All Young People Should Have Access To A Life-Changing Opportunity Like I Did

January 9th, 2017By Shanique Davis

I grew up in Washington DC, where opportunity was often a foreign concept for young African Americans like myself. While growing up, my family never stayed in any one place for too long. It was as if we were nomads, we moved from DC to Maryland, then Maryland to DC. This was a common cycle, and my 3 siblings and I were just along for the ride.

After high school, I applied for many technical schools, but was repeatedly turned down due to factors outside of my control. In February 2007, I was blessed with the opportunity to pursue what I really wanted to do. While reading the newspaper, I came across an ad for Year Up, a program that provides low-income young adults with the skills, experiences, and support they need to succeed in professional careers. Opportunity knocked and I couldn’t help but answer. The program proved to be a meaningful experience that helped me step up as a leader and pursue a career in technology.

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Throughout my teenage years, I worked many retail jobs because, at the time, this was all I knew was available to me. Today, at the age of 33, I am a Systems Engineer for one of the top companies in the Washington Metropolitan area. I went from making minimum wage with a job to a six-figure check with a career that reflects my hard work and hunger for success. When mentoring this generation’s young adults, I encourage them to stop settling for less and begin striving towards their true potential. Back in January 2008, when I graduated Year Up, I presented my class with the following acronym, one that I continue to share with my peers today; “We should always be ready to P.A.R.T.Y!” and,

Prepare for the future,

Adapt to different environments,

Reach out to those that are experiencing what we went through,

Turn the negative into positive, and

Yearn to continue learning without ever settling for less.

Every year, Year Up alumni gather from across the country to engage in discussions about how we can give back to our communities and use our current positions to create opportunities for other young adults to achieve career success and economic stability. As individuals whose lives have been transformed by the Year Up program, we have experienced life on both sides of the Opportunity Divide. We know the sting of many of life’s hardships and the sweet sense of accomplishment that comes when you attain a good job that pays a living wage. These experiences inspire us to think outside of the box for the next generation. Opportunity starts here and begins with us because our stories are living proof of struggle and what it takes to succeed. We are working to create solutions that will make more opportunities available to all youth in this country.

However, we know that these solutions cannot just come from us; they must also be supported by our leaders at the highest level. If I could have a conversation with the president-elect, I would advise him to do the following:

Support us young adults and create policies that foster opportunity, so that our children, and our children’s children will never know the hardships of the word poverty,
Support small businesses, because they are our future,
Create programs to assist entrepreneurs, so that everyone can potentially be exposed to making their own money and being their own boss.
Encourage those with access to resources to mentor those who do not, and assist them in reaching their own successes,
Create a place of equity and equality, for everyone, and consider the question, ‘how is it that we carry the title “United” States if we ourselves do not practice unity.’

I’ve made it my personal mission to improve opportunities for the young people of this country. They are the next generation of the world’s leaders and innovators. It is our duty to lead this legacy of change, with intentions that the generations to follow will have the means to perform even better than we have. They matter because they are the future and what’s to come of it. I matter because one day I will be sitting in your seat asking myself what have I done up until this point to create positive change and what can I do to continue that cycle?

Shanique Davis is a proud graduate of the Year Up program and a Release Engineer for The National Science Foundation.

The GradsofLifeVoice Forbes team provides thought leadership, research and expert commentary on innovative talent pipelines and related issues such as the skills gap, income inequality, workforce diversity, and the business case for employment pathways. We seek to change employers’ perceptions of young adults with atypical resumes from social liabilities to economic assets. This post was originally featured here.

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