Her Gone Life

As parents we hope and want our kids to follow their dreams. But what happens when their dreams are connected to entering a contest? Would you encourage or discourage your child? This was the choice the parents of Shawn Ferrer and Brittany Barber needed to make when they learned about the 2011 ACUVUE 1-DAY Contest, which offered the opportunity for a group of teens to reach their dreams and be an inspiration to others.

Lucky for Shawn and Brittany (2 of the winners), their parents allowed then to enter the 2011 ACUVUE® 1-DAY Contest and they were able to achieve their dreams.

• Shawn Ferrer realized his dream of becoming a fashion designer when he got the chance to work with fashion designer Nick Verreos at the prestigious Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising (FIDM) in LA to design a red carpet look for actress Meaghan Martin. Shawn was presented with a scholarship to attend FIDM, where he plans to make his dream a reality.

• Brittany Barber teamed up with singer Joe Jonas to create a public service announcement supporting the Special Olympics, an organization that plays a special role in her family’s life and which is close to Joe’s heart. She was able to raise awareness for a life-changing organization, showing that a one day dream can be bigger than ones’ self.

Recently I was able to interview both Shawn and Brittany about entering the contest and what advice they have for other teens (and their parents) who also want to follow their dreams

• Onica: How did you learn about the contest and what motivated you to enter?

Shawn: I learned about the contest on youtube and even thought I had just begun to learn how to sew, I was excited to design an outfit for Meaghan Martin

Brittany: I learned about the contest from twitter. I have a brother in Special Olympics so this was personal to me

• Onica: What was it like winning the contest and meeting the celebrities
  

Shawn: That feeling of having your dream fulfilled is unbelievable. I was studying to be a neuro surgeon at the time and my mom was shocked when I showed her my drawings and talked about the contest. But she was so encouraging. I am so grateful.

I was ecstatic to meet Meaghan and have my first design chosen for her to wear! I was really impressed by her and could really tell she wanted the best for me.

Brittany: I was excited about meeting Joe Jonas and having that shared experience. It really touched me. Now I'm setting up a fund raiser within my home town.

• Onica: What's your advice for other teens about following their dreams?

Shawn: Believe in yourself. Don't let anything stand in your way. Pursue and work hard.

Brittany: Don't listen to anyone who says you can't, cause when you start believing it you'll become discouraged.

Before I ended the interview I also spoke with Brittany's dad to hear his advice to parents who want to support their teens. He encouraged parents to do their research to protect their kids but also to be supportive and let the kids follow their dreams as much as possible. He saw such a different in Brittany once she received her contacts and won the contest. She really blossomed

Thank you to Acuvue, Shawn and Brittany for the interview!

The “ACUVUE® 1 DAY Contest” winners’ inspiring mentorship experiences can be viewed at - http://www.youtube.com/acuvue

Like this article? Subscribe to the RSS feed or for email updates!