Godwin Heights — Senior Elijah True admits that he originally did not have a path for life after high school. His main focus was to be creative and survive.
“I’ve always had the parenting but, you know, I had to figure out a lot of stuff by myself,” he said. “It was tough.”
The oldest in his family, Elijah knew he did not want his siblings to struggle as he did, so he began to look for a way he could help them achieve their dreams. He discovered that his creativity would be an asset in the world of construction, the path he has decided to take.
What is your dream? “I don’t have a dream. I just want something to do that will benefit me and my family in the long run. If you ask me, I’m building a dream for other people, so that would be my dream.”
Why is this your dream? “I want to help, not just my family, but other people who may need help. I want to be a helper and entrepreneur at the same time.”
What do you hope to do as a career or occupation? “My first career, I wanted to go to school to become a health trainer, but I changed that because I got injured so much that I did not think it would be a good thing to do. So I changed to construction because I like to build stuff. I have massive energy. It’s something I can focus on and put all my energy into one thing and just keep the rhythm going.
“I want to be my own boss, but other than that, I just want to help people get jobs in what I like to do. I like construction. I want to be able to show people how to do construction. I am planning to go to Grand Rapids Community College for residential construction, HVAC and construction management. From there, I want to open up my own business and be able to do all kinds of stuff with it.”
How are school and your teachers helping you achieve your dream? “All the teachers I’ve had, from freshman year to senior year, have been a big help all the way through school. I love the teachers here.
“Mrs. (Karen) Huizing was a big help. I met her this year and I think she is the number one teacher of all my teachers, because she actually showed me true love and helped me achieve what I wanted to do and told me how to express myself. She really helped me a lot.
“Mrs. (Kristi) Bonilla and Mrs. (Kelly) Ibarra, they also were both a big help in that they knew the stuff I had gone through. So they helped me with a lot of stuff I could not figure out on my own, such as school, legal, family and personal (issues).”
What would you tell others searching for their career? “Do whatever your heart desires. Never let anybody tell you what to do or how to do it, unless it’s good advice. Don’t let anybody ever take you down, and follow your dream.”
Read more from Godwin Heights:
• Leading the band, on field and off
• Paging Dr. Lohany
