I Am Unstoppable
For someone who took pride in being able to help his family financially, when Alan’s back went out due to a work injury, his whole life changed. During the months that he was waiting for recovery, Alan realized that he might not be able to rely on manual work anymore and he was going to need his high school diploma.
A friend told him about Civicorps and after his surgery, he decided to apply. His feelings about school changed once he got to Civicorps. He found an environment where teachers and staff recognized his brilliance and connected him with opportunities to shine.
“I had dropped out of high school because it felt like nobody cared about whether I learned or not, but at Civicorps, staff went above and beyond. They knew who I was and I felt that they wanted to see me succeed.”
Civicorps staff continuously modified the program to fit Alan’s needs and were able to connect him with paid internship opportunities where he could gain professional skills while his back healed. Once he completed his internship, Civicorps’ Career Counselor encouraged him to apply for a full-time coordinator position at Kapstone Paper – and he got the job!
“I enjoy what I do. It’s fast-paced and I like that we are helping out small businesses in Oakland by making sure their branding shines. This job also introduced me to computer graphics – a field that I never would have known about that I now want to study in college.”
Although his original plans to become a mechanical engineer may have changed due to unexpected events in his life, Alan has no regrets and loves the trajectory he’s on.
“This experience taught me that if I get a bump in the road, to find a way to go around it, swerve, and keep pushing forward. Thankfully, Civicorps gave me the chance to find a different path.”