Hanging on through tough times key for success
02/09/2010 09:38
Reyes has an artist friend who was jailed for graffiti. He convinced the friend to paint a mural in Los Angeles for free, and that mural helped launch his friend’s professional art career.
One of the most important tasks of the Adams County judicial system is educating juvenile offenders and offering them opportunities so they don’t end up back in jail. Providing inspirational speakers in our rural area can be a real challenge.
But last week, Olympic athlete Andrew Reyes drove to Othello to speak with juveniles graduating from the county’s Aggression Replacement Training Course.
The course is a ten-week program taught by Adams County juvenile probation officers, and it’s commonly assigned to juvenile offenders who have been identified through a risk assessment survey to show a medium or high risk of reoffending.
“A lot of the kids really turn around and don’t offend anymore,” said Juan Garza, probation leader for the Othello juvenile probation office.
Reyes talked about his life during the presentation. Born in Africa, the youngest of 18 children, he said he was no stranger to violence and tragedy. After his mother died soon after his birth, he was raised by a single mother in the United States. He attended high school in Venice, California, just west of Los Angeles, and talked about the gang problems at his high school and how a friend sitting next to him on bleachers at the high school was shot and killed.
After that incident, Reyes said he wrote a list of things he was determined to do, and one of those things was to graduate from high school. “I used every resource that was around me,” he said, adding that he relied on his high school counselor to guide him. He graduated after 10th grade, having taken several classes during the school year and attending summer school.
Reyes told the group that graduating from high school wasn’t easy for him. There were many distractions, including drugs, girls, and fights…and the fact that English was a second language for him.
Reyes attributes much of his success to his ability to adapt to his surroundings. He told the group that he was good at learning people’s ways and getting used to different customs. “Yes, I have my own personality,” Reyes joked. However, he said his ability to adapt also was a key part of his success as an athlete.
Reyes competed for Liberia in the 4 by 100 relay at the 2000 summer Olympic Games in Sydney. The 4 X 100 relay team did not medal, but did break national records. Reyes competed in the time trials for the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, but failed to qualify by 1/10 of 1 second, but he pressed on to make the 2000 Liberian Olympic team.
Reyes competed in several other track and field events, including the 1999 World Championships in Seville, Spain where he also ran the 4 X 100 relay. He continued competing through 2003, then in 2004 moved to southern California to start his own organization working with foster kids to help them get jobs and get into college. His organization also works with foster kids through the Department of Social and Health Services, he said.
One key principle of success, Reyes believes, is the ability to do something without compensation on the way to achieving a goal. He gave an example of a friend of his in Los Angeles who was an excellent artist, but who went to jail after being caught for graffiti.
Reyes said he pressured his friend to paint a large brick wall on a shoe store on a busy thoroughfare in L.A. Reyes told his friend to get permission from the building owner…and offer to paint the wall for free. At first the friend was skeptical, and didn’t want to do it without pay, but he eventually painted the wall for free. Many motorists and passerby saw the mural and it became the highlight of his friend’s portfolio. He’s now a successful artist, Reyes said.
Reyes also advised the group to surround themselves with people who are positive, which is a difficult task for a teenager. He talked about his experiences as an adult watching his competitors bribe drug testers to not report positive results.
The young men all have plans for their futures. One told Reyes he wants to be a veterinarian, another is interested in a career in the military. Reyes encouraged the kids to develop contacts themselves in their fields of interest.
Angel Maldonado, one of the juveniles graduating from the program, said he found Reyes’s message very helpful. “It showed how you can avoid a lot of problems,” he said.
All five of the young men involved in the Adams County program passed the final exam required for graduation. One young man achieved a perfect score, Garza said.