A promising student in need of our help

It’s been four years now since I returned to Bermuda after ten years elsewhere.  Since coming home I’ve tried to do my part – I’ve helped out at the Adult Education School, co-founded the BLING Book Club and participated in the Mirrors Program.

The last one is my favourite because I mentor a young man who has taught me as much as I’ve tried to show him.  His name is Ivan Greene and he may need your help.  First though, I should tell his story.

Ivan, totally checked-out of the school system at one point, dusted himself off at 17 and told his family he was going back. He wasn’t after a high school equivalency programme; he wanted to sit in the ninth grade at 17 when many that age were looking at colleges.

It was a steep climb, but Ivan graduated from the Bermuda Institute at 20 — the oldest in his class. On graduation day his smile was the brightest in a cap and gown.

Ivan wasn’t done dusting himself off just yet. He next enrolled in the Mirrors Programme. He wasn’t summoned to Mirrors, sent there by a judge or exiled there against his will. Ivan heard about Mirrors and its promise to help young people shed their burdens and spread their wings. He conceded it was what he needed.  He wanted to dodge the social ills that derail too many young Bermudians from the potential track to success the rest of us see so clearly.

Through infinite wisdom that I can’t fully explain, the people at Mirrors thought Ivan and I would be a good match — man to man. They were right. Our relationship has not been without conflict and disappointment — Ivan dropped out of Bermuda College, for example, and I wasn’t there to help keep him on track. Instead, I was galavanting across Europe.

Falters not withstanding, here’s what I know about Ivan: he doesn’t need me to tell him what to do, but may need my help to achieve the goals he sets for himself. Mirrors teaches a great deal about setting goals and Ivan proves those lessons work.

In January 2010, Ivan called to tell me he was dusting himself off again. He was going back to school. This time it would be Oakwood University. He wants to be a teacher, the kind to help other young people dust themselves off.  It was Ivan’s decision wholly and he convinced members of his family to loan him the money.

This past summer he came home with fully spread wings, a new commitment to education and a GPA to be proud of. You should have heard the joy in his mother’s voice.

But the last time I spoke to Ivan’s mother joy was replaced with concern. On the eve of the start of fall classes at Oakwood, Ivan isn’t registered. The money hustled together in January from family members has dried up. He’s as much as $9,000 short.

His bags are packed to go back to school, and more important, his mind is focused on finishing what he started. But without the funds I fear those wings so brilliantly spread of few months ago will be clipped. That would be a shame don’t you think — after the high school diploma, after Mirrors, after all of mom’s pride?

I mean it when I say Ivan has taught me plenty. I’d like to teach him something now. I want to show him that his community will help at his time of need simply because he has shown a commitment to helping himself.

Want to help? Email Glenn Jones at [email protected].

Glenn Jones manages Bermuda.com, a sister company to the Bermuda Sun.