High School - 12th Grade Student
Public Speaking
CIS of Sumter County
How has Communities In Schools made a difference in my life?
By Corey Williams
Hello,
My name is Corey Williams and I’m a senior at the Americus-Sumter Performance Learning Center. I would like to tell you how Communities In Schools has made a difference in my life.
I stand before you today a changed person. Because of Communities In Schools (CIS) through the Performance Learning Center (PLC) I am confident. I want to learn and attend school. Since I have been here at the PLC I have seen a positive change in myself and I think my family and friends have too.
My first couple of years in high school I made some really bad choices. First I started to hang around with the wrong crowd, you know the crowd that smokes, drinks and never comes to class. Pretty soon I was skipping, drinking and didn’t want to learn. I had become part of the crowd. I stayed in School Suspension. I wasn’t motivated and didn’t really have any goals in life.
I felt like my life was falling apart. My dad couldn’t work because he was put in the hospital for kidney failure, my mom lost her job because she got depressed and wouldn’t go to work and pretty soon we lost our home. I had to move in with my best friend because I really had nowhere else to go. Something had to change.
Coming to PLC was the first step in the right direction to making a change in my life. I knew if I would have stayed at the other school I probably would have continued in the same pattern and would probably be either in jail or on the street doing drugs or something. I really didn’t know what to expect when I came to the PLC.
The PLC has taught me so much since I’ve been here. I have realized that without at least a high school education I cant do much of anything besides flip burgers at a fast food place or get some job I don’t really want. I wouldn’t have many choices in life. I came to PLC because I wanted to better myself. I wanted to succeed in life. I wanted to set an example for my little brother and sister and show them the right way of doing things not the wrong. I had to change not just for me, but for my little brother and sister.
Coming to PLC has helped me establish educational goals. My goal is to become a medical physician one day. Thanks to “Charting for Success” I even have a plan for achieving my goal. It will take about eight years of college before I’m done, but I’m ready and more determined than ever. My plan is to go to college and become a registered nurse. Once I become a RN, I will work and pay my way through medical school. The PLC has made me more responsible, determined, outgoing, self-confident and really just a better person.
Learning at PLC is more structured and the distractions are fewer and farther between. At PLC I am surrounded by students who want to learn just like me. The teachers here are great educators and are always there when I need help. I even have a mentor who is there for me when I need someone to talk to. If it wasn’t for my mentor staying on me, I probably wouldn’t have done this speech. Another goal I have is to become a mentor and give back to the community.
I want a sense of achievement in my life. I wouldn’t be able to stand before you all if it wasn’t for PLC. CIS through the PLC program has taught me I have choices in life and inspired me to shoot for the stars. In a few years, if you ever need surgical help, look for Dr. Corey Williams in your local phone book.
In conclusion, I would like to leave you with a quote from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. “Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.” Thank you CIS for reestablishing my faith and making a difference in my life.