Graduation is a time of great accomplishment, where students celebrate all the hard work they have done, reaching this major milestone in their lives. This accomplishment is a source of pride not only for the students and their parents but also for their Specialists who helped them reach this point.
One of those specialists is Jobs for North Carolina’s Graduates (JNCG) College & Career Specialist Lindsey Morgan. “Watching them walk the stage on graduation day, it just, I mean, obviously I cried and got emotional, but it just meant so much. Knowing so much about them personally and how much they had to overcome to get there.” She said when remembering her first graduating class. “I actually was the keynote speaker for their graduation, so it made it even more stressful, but sweeter, being able to directly speak to them about how I felt about them and how I was feeling on that day.”
Lindsey has been with CIS’s JNCG program for 2 years. Before joining CIS, she was a teacher in South Carolina, debating her future in education. Feeling burnt out, she moved to North Carolina and decided to give teaching one more chance. She applied for this position with CIS of North Carolina. “I’m super glad that I applied for the job because this has brought back my love of teaching”, says Lindsey.
“When I meet them, I learn what they’re interested in, and that helps direct what happens in the classroom. If I have a student who comes in and says they are interested in welding, I’m going to contact someone I know in welding to see if they will come in and speak with the full class.” Lindsey says.
Lindsey has helped many of her students overcome obstacles both in school and at home, connecting with them during some of the most difficult times. One of her students started the year homeless, living in a hotel with his mother and father. Just before school started, his mother passed away. “All of that bad happening. He still was himself. He came to me a lot, which was fine. I helped him with whatever I could.”
Another senior, who is graduating this spring, started the school year as a very shy student. She helped him gain confidence in himself and come out of his shell. “He loves hunting, fishing, all that good stuff. So I asked him about birds and his bird hunting. And since that day, he has not stopped speaking to me about it.”
Lindsey loves seeing her students succeed and triumph over whatever obstacles stand in their way. She compares the transformations her students go through to the legendary phoenix, “There are so many bad things you have gone through and so many things that have torn you down… if you look at yourself like that, a phoenix being reborn out of those ashes, you are becoming something more beautiful. And by graduating, they have made it, they’ve done it… and that’s something to be insanely proud of.”