Daniella is a member of the AF Hartford High Class of 2019. Below is an excerpt from the speech she read on Senior Signing Day.

What makes you want to advocate for yourself? Will it help you or break you? The ability to self-advocate has become one of my most fruitful strengths, and I encourage you all to advocate for your own best interests firmly and consistently. Even though it may be time consuming or challenging, it’s worth the effort in the end.

My question is “What will your legacy be?” The universe has given each and every one of us a gift. This gift is what you (and not anyone else) formulate. Something I like to do when I’m not in a good space is self-reflect. Two years ago, I was going through a tough time in my life, and on one of those difficult days I remember asking myself, “what can you do right now Daniella to not let yourself be so negative towards yourself?” I would say “there’s nothing special life has in store for me in the future” and “everything I do seems to not work out anyway.” I began to feel myself getting anxious, feeling powerless and alone because I didn’t know my self-worth. But I was wrong.

Life, in fact, has so much to offer me, and I can’t wait to witness all the amazing things that will happen in my future. We live in a world where we believe that bad things are supposed to happen to us. There were numerous times in my life when things were going well for me, and I said, “this is too good to be true.” I was waiting for something bad to happen. But I learned that you should always claim what you want, not what you don’t want.

Here’s what I know about you. You have potential within you. Take those dreams out of your head and make them a reality. At the end of the day, a setback is a set up for a comeback. My set back definitely led to my comeback because in the fall of 2019 will be attending Hobart And William Smith Colleges!