty and up in the world. This celebration not only celebrates a birthday, but all the effort and sacrifice put into surviving each day, and is a testament to the perseverance and love my family held. Sponsoring this event would show people that it is possible to make it through. 

Gwen Lay

I am Gwen Lay, a full-time student in 12th grade.

In my school, I am Ambassadors President, in which I have organized communications and expanded outreach and service events, and hosted state & local officials, such as Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford, CCSD Superintendent Jhone Ebert, Dr. Brian Cram, and more. Advocated and made executive plans for education expansion, cultural diversity, and student-community engagement to Clark County School District, the 5th biggest school district in the United States, as a representative. Trained a team of 75+ students. 

I am also President and Founder of The Steminist Society, a Women in STEM alliance to which I have connected engaged young women with STEM-field professionals and senior officers. Created a comfortable environment for women in male-dominated fields. Fostered a network for young women to reach out to women senior engineers (civil, mechanical, electrical), STEM-related entrepreneurs, senior architects, medical professionals, and more.

I am a policy debate coach, being a 2X National Qualifier and 3X State Champion. I have expanded policy debate team to 20+ members. Developed personalized lessons on argumentation, presentation, and debate. Took initiative of lesson plans and organized labs to ensure mastery of applied concepts within 10+ novices at a time. Led team to win local and state tournaments, and qualify for the National Speech and Debate Tournament.

I am my DECA Chapter's Vice President of Marketing, to which I have promoted chapter diversity and inclusion while marketing DECA as a whole, utilizing media as a way to target students. Developed lesson plans on marketing and encouraged consistent practice, introducing grading mechanisms and procedures for competitive development. Delegated tasks to officers in accordance with marketing plans and performance indicators for our DECA Chapter.

Contact the Organizer Contact the Organizer