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Deonte started to have missing assignments towards the end of Grade 8. When he started high school, he said “it was like a snowball effect, like turning in assignments a month late.”
By grade 12, he didn’t have enough credits to graduate with his class. He was behind in all of his classes, and getting caught up felt impossible. He also felt like asking for help made him a burden, like he messed up in some way.
What’s more, in his own words,
“If Mom got on me about it, I’d say don’t worry Mom I got it! …knowing darn well I don’t got it.”
Deonte wondered if he should maybe just drop out of high school.
Fast forward a few months. Deonte is set to graduate and told me that the last few weeks have been the best of his academic career. His favorite thing was that he’s been actually LEARNING the stuff they’re teaching in school. Marks in the 80s and 90s are pretty awesome too 🙂
Deonte’s story is inspiring and a testament to what is possible for EVERY teen. Check it out in full here.
Highlights:
What enabled you to WANT and ACCEPT help?
“Through Komo I’ve learned that sometimes you’re gonna need help and if help is being offered you should take it…two hands are better than one right?”
What changed when you started learning how to learn, when you decided to let us help you?
1. I opened up to my mom about it. I wasn’t happy. She asked what she could do to help…she said “I don’t know what to do right now but I’ll figure something out.” At that time, she was working with Komo and she said she thought their program would help.
2. My mom gave me the decision whether to do it or not, which is weird because my mom never gives me decisions.
3. I decided to do the Komo program and that’s probably the best decision I ever made in my 18 years of life. The team helped me get on track with a schedule, the calendar, actually learning…everything helped me get back on track.
What was the most helpful in creating this incredible change for yourself?
1. Wanting to do the work that’s in front of you. If you don’t wanna do it, you’ll procrastinate and get lazy. You’ll make it harder on yourself. Set goals for yourself with school. For me, it was getting better grades and finishing high school strong, and in order to do that I had to have a great, well-rounded relationship with my school work and teachers. And that’s exactly what I built.
2. Calendar. Before, a calendar wasn’t even in my vocabulary. Thankfully, you guys made me do that because honestly, the calendar set up is easy…and it gives you such a simple way of looking at what you have for today, the week, the month. I have all of my work in the calendar so I can set up what I’m doing for the next two weeks.
3. Note taking, especially with doing well on tests.
4. The help I got. Being told: we’re here to help you but you have to help yourself. It’s like driving – you’re the driver and we’re the passengers here to help you. That stuck with me. It felt powerful. One of the reasons I thought I should join Komo was because of that. I’M the driver. I had supporters. I just have to press the gas medal and I move forward.”
