Patrick and The Lost Generation
By: Kiandra Florence
Patrick Powers is a 23-year-old senior at the University of North Texas that hails from Waco, TX. He is studying English and education with hopes to becoming a high school English teacher in the near future. With a heart for helping others and a passion for education, he took a leap of faith in spreading his love for enriching the lives of youth by reaching out to his elementary school, J H Hines Elementary. Seeing a need for positive role models, especially in the black communities, Patrick reached out to see if there was any way he could help his school. After seeking help from his friends, he came up with the idea to visit the school to encourage and uplift the young students in a positivity through an event he calls Empowering the Youth. By standing outside of the school cheering, high-fiving, and encouraging the students on, he and his friends brought smiles and motivation amongst the youth. The event proved to be a huge success with the school, students, and parents prompting Patrick to reach out to other schools in the Dallas area. Thus, his organization The Lost Generation was born.
The Lost Generation was developed in the spring of this year after Patrick reached out to other schools seeing if they would be willing to use some encouragement. Currently comprised of 32 college students, the organization has done a lot already to make a difference in the community. Since its development, the organization has impacted the lives of over 1,000 students in 5 different schools throughout Dallas, Denton, and Waco with plans to visit Houston and Louisiana as soon as next spring. Schools have been lining up to have the group of college mentors visit and spread the hope needed to motivate and impact the younger generations.
The Lost Generation’s mission states that they are here to “uplift, impact, and empower students in and out of the classroom.” The Lost Generation team strives to build up successful, courageous, and ambitious men and women with an objective to bring class, elegance, and dignity to the classroom. There are many ways the organization plans to positively affect students across North Texas. Some of the many events and programs they currently offer are:
Empowering the Youth- As many as 60 organization members show up in professional attire with signs encouraging the students to do their best during the day while cheering them on for success.
Ladies with Elegance Event (Ladies in Formation)- An event dedicated to empowering young women and teaching them elegance, class and self-respect.
Tying My Way to Success- This event focuses on teaching young students how to tie a tie and how to be successful throughout their educational and professional careers. Students also receive free a tie.
Applying for Success- Teaches students how to accurately apply for college and jobs. They are also shown how to apply for financial aid.
Students from all majors and races are currently involved in The Lost Generation organization making it as diverse and effective as possible. Patrick hopes to open chapters at multiple universities throughout the state of Texas benefiting a range of students in low income and tier-1 elementary, middle, and high schools. More than 130 people have expressed interest in wanting to be apart of the organization and offering to help in any way possible. With this amount of interest his organization has the potential to be one of the biggest organizations at the University of North Texas next year. However, just because you are interested does not guarantee you a spot. It is important to Patrick that those who are involved are willing to impact young students for the right reasons.
“I look for students with great potential who are ready to make a difference and have a positive spirit about them,” Powers expressed.
Though he is graduating in the spring of next year, this is just the beginning for him and The Lost Generation. Patrick foresees the organization reaching cities such as Atlanta and Chicago in the next few years. He will continue to work to ensure the organization is doing its duty to “impact lives, build futures, uplift students, fuel dreams, and reform culture.”