When Miguel, age 17, first joined the Building Leaders program, he was very socially awkward. His grades were not very good, and he had been suspended from school. He spent most of his time in the program alone, not willingly engaging with his fellow peers or GHC staff. Overall, he did not seem to be motivated to succeed.

Miguel started to see a GHC mental health clinician to help him gain greater self-awareness, communication skills, confidence, conflict resolution, and coping skills. Through the mentoring component of the program, he also learned how to become more responsible, make better decisions, and become a better person.

As a result, his behavior in school drastically improved. School counselors reported that Miguel was able to mitigate conflict with his peers and improve his relationships with his parents and teachers, using skills he had learned at GHC. Miguel also received academic assistance, and his grades improved from a C average to an A/B average.

Instrumental to Miguel’s success was his decision to join the robotics team at GHC. Miguel’s high school also has a robotics team, but Miguel lacked the confidence to overcome his social isolation and join. At GHC, he was able to access clinical resources that not only allowed him the confidence to be part of a team, but that also spurred him to take on a leadership role on the team. On the robotics team he developed important social skills so that he went from always being alone at the start of the program, to being the stand out student who was always surrounded by a group of people, and greeting staff. He also learned invaluable skills in STEM fields that has invoked a newfound passion for learning.

Now Miguel is very excited about the prospect of attending college, and is researching colleges and universities. He found and joined the summer program at Columbia College, Gear Up, which helps prospective students prepare for school. He participated in the Corporate Experience class, and volunteered to perform a mock interview in front of all of his peers.

Miguel used all of the resources available to him in the Building Leaders program to improve in every aspect of himself. He says, “This program has helped me with my social skills and to be more responsible. The staff motivate me to do well in school and to be a better young adult.” Miguel is now confident, social, self-aware, and extremely motivated to succeed.