Dayce — See Me Because

One of my favorite memories was back in seventh grade, I took a trip with my classmates. We went to Colorado. We were there for a week. And it was just amazing. The people who did go on the trip with me were really close friends. That was a new experience for us. We slept in tents. We stayed up late at night making s’mores over the campfire. There was wild deer running through our camp.

The most important people would have to be my tiny family. Which would include me, my mom, my older brother, and my little brother. We don’t always see eye to eye, but they’re hands down the closest people to me. My mom is a single mother. She has struggled. Me and my brother did the best we could to help. We had other family that were trying to help. And then even though we’re struggling that bad, my mom adopted my little brother and took him in. We’ve had him since he was three months. So he’s just like my little brother, like I don’t look at him any differently. Me and my older brother try to help as much as we can. We both have jobs, so if she needs money, we offer it without hesitation. My older brother, there was never a time when we didn’t have each other’s back. We could argue and fight, but as soon as there is something unfamiliar that came at me, he was right there behind me to help me.

Mom calls me a politician. But I’d say, describe me mature. Something I would change? The morning scans every morning at school. They pat us down, they wand us down. And we go through the metal detector. Our bags go through the metal detector. All of that. They don’t trust us enough to the point where they’re literally patting us down. It’s the way they go about it. If I could, I’d tell them that if you guys want us to stop pushing and shoving through the doors, get us inside and take us through scans that way, through the gym. Because it’s cold outside. You’re not the ones out there standing in the freezing cold. And some of them can’t afford coats, can’t afford warm jackets or thick socks to keep their feet warm. Or shoes without holes in them and stuff like that. So you have no idea what they’re going through. So for you to have them standing outside in the cold -- bring them in the gym. If someone refuses to go through the scan, give him a bus ticket, send them home because they refused. If you want us to get to class, then bring us out the cold.

I’ve been in carpentry since freshman year, and now I’m a junior. And I was going to continue taking it, because that’s all I wanted to be my career for life. But then the opportunity came along for WE Energies. I was extremely grateful. So since then, I had a 3.6 GPA, I’ve been attending school every day. That is something I really want to do for my life career. When they put me in the lineman mechanic position for above ground, they take you in a 80 foot bucket lift and see how you react to heights. I didn’t have any problem with it. I have no problem with heights. I’m good at this and this is what I want to do. I’ll be just helping them with that stuff, and they’ll be showing me stuff and teaching me. And we’ll go from there. I’ll just keep moving higher and higher and closer to the actual lineman mechanic work.

My older brother may not admit it but I know he’s proud of me. I think that’s key. I think everybody needs at least one person to support them.

Milwaukee, 2019