“CYD has made me who I am today. Now I am a high school graduate, a respected leader, and a responsible man. I plan on continuing school by attending Tuskegee University and studying engineering. CYD has helped me accomplish my short-term goals of graduating from high school, finding a job, and getting into the college of my choice. CYD also has helped create long term goals such as owning my own business, working with kids, and fighting to end racism.

I have a lot of people around me that are involved in negative things like drugs and violence. The only difference between me and them is CYD. CYD keeps me busy, focused, and motivated to stay out of trouble. I have learned to hang around different people. I use to hang around people that wanted to cut school and smoke. But now I’ve made friends that care about doing better in school and life. I knew I had to, in order to graduate from high school.

Sometimes I wonder how some of my old friends would be if they had CYD. Some of them didn’t graduate from high school. I wonder if they would have, if they were involved in CYD. They might not have followed the crowd and got caught up bad things. They might have become leaders instead.

If they were in CYD they would have had somewhere to go, and something to see besides run down houses, prostitution, violence, and drugs. They would have had people telling me to do well in school and go to college. They might not have forgotten their goals and dreams, if they had a place write them down. And instead of looking only look two years ahead instead, they might have looked ten years into their future and continued to dream. I did.”

Zeric, CYD Graduate.