COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KOAA) — "The last four words in my speech: you are not alone," said Summer Holloway.
It's a message Holloway wants to share with the world because at one point, she felt alone.
"I wanted to hide everything about myself and who I was," said Holloway.
Born with Tourette's syndrome, Holloway dealt with multiple moves and the premature births of her siblings.
"It was a constant road of anxiety, anxiety, anxiety, are they going to make it?" she said.
She describes moving to southern Colorado and involving herself with the RP Lee Youth Center at Peterson Space Force Base as a breath of fresh air.
"I just kind of immediately felt like that it was going to be my home, my second home where I felt safe, I felt comfortable, and even now it's still my second home," she said.
That story and perseverance is what gained her statewide attention. For her work at the Youth Center, Holloway was recently voted Colorado's Military Youth of the Year under the Boys and Girls Club of America. She now heads to the Southwest Regional Finals, where she could win a cash prize of about $20,000.
"She went through a lot of adversity, and rather than letting it beat her down, she decided to turn it around, face it, and grow from the entire experience," said Youth Director Earl Wellschlager at Peterson Space Force Base.
"My story is something that I hold so close to me. I used to hate it," said Holloway. "I feel like, oh my gosh, I am advocating for not only myself at this point, but for everybody in the southwest region, military or not military."
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Five law enforcement officers injured in an attempt to resolve a family disturbance on Saturday
What began as reports of a family disturbance in Monument, became a much scarier situation as five law enforcement officers were transported to the hospital after an explosion on Saturday night.
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