Every summer, TIF watches students graduate high school and prepare for the next step in their education. For Jesus, that next step is college. This Take Stock in Children alum is currently a freshman at Florida Gulf Coast University. (In his latest note to us, he wrote, “College is AMAZING! Things are going great for me! I love it!”)

Between graduating from Immokalee High School and beginning his freshman year of college, Jesus spent the summer with his family, who work as migrant farmhands — an occupation and lifestyle common among residents of Immokalee. Each day, Jesus took a minute or two to tell us about his summer experiences.

Sunday, July 26, 2009
12:42 p.m.

My family and I were on our way to church, but we didn’t make it in time so we’re heading home. I’m going to start packing my bags because tomorrow I leave for a weeklong summer program at a nearby university. It’s a college readiness program and I’ve been to the program before so this year I was asked to be a counselor so I’m looking forward to that. At the end of the week I’m going to be granted with a $1,000 scholarship that I applied for and I’ll also be paid for my time at the program. The money will be deposited in the bank for when I really need it once I start school.

Monday, July 27, 2009
12:56 p.m.

I’m currently heading towards East Tennessee State University and I’m a little nervous because I’m not sure what to should expect. I’m part of the summer program that’s going on here and I’m going to be a counselor for migrant kids that are attending the program. I’ve never been a counselor before so it’s going to be a new experience, but it’ll help me out in the long run. I hope it’s fun and it should be enriching also. I’m just probably feeling nervous because it’s something new and I won’t really know anyone except the adults hosting the program.

Tuesday, July 28, 2009
7:00 a.m.

So today is Day 2 of a weeklong summer program and it’s been fairly interesting so far. Yesterday was officially the first day, but we didn’t do much. We basically did a quick summary of this week’s goals, projects, and rules, and just covered the basics of what the students should expect. I’m up early because we’ll be heading down to breakfast in a bit. The majority of the students involved in this program aren’t able to speak English fluently and most also are having difficulty in school. My purpose here is to be a counselor and get to know them and give them motivation to continue their education. Most don’t think that they’ll graduate from high school and find that the coursework is difficult. The program directors feel that I can be an example and role model to the students and I hope I’m able to influence some of them, so that they see that with some motivation and determination that they too can graduate from high school.

Wednesday, July 29, 2009
10:37 p.m.

East Tennessee State University is the college that we’re staying at for the week and it’s a fairly large school with about 15,000 students. Today they did some presentations and workshops for the students that mainly focused on college and ways to better prepare oneself. It also covered topics such as financial aid and requirements necessary for college admittance. The students learned so much. I spoke with some of the students and they felt slightly more confident with the information they were given during the presentations. In the late evening we went to a local pool and had a cookout. It was a way to treat the students after the hard work they’ve been doing so far. They enjoyed that event too.

Thursday, July 30, 2009
10:35 p.m.

As I’m writing this we are currently heading towards a museum and afterwards we’re heading towards a local community college. The program directors want the students to see other options to a normal four-year university. We’ll be getting a tour of the campus and have some lunch at the end of the tour. The museum should also be interesting since it’s about bones and fossils.

Friday, July 31, 2009
11:54 p.m.

Today was our official last day before we all depart tomorrow to our homes. Tonight we had a banquet and many awards were handed out to the students for participating in this program. I also received a $1,000 scholarship tonight and my parents were able to attend. It was very touching and I gave a small thankful speech after receiving it. I didn’t have much to say since it was unplanned and I wasn’t aware that they wanted me to say something, but I did anyway. I basically told the students in Spanish that they needed to see the importance of education and continue on with graduating high school. I also advised them that the journey would be a long and difficult one, but the end result would be more rewarding. I ended it by thanking the program directors for making the scholarship possible and said that I greatly appreciated the opportunity.

Saturday, August 1, 2009
1:32 p.m.

Home! I’m so sleepy and tired. This whole week I’ve been staying up late and haven’t had any time to catch up on my sleep, but thankfully I’ll be home soon so I can rest up. I’m currently sitting inside a van with about nine other students who all reside in or around the town that I’m from. We’re just here listening to music and talking about the program and how we enjoyed ourselves. Most of these kids will be going back home to work. That’s all they do in their free time. It’s school and work and my heart goes out to them because they don’t really ever get an opportunity to go out for some fun. I hope they all learned some valuable information and continue on with their education.

Sunday, August 2, 2009
11:23 a.m.

It’s my first day back and I’m already off to run errands and later I’m heading to North Carolina to spend time with some family. I woke up feeling a little sick, but hopefully I will feel better soon.

Monday, August 3, 2009
11:26 a.m.

I just deposited my scholarship money into my bank account and in a bit I’m off to grab something to eat with my mom. We’re running errands again this morning and sometime later this week we’ll be heading to buy things for my dorm. I’m really excited and I can’t believe within a few days I’ll be a freshman in college. It’s overwhelming, but exciting at the same time.

Tuesday, August 4, 2009
4:44 p.m.

I’m heading to Knoxville, Tennessee to buy some groceries with my mom. We’re going to Sam’s Club and I have to be back soon because my dad is going to need me to help out when the trucks come in to unload their tomatoes. It’s going to be another long night. In exactly sixteen days I’ll be moving into my dorm and beginning my first year of college!

Wednesday, August 5, 2009
7:34 a.m.

What time is it? That’s the only question running through my head right now because it’s super early. It almost feels like I’m back in high school. I’m off to help my mom work. She wakes up earlier than the current time to cook food so that we can sell it in the fields. I help her out and have to wake up at this time every day to get things moving. I’m not a fan of waking up early, but I don’t have much of a choice.

Thursday, August 6, 2009
11:32 a.m.

Well, today I was allowed to wake up a little later, but I still have work to do. My mom sells food around this time too so I’m also helping her out. I hope the days continue to fly by a little faster. College couldn’t arrive any sooner. I’m awaiting the experience and fun that I’m going to have, along with the enriching educational portion of it. Just a few more days.

Friday, August 7, 2009
9:45 p.m.

G. I. Joe! The movie just came out today and the previews are rolling in and I’m hoping the hype is well worth my money spent to watch this movie. We got off early from work today so I came to the movies with my sister. I’ve been watching movies all summer! It’s far different back home. The theaters are roughly an hour away so I don’t get the opportunity to go watch anything. I think honestly this past school year I was only able to watch two movies the entire year! It’s crazy, isn’t it?

Saturday, August 8, 2009
10:54 p.m.

It’s so late and I’m still at work. The trucks are unloading the tomatoes that they’ve picked throughout the day and then they have to sort each individual box by size and color. It’s a very lengthy process. It normally takes 18 trucks about three hours in total to fully unload all the tomatoes. I’ll still be here another hour at least. It’s been a long day.

CHECK OUT WEEK ONE

CHECK OUT WEEK TWO

CHECK OUT WEEKS THREE & FOUR

CHECK OUT WEEK FIVE

CHECK OUT WEEKS SIX & SEVEN

CHECK OUT WEEKS TEN & ELEVEN