Jamel

My mother, Annmarie James, motivates me to become the best at what I study.  Emigrating from St. Vincent, she raised four children with little help, and never gave up on any of them.  I doing so, she made a passage for me and my siblings to have a better life in America, to attend school, and for myself, to go to college.

Seeing my mother’s unwavering determination, I hope to find the same or greater motivation within myself.  I will use this motivation to help teens within my community, and to build up the New York Public School system. I will develop more affordable after-school programs to assist working class parents and their children, and create jobs for teens to give them business experience and keep them out of trouble.  In school, I will counsel both students and teachers, developing techniques that will make the classroom more interesting and engaging.  

Being a New York Needs You Fellow makes me feel like an un-caged bird. Before the Fellowship, I was not able to get advice about the steps I needed to take to have a successful career.  Now, every meeting is career day, and I learn so much about each profession by talking to Mentor-Coaches, guest speakers and other participants. 

The great feeling I get from the program makes me excited to talk about it with former classmates and underclassmen from high school, and I encourage them to go to college and research the next steps they should take.  If I am doing well, I would like to help everyone I know do the same, and the best thing I can do is spread the information that will inspire a better tomorrow.