On Tuesday, October 9th we held our Student-to-Leader Luncheon!
Abner Molina, a Firewall graduate, shared his story and talked about some of the difficulties he overcame, like growing up in a rough neighborhood in which a lot of his peers ended up in jail, experimented with drugs, or worse, were shot.
But Abner’s story turned out different! This December, he will graduate with his Bachelor’s in Marketing from Florida International University.
He is also taking classes with Google that will lead to internship opportunities and even got to study for a semester in Italy!
“If it wasn’t for Firewall, I would’ve been one of those students easily. Around the peer pressure that is in the culture today, not many come out. I would love to see more “me’s” come out of the neighborhood. All kids like me really need is a mentor; a mentor to believe in them, to believe that they are worth it and to believe they can go beyond what they currently believe they can. It’s all mentality,” said Abner.
You can watch all of Abner’s story on YouTube here!
We also heard from one of our school partners, Tariq Qaiyim, the Assistant Principal at Lauderhill 6-12.
Firewall’s Program Director, Janeth Fernandez, and Lauderhill 6-12 Assistant Principal, Tariq Qaiyim
“I truly believe in Firewall. I know this is a good program for our students. Firewall is a great representation of what should be going on in education and how a partnership should work. To Andy, Janeth, and the staff and I really appreciate what you do,” said Qaiyim.
You can view more photos from the Student-to-Leader Luncheon on our Facebook here!
As always, thank you for your support in impacting the lives of 500+ students that Firewall serves.
