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I just wanted to let you
know that I earnestly believe that if the federally funded TRIO program was not
installed at the Windward Community College (WCC), I would not have completed
my Associates degree program with Magnum Cum Laude. My background is that of
growing up in a low income farming community in East Texas where the majority
of my family of nine never made it past the 8th grade. In fact I am
the first to graduate high school and with the help from the folks at WCC’s
TRIO program, I became the first in our known family tree to receive an Associate’s
Degree. Not only did TRIO support, tutor, encourage, and guide me they are also
directly responsible for the successful continued education of my Wife, an
immigrant from Okinawa, and two of my daughters that are currently attending
WCC as well. You and your TRIO team provide the students at WCC with a family style
support system that is second to known in that you motivate, guide, and
encourage the students to be the best that they can be, no matter their past or
present situations. Thus far, I have attended three campuses’ where the TRIO
services were provided and the team installed at WCC is by far the best that
I’ve personally encountered. In fact, there are many here at Hawaii Pacific
University, where I will be graduating with my BA this May, that can attest to
my boasting about WCC’s TRIO support program.
Currently I am working
part time at the University of Hawaii Center on Disability Studies (CDS) at
Manoa and it is there that I’ve really discovered my apt ability in helping
others. I should point out that your TRIO program pointed me to this
organization as well. I use the knowledge gained from your helping me at WCC as
a guide in what I do here at the CDS. As you know, I have been with WCC and UH
as a mentee/mentor for almost three years now and I am currently working on the
EmployAble project. My work involves creating different types of media content
with the intent of helping Veterans with Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI) obtain
gainful employment. The primary task is creating a Virtual World that contains
a persistent environment where the client can meet possible employers, practice
job interviewing skills, resume writing, learn about creating and running a
business, networking skills, and many other life building skills. They will
have an environment where they can do all of this without the fear of possible
judgments from others. We call this “A
World without Barriers”. The performance of my duties and meeting many of the
clients has enlightened me to the fact that I can do this and that I find it
very rewarding.
On another note, I have recently
applied and was accepted to the University of Hawaii’s Masters of Science Kinesiology
Vocational Rehabilitation program. I think that credit should be given where it
is earned. If it were not for the team WCC’s TRIO constant encouragement, I
believe that I would not have made this far, your program better equip students
like myself with the skills needed to be a more impactful leader in my
community. With TRIO’s continued support and the right course of study, I know
that it will expound upon the character traits that most of us already possess
to become positive and capable leaders in our respective communities.
Upon graduating with my
Master’s Degree, I hope to work at the Veterans Affairs Vocational
Rehabilitation benefits department located at Tripler Medical Center. I would
like to inspire veterans to take charge of their lives and work to better
themselves, their families, and communities that they live in. I believe people
are at their best when they are engaged in something they care about. It has
taken me over eighteen years to get my life back on track, and I do not want
that to happen to anyone else and this time of recovery has shown me that if I
had had someone to guide me, I mean
really guide me, then I could have recovered from my injuries much sooner.
Living in Hawaii, I have
gotten to know an amazing island of different cultures that is much more than just
hula dance’s, paradise, luau’s and surfing. Hawaii for me has become a place I
am proud to call my home and that I will work diligently to change it for the better.
WCC’s TRIO program really portrays the Aloha Spirit and instills it in any that
participates in it. Your program really makes an outsider feel more like a
family member; until I met you and your team I did not feel as though I would
successfully make it and because of your support and encouragement, I would
like nothing more than to continue my path towards being a leader for change in
our community.
Thank you for your continued
support – Rickey Lee Shankles
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