There's nothing more inspiring than seeing a troubled teen turn their life around. Brayan, a 17-year-old High School student (who has asked that his last name be withheld), made the transformation from a pre-teen gang member to a graduating senior with a 4.0 GPA and a goal to help lead his peers in the right direction. Isn't that amazing?
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When Brayan was just 12 years old, he ran away from home, joined his cousin's gang, and abused drugs and alcohol for years. Luckily the gang was broken up by authorities, giving Brayan a chance to start fresh. The young man then started to attend Scriber Lake High School in Edmonds, Washington where he stayed out of trouble, buried himself in books, and started scoring very high grades.
The teenager started talking about gangs with his fellow peers, encouraging them to stay away from making bad decisions. In fact, Brayan took it a step further than that, by interviewing former juvenile inmates over 18 years about their pasts for a senior project, a documentary titled Minor Differences. Wow, this is incredible.
He's also part of Bowker's Writing Program, where he and a group of other students worked with Seattle author Ingrid Ricks and wrote personal essays. Brayan's own story was published in the book they all worked on We Are Absolutely Not Okay. He plans on attending Edmonds Community College in the fall and has dreams of one day working with prisoners. I am SO impressed by this kid!
This young man is a proven testament that with hard work and determination anyone can change their life. I honestly don't believe in giving up on troubled teens. It's very easy for them to succumb to peer pressure and get mixed up in the wrong crowd. But with support and guidance some of them are able to turn themselves around.
Brayan was one of those troubled teens and fortunately for him, he was given support by his school and writing group, which ultimately helped him realize that wasn't the life he wanted to live. Just the fact that he was able to get himself back in school earning a 4.0 GPA is impressive in and of it itself. But the fact that he used his negative past to help others is really what sets him apart. Hopefully his testimony will help encourage other teens to get on the right path.
Image via Seattletimes.com/Courtesy of Scriber Lake High School
