Weegie Heroes has been an inspiring YGT experience. Throughout our celebration, we’ve heard incredible stories from every kind of person and organisation involved in our programme. They have all been fantastic, and show the fantastic work Glaswegians from all over the city are putting into helping the young people who live here. Some of the most moving stories have come from our young people. This one is no exception!
Today we’re sharing an amazing story of commitment, motivation and resilience. This story was written by our Pathways Coordinator, Danielle. Based in every YGT school, each of our PCs support our mentors who are guiding and helping our young people. The young person in this PC’s school has just finished her exams and achieved some truly fantastic results. It’s a testament to the true power of mentoring. Here’s their story:
“It is with great delight that I am writing about one of my very hardworking and inspirational young people, Chloe*. Chloe has recently shown astounding motivation, commitment and resilience when she performed exceptionally well in her recent exams, despite enormous pressure. My young person is a carer for her mother. Chloe also suffers from health issues herself, which cause her a lot of pain when she takes on too much at once.
Chloe was referred to me by her Pastoral Care Teacher as she felt that Chloe could really benefit from the support of a mentor. When I first met her, she was very down at the time and seemed like she had the weight of the world on her shoulders. To begin with, she was quite dubious about mentoring but with a little coaxing, she decided to give it a try. Shortly after that, she was matched with her mentor Jacqui, who Chloe feels has helped her massively. Being able to talk to Jacqui about her family and her school work has really helped Chloe to cope and to remain focussed on achieving her potential. Jacqui helped Chloe with exam preparation and also helped her to look at courses which she hopes to apply to this academic year.
Being a young carer can be an extremely tough challenge at times, however Chloe balanced her responsibilities whilst undertaking four Highers and a NAT 5 last year. Chloe also took part in a course at the University of Strathclyde called the Access to a Career in Teaching Programme which is a course that she commits herself to every week as she has her sights set firmly on a career as a Teacher when she finishes S6 in June 2017 (either Primary School or an English Teacher). Therefore it is truly amazing that in the face of all of this adversity and enormous pressure that Chloe achieved a tremendous 3A’s and 2B’s for her Highers and NAT 5 for her 2016 exams… what an achievement!
Chatting to Chloe now, I see a huge difference from the girl who I first met. She has grown so much in confidence and she finally believes that she is capable of doing whatever she sets her mind to. This time last year, she predicted that she would perhaps manage to get C’s in her exams so she is so proud that she managed to do so well. It is lovely to see her smiling and she has really come out of her shell and I really believe that Jacqui has had a lot do with that. I can’t thank Jacqui enough for the support she has given Chloe so far, and I can’t wait to see what they will achieve together this term.
I am so proud of Chloe and what she has achieved this year. She persisted where many people would have given up and her triumph is a reflection of the inspirational young lady that she is growing up to be. She has made so much progress since she joined the YGT mentoring programme and she continues to set herself more challenges. This year she has her sights set on achieving 4 more Highers within school and even Advanced Higher English at night classes at college. Chloe is the epitome of Young Glasgow Talent and she personally demonstrates just how far you can go in life if you have motivation, commitment and resilience… you go girl!”
*Child’s name has been changed to protect their identity.
We have many more young people signing up for Young Glasgow Talent’s help. They need mentors to make a huge difference to their confidence, educational outcomes and future life chances. Can you help them? You’ll guide disadvantaged, but utterly deserving and ambitious, young people through their education. Find out more about Becoming A Mentor.
We’re always looking for new mentors to reach all the new young people who are coming on board with the programme. Help us spread the word by letting your friends and family know how worthwhile mentoring can be using the ‘share’ buttons below!
Can your organisation help? To become involved in our Talent Taster programme, alongside our partners such as Glasgow Life and The Herald, simply GET INVOLVED! We can’t wait to work with you to offer our city’s most needy a gateway to an expanding menu of opportunities and tasters of university, college and employment.
