My name is Michael, I am 18 years old.  I am from Philadelphia, PA.I lived there until I was 12 years old.  At the age of 12, I moved to North Carolina. I have four brothers and two sisters. I am the oldest of them, which left me with the most responsibility. I had to grow up fast. I left public school at the age of 13, and started an online high school program. At first I was very consistent with getting my work done, until I got married at age 14, and soon after my first child came. Before my first child I had different jobs, such as working in home improvement, and helping a friend with his mobile hot dog cart.  When I turned 15 I started working at my current job, at Chick-Fil-A.  When I was 16, my second child was born.

I decided to get my GED after I had put off my schooling for some years.  My wife went to the Durham Literacy Center Teen Career Academy to get her GED, and talked about how much of a benefit the program was and how people worked with her to get her GED while also taking care of our two small children. I worked hard and earned my GED in about 4 months. Malcom worked with me and was considerate of my work schedule.  Malcom helped me succeed in getting my GED and helping me with college and work opportunities.

​

I am proud to say I am now a manager at Chick-Fil-A. My goal in life is to be a good husband and father. My career goal in the next couple of years is to go to college and become a nurse, and to continue to support my family the best I can.



(The video to the right includes highlights from Michael's speech at the DLC's 2010 Leaders in Literacy Breakfast.)