You Never Know

I have always believed that you never know what you might do or say that could change someone’s life forever.  A kind word, or act, could mean a lifetime of positive change.  A negative response could have equally negative results, but I prefer to look at the glass as half-full rather than empty.

I’ve been coordinating a summer program since I retired.  The current version places students and a teacher in an area business for two weeks during the summer.  Students earn college credit and compete for college scholarships.  Teachers are paid a stipend.  Businesses get a set of solutions to a current problem.   Everybody wins.

At the end of the two weeks, the students present their findings and business recommendations to a panel of judges.

During the summer of 2018 one a my teams ran into a problem during the competition phase of the program.  The video portion of their “ten minute pitch” to the panel of judges failed.  The screen went blank.  One of the members of the team, Jimmy,  never missed a beat.  He said something like, “If you could see the screen, this is what you would see.”  And he continued from there.  He knew the material well enough that he made it through the balance of the presentation flawlessly.

Jimmy had recently graduated from high school.  He had little support at home.  He lived with his mother who had led a troubled life herself.  Jimmy didn’t let his home life interfere with what he hoped to accomplish.  He chose to join the program so that he could earn some articulated college credit, and perhaps, win some scholarship funds.  He knew that there were scholarships that were going to be awarded with a potential value of $2,000 – $3,000.

I assigned Jimmy to a project at a local bank.  When the bank vice president learned that Jimmy didn’t own clothes suitable for working in a bank, he bought him a couple of pairs of slacks and shirts.  The VP stepped up so that Jimmy would feel welcome in his new surroundings.

I invite my higher education  partners to the final event each summer.  When the Siena Heights University  representative saw Jimmy in action that July day, she invited him to visit the university.  I learned of her invitation as we were wrapping up the day, but I never heard how the visit went.

About six weeks ago Ruth and I stopped in at a local Wendy’s for lunch.  Jimmy was working the counter.  We exchanged pleasantries and I asked how things were going.  He told me that he was enrolled at Siena Heights and was getting ready for his second year.  The place was busy so I asked for his phone number and if it would be alright if I called to learn more.

We’ve spoken on the phone, and exchanged several texts and emails, since that chance meeting at Wendy’s.  I’ve learned the following.

1.  Prior to the summer program, Jimmy had applied to Siena Heights but had been rejected because his grades weren’t good enough.
2. He took the university representative up on her offer to visit the school.
3. During the visit,  the representative complimented him on his “work under pressure” and told him that he was the type of student the university recruited.
4. They reassessed his application and offered him a $32,000 annual scholarship renewable up to four years which brings the total value up to $128,000.
5. He’s in his second year majoring in Business Administration and Accounting.

He also told me, “I’ll be honest, its hard.  I’m gonna get it done though.  I wouldn’t have been able to go to college without this.”

You never know.