"Keep going. There's always a way."

Read the story below as Bryan Lund, Project Legacy tutor, Legacy Academy volunteer and facilitator of the Writer’s Workshop, shares the journey of one Project Legacy participant in her own words. This story will remain anonymous and is shared with permission.

“I’m a new member to Project Legacy. I got involved at the beginning of the school year. 

At the time, I was still trying to figure out how I was going to get into my classes this semester. I got hit with a bill that just came out of nowhere. It was literally like a week or two before classes started and I was trying to find ways to pay the bill off. The initial bill, I could’ve had it paid. But another charge came and I wasn't prepared for that. 

Luckily, a friend told me about the program. She sent me the application and all the things to apply for it. I’m pretty sure I heard from Miss Karen that night, before I applied. 

I really didn’t want to do it, because I didn’t want to be a burden. They didn't know me. It’s easy to lie about something and I didn’t want to have to go through all that trouble. Because that’s what I would be thinking, like, ‘Who is this person?’ They didn’t have a relationship with me. So I was pretty hesitant to ask for it at first. 

I’ve been this way since I was a kid. Even for Christmas, I would never ask for anything. It just doesn't sit well with me. My thing is: as easy as I can ask you for something, you can ask me for something. Even if I'm not in a position, I still feel like I can't say no to you. I don't want to have that feeling to somebody else. 

Miss Karen told me I’m not the only one to ask for help. When I got that implemented in my mind, I thought, ‘It's okay to ask for help.’ But I was still hesitant. Then she gave me a rundown on what Project Legacy does. I got invited into the Facebook group. I got to see the work with all the kids, what goes on in Project legacy, like the circles, the tutors, and things like that. That gave me a little confidence, a little extra boost to keep going with it.

I still haven’t gone to a circle yet. I work five hours a day. Most of the time, I do my regular shift and then, because I'm literally just washing cars, I pick up a shift later that day or something. Then I don't really know sometimes when it is, or the schedule. So I can’t say I’m really an active member. I'm not really on Facebook. I feel like that's what most of the communication is, but I don't really use that app as much as I use the other ones.

My main stress? I just worry a lot because about being the first university student in my family. I have two younger siblings after me, and one is in foster care. So that’s already kind of a weird dynamic with my mom being a single mother and then taking on another added responsibility. So I usually don't ask for anything. I usually just find a way to do it. If that means picking up an extra job or two, that’s what I do.

Financially, I have the support, but I don’t want to rely on it, because I know that there is more to be done for the ones that come after me. I’m already here, now. I’m in college by myself, and they’ve still got to get here, so I don’t really ask for much. 

Honestly, I can do school, like school is not that hard. My thing is, if you have too many questions about it, like, after high school… it’s not for you.

I had those questions, but I just knew that I had to go. Like I had to go. My friends, they didn’t go because of stuff that they wanted to do. But I just knew I had to go, because I got two little sisters. My mom always preached in our house, ‘education, education.’ College or not, she just wanted us to be educated. 

My thing was that I wanted to play football as well. So that was probably the driving force of me even going to college - just hoping to get an opportunity to try to play football. Something to keep me there, keep me engaged into school, because I know, like freshman year, sophomore... I struggled because I never had that freedom before. Like, I was just on a strict high school schedule, right? I really didn't do anything.

That was probably the hardest part, just getting here. Like once I was here, I knew I had to get it. It had to click at some point. My biggest thing is just worrying sometimes. But I try not to think about it that much. 

My sisters talk all the time about what they want to do; colleges they want to go to and stuff like that. I don't want to show them the struggle part. Because I feel like they’ve got to get that on their own, like I can only help them with it. I don't want to tell them about it first, because then I feel like they're going to get anxious. So I keep that to myself. But I remember every struggle that I had, and I just know how to get through it. So I can tell them. I do it for them, to be honest. 

I don’t want to be the example of being a burden. I’m the only boy in the family, so I try to just deal with it. And just be a coach at some point.

There was a point like my freshman year that I didn't send my report card home. I wasn't doing bad, bad, but I wasn't doing as well as I knew I could have. As well as the standard I could have been at. I didn’t want to send it home and get my mom worked up and get my sisters a little scared or something. So that's why I keep it to myself. 

I'm studying business. At first I was studying education, but I didn't want to be a teacher. My favorite class since I've been here has to be anatomy, because I've always been a science kid. That's been my favorite subject. On the side I like music. That's like really where that's where my passion is, but business is something I can do and be good at at the same time.

My next move - I work at Enterprise. Right now I'm a service agent. When you graduate, you have the credentials to become a manager trainee. Six months after that, you can become an assistant manager, then six months after that you become a branch manager. So my next move is to just hopefully get my foot in the door of the business world. Just level up where I'm already at.

Right after I finish my undergrad I know I'm also applying for grad school. I switched my major, so that already put me back, like, a year and a half. If I can do five, I can do seven. I’m already here. Why not just get the other two?

I would just say keep going. There’s always a way. Literally, every semester since I've been at school, I’ve registered late for classes. I just keep getting in every semester. I don't know how I get in, but I just get in. 

That's my advice: there is going to always be a way to get what you need. There’s always a way to get what you need.”