It started out as a normal day
for an intern at The Challenge Program, Inc. (TCP). Coffee, email check, social
media notifications, and an overview of the past week. When notified of an
interview later in the afternoon with graduated senior Jemal Gause, the tone of
the slow moving Friday gained a touch of excitement that made the day a lot
brighter.
Going out of the office to meet young adults like this gives you proof of what the Challenge Program, Inc. is doing for students. When they feel recognized, they want to do more which is exactly what Jemal is planning on doing.
When talking about his future with him, his posture and smile reflected a kind of confidence that someone does not normally gain until they are thirty. His plans to not only go to school for nuclear engineering but to also join the Navy first made some jaws drop in awe during the meeting. While sipping some smoothies and getting to know Jemal better, it was easy to feel as though he could be friends with anyone; almost as though you had known him for years.
Jemal makes everything he does
seems so simple and fun. He works at the local movie theater which is where
most of his summertime has been spent, but he does not seem to mind the work.
He was also a TCP senior award winner this spring. Jemal is very academically
inclined in math and science and has hopes of going into nuclear engineering.
So here I am thinking, wow of course he
won the STEM award and yet again, I am surprised to find out Jemal's time
in high school was also filled with various volunteer groups that earned him
the Community Service award. Jemal works with the NAACP, where he is president
of the youth group. He won the Community Service award for the amount of hours
he put into the organization and in starting a student chapter at Greater
Johnstown High School. "Sadly I will have to step down very soon because,
well you know, I'm an adult now." “Adulting”, one of the scariest new
young person words out there, is not an easy thing to deal with. It includes
things that even worry this intern right here such as credit card payments,
school loans, housework, and even making your own doctor appointments. This
thought would probably scare most students but he says it with a huge smile
that rarely left his face the whole meeting. It is in moments like this that
you feel as though someone has changed you, in the smallest, but most positive
way.
It is hard to imagine that such a small office of only six people could have this effect on the communities that they serve. Since other jobs have come and gone for me, it was never easy to imagine working someplace where the work never felt like work. The students often are surprising in the way that they can communicate and set goals for themselves. When you plan to meet high school students you are wondering if they will be uninterested or immature, but working for TCP changed that to wondering if they will have more goals set than I ever did or knowing that they, being respectful as ever, will call me ma’am and I will feel old. Jemal walks in and you kind of think definitely a basketball player but you have no idea that he is capable of that and so much more until you reach out to him, recognize him, and he proves it to you.
Going out of the office to meet young adults like this gives you proof of what the Challenge Program, Inc. is doing for students. When they feel recognized, they want to do more which is exactly what Jemal is planning on doing.
When talking about his future with him, his posture and smile reflected a kind of confidence that someone does not normally gain until they are thirty. His plans to not only go to school for nuclear engineering but to also join the Navy first made some jaws drop in awe during the meeting. While sipping some smoothies and getting to know Jemal better, it was easy to feel as though he could be friends with anyone; almost as though you had known him for years.
Jemal makes everything he does
seems so simple and fun. He works at the local movie theater which is where
most of his summertime has been spent, but he does not seem to mind the work.
He was also a TCP senior award winner this spring. Jemal is very academically
inclined in math and science and has hopes of going into nuclear engineering.
So here I am thinking, wow of course he
won the STEM award and yet again, I am surprised to find out Jemal's time
in high school was also filled with various volunteer groups that earned him
the Community Service award. Jemal works with the NAACP, where he is president
of the youth group. He won the Community Service award for the amount of hours
he put into the organization and in starting a student chapter at Greater
Johnstown High School. "Sadly I will have to step down very soon because,
well you know, I'm an adult now." “Adulting”, one of the scariest new
young person words out there, is not an easy thing to deal with. It includes
things that even worry this intern right here such as credit card payments,
school loans, housework, and even making your own doctor appointments. This
thought would probably scare most students but he says it with a huge smile
that rarely left his face the whole meeting. It is in moments like this that
you feel as though someone has changed you, in the smallest, but most positive
way.It is hard to imagine that such a small office of only six people could have this effect on the communities that they serve. Since other jobs have come and gone for me, it was never easy to imagine working someplace where the work never felt like work. The students often are surprising in the way that they can communicate and set goals for themselves. When you plan to meet high school students you are wondering if they will be uninterested or immature, but working for TCP changed that to wondering if they will have more goals set than I ever did or knowing that they, being respectful as ever, will call me ma’am and I will feel old. Jemal walks in and you kind of think definitely a basketball player but you have no idea that he is capable of that and so much more until you reach out to him, recognize him, and he proves it to you.
