Dama’ya Winters is a 17 year old junior at Westinghouse High School and a Math Literacy Worker in Chicago, IL.

Dama’ya has remained committed to YPP since the 2015 spring session. Aside from her devotion to her school’s basketball team, Dama’ya finds solace in mentoring her younger peers. Dama’ya is empathetic and such an easy person to get along with. She always brings energy to the group. Dama’ya’s CMLWs are confident in her abilities to facilitate in front of her peers and the children.

Dama’ya shares what she plans on doing with her new experience: “YPP has influenced my future goals/plans because now I think about how I want my life to be in the future. I would want to work with children and make an impact on their life. I want to give back and be that one person they can look back on and I can say I helped that child or I influenced this child. I would like to be someone's reason why they succeeded in life. I really love to help these children get better at math and just teach them great ways to learn it without getting bored or feeling bad about not knowing how to do it.”

Dama’ya shares the bond within YPP: “One of my best moments at YPP is when we all are prepping for the children to come. The reason this is my best moment is because we all get to help each other out and we all get to bond. I call them my second family because we all have a bond and always have fun together.”

Dama’ya aspires to be a pediatrician in the future.