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Alison Hosinski credits success to the Alpena community

News Photo by Darby Hinkley Alison Hosinski smiles during a recent interview at the Bulldog Cafe in downtown Alpena.

ALPENA — Alison Hosinski, named the Youth of the Year by the Boys and Girls Club of Alpena last month and a former foster child, ranks volunteering high on her list of priorities.

Another high priority? Achieving high academic marks in both her high school and college classes.

The 16-year-old Alpena High School junior holds a 4.022 grade-point average and takes Alpena Community College classes through the school’s early college program.

She currently takes two college classes, and, next year, will take all college classes and just one high school course. After completing the program, she plans to attend Michigan State University to pursue a career in business administration. She is a member of the National Honor Society.

Hosinski actively participates in the Youth Volunteer Corps, a group of youth dedicated to leadership and community service.

“I’ve always been interested in volunteering, and I really like the aspect of YVC,” she said.

She said volunteering is her way of giving back to the community that once helped her.

“I just like helping out the community and giving back, especially because I was helped out by the community a lot when I was in foster care,” Hosinski said. “I was in foster care from about eighth grade until last August, when my aunt got guardianship of me. There were just a lot of different sources from the community that helped me out and helped me develop who I am today. And the Boys and Girls Club really helped me find who I wanted to be and just helped me to flourish and not get stuck by being in foster care.”

She likes that the group schedules volunteer opportunities each month, and then each member decides in which activities to participate, so they can volunteer when it fits into their own schedules.

“It’s really nice to be flexible,” she added. “To be like, oh, if I have too much homework, I can’t go today. But I do go quite a bit.”

She is the president of the club’s Youth Advisory Council and has achieved more than 200 volunteer hours over the past two years. Since the beginning of the 2020-21 school year, she has logged 150, she said.

She has been an active member in Girl Scouts since seventh grade, and her troop (1218) is involved in painting the mural at the Alpena County Animal Shelter. She also finds time to work at Big Boy restaurant in Alpena and creates paintings and bracelets when she has time.

Oh, and she plays the clarinet in the high school band, too.

She said she finds time to volunteer when her homework is done, and it has been easier for her this school year because she has only had to attend school two days a week, until the recent transition to four-day-a-week in-person learning. Students have learned mostly online this school year amid the coronavirus pandemic.

“I’ve always been more on a fast track, and I can get my work done faster being out of school than being in school,” she said. “It’s all about micromanaging and realizing, ‘I can’t do this if I do this.’ I do overload myself a little bit — I know that. I get stressed out, but I have friends and everybody helps me, and I realize, ‘OK, this is the point that I’ve got to cut back on something.’ Like, I cut back on work so I can focus on school more.”

“The Youth of the Year title is a prestigious honor bestowed upon an exemplary young person in recognition of leadership, service, academic excellence and dedication to live a healthy lifestyle,” a press release from the Boys and Girls Club said.

Hosinski will go on to contend for the Michigan Youth of the Year title and a $2,500 college scholarship from Boys and Girls Clubs of America.

“Alison is a remarkable role model for the club’s younger members and a leader within the Youth Volunteer Corps program,” Bradley Somers, executive director of the Boys and Girls Club of Alpena, sad in the press release. “Alison is a very hard worker and has a great vision for the future. I am so proud of the work she has done for the club and the community and excited to see the amazing things she will accomplish.”

He added that she is a great leader and example to the youth in our community.

“Each year, one exceptional club member is selected to be the Boys and Girls Club’s Youth of the Year, serving as an ambassador for Boys and Girls Club youth as well as a voice for all of our community’s young people,” he continued. “Over the decades, these individuals have exemplified the Boys and Girls Club’s mission and are proof to the impact clubs make in positively transforming the lives of our local and national youth.”

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