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Sharon
candidly
reports that she was not motivated to attend school
or do her homework. She just couldn’t see attending
school for 7 hours everyday and doing another 3 hours
of homework in the evening. After a meeting with her
high school counselor, she decided to leave school
and enroll at YO! Westside, where she could earn a
GED. She found staff members friendly and supportive.
Sharon was able to work at a pace that suited her.
She moved quickly through the preparation material
and earned her GED within three months of enrolling.
She has been accepted to Morgan University where she
plans to major in business/accounting. To earn the
money she needs to meet college expenses, she’s working
at City Hall for the City Council President, Sheila
Dixon. Sharon appreciates the YO! approach because
each participant’s needs are considered in setting
up a program plan that will work for her or him.
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Robert
came to YO Eastside with many challenges in the
spring of 2002. He was on probation and his probation officer
required that he take GED classes. Rob ert was also unemployed.
He lived with his mother who had health problems as a result
of drug use and they managed on a limited income. Rob ert
wanted to work and earn his GED. With the support of his
advocate, Rob ert signed up for on-site GED classes, job
readiness training and a career skills training at Baltimore
City Community College in Fiber Optic and Copper Cabling
training. Over time, Rob ert took several steps forward
and a few steps backward. While he worked in exciting internships
and had several job placements, Rob ert would loose his
placements due to lateness’s. He recommitted to his GED
participation a few times and took job readiness training
more than once. However, over time, Rob ert grew. Now he
has earned his GED, acquired his driver’s license, stopped
missing work and he’s saving to purchase a car. From this
challenging beginning Rob ert has stepped up to become a
responsible employee and adult. Both Rob ert and his advocate
agree he has come a long way and they’re proud of his achievements.
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Tahrim
admits behaving in ways that would get him dismissed
from school. After leaving school he enrolled in YO! Westside
where he found the staff members encouraging and supportive.
They helped inspire him to reach his goals. Tahrim worked
hard and earned his GED in November 2005. He’s gained work
experience at the Afro-American Newspaper
where he worked in the marketing department. There he helped
place ads in the paper, reviewed two movies and created
a web-based movie contest. Currently he’s working at the
Linda Jones Modeling Agency as a fragrance model to earn
some extra money. Eventually, Tahrim plans to move to Los
Angeles , CA where he hopes to attend Pepperdine University
or the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) and
major in business before his career in the movie industry
takes off. He’s currently 50 pages into his first screen
play. It’s titled “The Teen Age.”
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