Youth Spotlight: Carlos Elvir

By Mikayla Curtis: Director of Strategic Impact

Mountain Youth has the great honor of working with incredible youth and each month gets to spotlight one of those youth in our community who make it a better place to live. This month, we’re honored to spotlight Carlos Elvir, a recent graduate of Battle Mountain High School. Carlos is a youth that inspires everyone around him to be the best versions of themselves.

Carlos became involved with Mountain Youth last fall, at the encouragement of a friend, and joined the Communities That Care Coalition (CTC). Over the school year, this coalition of youth and community leaders has been working on educating parents and caregivers about the dangers of youth substance use and house parties. They’ve also been encouraging youth to choose healthier ways of spending time together and encouraging positive behaviors, something that is important to Carlos. Carlos believes building healthy habits will encourage people to live the best versions of themselves. He hopes to one day have his own business providing coaching on how to be disciplined and organized to do things when they should be done – not procrastinating or waiting for a better time – but to be the better version of oneself in the moment. When Carlos was 16, he decided that he needed to focus on what comes next and get more serious about making better life choices. Carlos chooses to surround himself with peers and community that support these goals and have a similar mindset, are fun, and are people he can turn to.

Carlos joined CTC and joined a community of youth and adults that also support these goals. He also is an apprentice at East West Partners and works at Blue Moose Pizza. He believes the work of CTC is helping to wake some youth up to the dangers of substance use. He’s seeing his peers read the flyers and posters and contemplating healthy decisions more. Some of those images have included messages about the dangers of smoking and vaping, and not needing to drink to have fun, which he’s hoping his peers will follow. “Carlos joined our Communities That Care Coalition last year with maturity, kindness, and a willingness to ask meaningful questions. Getting to know him has been a joy, and his leadership and ideas have made a meaningful impact on our projects. Our community is fortunate to have him, and I’m cheering him on as he enters this next phase of life.” -Hannah Conoley, Mountain Youth Community Mobilizer.

Carlos is excited for this transition to release some of the stress that came from school and homework and to focus more time on community and being with friends. He appreciates the smallness of our community and the accessibility of nature, trails, ski resorts, and time outside. He also gets excited about some day being in a city and getting to explore all it has to offer. Overall, he’s excited to stay involved in the community and having an active role. He wants everything to work out for everybody, to see youth have less time on screens, and find peers that support them. He is hopeful that youth will find more opportunities for personal reflection, being accountable, and reflecting on the circumstances that led to situations that are both challenging, as well as positive to learn and grow from them. The advice he wishes to share with youth and the community is to “enjoy life as you should, if you want to make a change, go for it, stop waiting for the right moment.” Carlos certainly inspires us every day to be the best versions of ourselves and we are honored to have him be a part of our community.