I always remember what I would tell my Job Corps students at graduation,
‘Please remember that it is not where you’re from, or even where you are at, but what is ultimately important is where you are going!”
That was always my final statement after I had done my spiel about the importance of work and education, and I truly believe that…
We were all once somewhere…
And we are all now somewhere…
But the kicker is to stay focused on where we are going…
Where we want to be…
I was thinking this morning about my last graduation, August 1999...
I was also in my last week of working at the center…
I stood on that stage, looking out at the auditorium,
Especially my graduates,
There were three in that group who had taken it to me,
My young Native/African-American, he had been brimming with attitude and anger when I met him, there were so many times I had to jack him up and bring him to my office, to face off…at first he was hard, but when he got to know me, all I had to do was walk outside…he knew to move…at that graduation he was on his way to military school…his dream…I still feel the crushing hug he gave me before he drove away from campus…
Then there was my sister-girl from OKC, she had gotten by on her feminine wiles for most of her teen years and thought that was A-Ok but now in her twenties she knew she wanted to do something different, being a electrician was what was up for her…her wild laughter still rings in my ear…
Finally, my quiet young Mexican-American kid from Houston, he knew what thug-life brought and what it took, but now on his way to higher education he was going to find out how big the world really was, as big for him as for anyone…I have heard from him a few times over the years…
These were just a few of the kids who had been written off, mostly by themselves but once they opened up their minds and hearts the possibilities…they knew…
It was all about where they were going…
Blessings,
Angelia’
http://www.angeliavmenchan.com/
