At only 12 years old, Hanes Magnet School student Myla Dent succeeds academically, athletically, and philanthropically. As an honor roll student and a member of her school’s Diversity Book Club, Myla has a passion for reading and language. In fact, her favorite subject to study is Spanish, which she thoroughly enjoys learning and speaking. While she is getting quite the head start, she fully expects that learning a valuable language such as Spanish will one day give her a leg-up in the job market.
Outside of the classroom, Myla is an avid golfer for First Tee of the Triad and Tanglewood’s PGA Jr. League. Inspired by her father’s love of golf, she decided to pursue golfing after he introduced her to the sport. Impressively, she became the only female to make her school’s golf team in 2021, and worked her way up to PLAYer Advanced and PAR Advanced levels at First Tee in only one season. In addition, she placed first at every girls’ golf match she encountered for the school year.
Although Myla stays busy with studying and sports, she spends hours each month participating in LEAD Girls of NC, a nonprofit organization in Winston-Salem focused on building bright futures for youth, specifically young women, with a focus on self-awareness, communication, and leadership skills. She is passionate about LEAD’s cause as a young woman herself, and one day hopes to return and volunteer with LEAD to help the next generation of female leaders.
LEAD Girls of NC is sponsored by numerous businesses and organizations within the community, and served 286 at-risk middle school girls in Forsyth County in 2021 alone. LEAD also succeeds at instilling an entrepreneurial spirit in young women. Each year, the team at LEAD hosts a summer Fashion Entrepreneur Camp in August, which teaches campers how to create their own clothing designs, launch a fashion-based small business, and market and sell their business to the community. Campers were also given the opportunity to show off their creativity and walk the runway at Winston-Salem Fashion Week.
On top of her role in LEAD, Myla has volunteer experience at the Diaper Bank of NC. She frequently volunteers with her church to feed those who are grappling with homelessness by serving and packing food, along with distributing personal hygiene necessities. She also puts in work with the church nursery by helping care for toddlers, and spent the summer of 2021 assisting with the therapy dog, making cards, and putting together snack bags for guests at SECU Family House.
As just a pre-teen, Myla’s resume provides a glimpse of a trailblazing future leader. In order to avoid burnout and tackle everything on her plate, she is adamant about setting aside a bit of time to relax in the evenings after school before handling the rest of her responsibilities. Her parents and peers describe her as unique, talented, and compassionate, and support her in her aspirations of becoming an actress and golfer with her own eco-friendly clothing line in the future.
Prior to the pandemic, Myla was on her way to traveling to Greece with her school to visit historical and biblical sites, but she is hopeful to finally set foot in Greece soon. In the meantime, Myla enjoys going to the mall and snacking on Chick-fil-A in her spare time. She plans to continue helping others and making a difference, and encourages everyone to learn more about LEAD Girls of NC by visiting www.leadgirls.org. Sign up for the LEAD Girls newsletter for updates on how to get involved and show your support, check out LEAD on Facebook, and follow the team on Instagram at @leadgirlsofnc.
