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A Gateway To The Future
posted (December 13, 2017)

After 6 months of training, 38 students graduated today from the Youth Apprenticeship Program.

This is the 10th group to have been given life skills and technical training from Director Dianne Finnegan and her team, and today, they stood among the participants who have successfully completed the curriculum.

We stopped by to speak with a few of those graduates who stuck with the program since the end of May.

Here's what they told us:

Lawrence Dawson - Graduate

"I actually have a young child at this point in time, one year and six months- a daughter. Without a steady job, it is hard to take care of her and raise her to have what I never had. But at the end of the day, I chose to do it because without the black and white papers today it is hard to get a job. You get a job but maybe you are not getting paid right. If you do get something it will be a little catch and kill. I actually do that for all the years of my life, catch and kill. I do so many things, construction, mechanic, carpentry but I struggle, I work hard, you know. But I decided to try to go to school to try and get something, educate myself so that I can stop working so hard. I'm tired of working so hard all my life, you understand. So, that is why I said let me go back to school and try to get my black and white papers."

Joseph Garcia - Graduate

"Honestly it has been a struggle but thanks to family and friends I accomplished the mission which was to graduate from this program. From the beginning, like I said it has been a struggle, but I was determined that I want to be enrolled in an organization to mold me into something different and better. I have reached that goal so I am very glad for that right now. I have intentions of stepping up the levels and hopefully one of these days I can open up a business and have a business of my own."

Shakira Paulino - Graduate

"I am a school dropout and I was hanging out with bad friends. I have a friend that introduced me to the program and that's why I decided to come into the program and do something for myself because I know nothing is out there for us."

We also got a chance to speak with one of the success stories from the Youth Apprenticeship Program. She's Tyeista Adolphus, and you may remember her as one of 2 young women who ended up in an ugly fight in a drain from January 2013. It went viral on Facebook, and shortly after that, Adolphus decided that she would turn her life around completely.

She signed up for the program, and she says that ever since she made that decision, she hasn't turned back. Here's our interview with her:

Tyeista Adolphus - Past Graduate

"One day I got up and I set my mind and said I'm tired of hanging out on the streets with friends, drinking, smoking and I decided that one day I want to be someone in life, whereby I can have children and my grandchildren they can look up to me and say, you know what, my grandmother or my mother is successful. So, one day I decided that I want to get out the streets and stop hanging out with different companies and I decided that I am going into this program. My friends told me about this program and I said, you know what, it sounds like something that I want. I was a dropped out teenager from high school and I heard that even like that they are giving you the privilege to go back to school. So, asked myself, is this something that you really want. I got up one day and I went to St. Martin's area where they have the Youth Apprenticeship Program office and I went upstairs and sat down with Ms. Finnegan. Before that, I was on a viral fight in the media whereby everyone used to look at to me and say that is the girl in the fight, that's the girl in the fight. I said to myself, you know something, that is not my only mistake. There are people out there who are worse than me. So I went to Ms. Finnegan and I sat down in her office and she was talking to me but my mind was far. So, she sat down and asked is this something you really want? I said yes, I said I already put my mind to it. She said well, you can be in the program. I went in the program but I had to drop all my friends. In regards to them, I'm telling them, let's go in the program it is a nice program, which is their decision at the end of the day. From that day I said you know something, I went through the program, I went to Gwen Liz's evening division, I graduated and I also went to Wesley Junior College, I'm a graduate of 2017 class and I'm so proud of myself but it is not an easy road, I'm going to be honest with you. I had to get rid of my friends, my companies that I thought were my friends, encouraging me to do negative things. I had to come by myself in order to be positive."

Adolphus graduated from the Youth Apprenticeship Program in 2015.

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