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Our Stories
As a part of their preparation for the GED exam, the nine students in the "class of 1998" at YouthBuild St. Louis wrote essays about their YouthBuild experiences. Click on a paragraph below to get the whole story!
- A Woman Who Can When I first heard about YouthBuild St. Louis, I thought it was a great idea, but I wasn't sure that I was good enough to make it. While I was in high school, I went through a great depression when I found out that I was pregnant. . . .
- Change Comes in Time I can still remember the day when I had gone to pick up my grandmother from work. I had the radio on full blast when a commercial came on about a GED program that paid its students and gave them the opportunity to learn a construction trade. . . .
- Fast Living Got Me Trapped I wanted to be there for her. Instead of saying, "Oh baby, your mom dropped out; I don't know that problem," I wanted to be able to say, "Let me show you how to do it." When I first heard about YouthBuild St. Louis, I was working a job and raising my five-year-old daughter, but I wanted more -- better pay and a job that allowed me to feel better about myself. . . .
- In the Twist of Time I first joined the gang in 1989. Over the years I came to believe that gangs were "cool." I spent time hanging out, drinkin' and smokin' with the homies. 've done it all with them, and that life style caused a lot of casualties in my life. One of the casualties was education. . . .
- Pressured, But Still Going ! It wasn't always this easy for me. Initially, there were a lot of negative things and people with which I had to deal. Name calling and teasing played a big part in it. Knowing a black man or anyone of any race needs all the education he or she can get, I wasn't about to give up. . . .
- On the Outside, Lookin' In When I first heard about my cousin's experience in YouthBuild St. Louis it sounded like a great idea. However, when I thought about participating in it myself, I knew it would require a lot of hard work for me to succeed. . . .
- The Fellas Told Me So!! I was just hanging out with Rub, Don, and Big C. We had been friends for about ten years, but I began to notice a change in them, a change for the better. When I asked them about it, and they told me about YouthBuild St. Louis. . . .
- Unexpected Situations It was late Fall, and it was cold. The work assignment lasted about two or three hours. When I finished, I had blisters on my hands and was exhausted. I was beat, literally. The first week on the work site at YouthBuild was very difficult. But I thought to myself, "When will I finish something I've started?" I wanted to complete this program. . . .
- Woman; Hear Me Roar ! I remember a time when my YouthBuild work site supervisor told me to paint the interior of a closet. He gave me two kinds of paint, flat and semi-gloss. I looked at him and said, "Are you gonna leave me to do this myself?" He said "Yes." I thought, "Well, if he can trust me to do this job, I better do my best." . . .