Story and photo by Jan Anderson, editor
When 2008 opened, Nicky Mann was headed nowhere fast. Into drinking and drugs, the failing high school sophomore had little respect for herself and others.
Now, as the year draws to a close, she has made a 180 degree turn. She has her GED, scored well on college entrance exams, and is taking college courses.
Even her physical appearance shows her new pride. She has lost 27 pounds, won a national physical fitness award, and cleaned up her act in terms of personal hygiene.
Best of all, the sixteen-year-olds face beams, she meets questioners eye to eye and she expresses confidence that her future is going to be far different from her past.
“My world revolved around getting high every day...It just seems like the stupidest thing I’ve ever done in my life,” says Mann.
She credits her time with the Montana Youth ChalleNGe Program for the changes.
Although she is still close with some of the Jefferson High staff who tried to help her and shared the joy of her newfound success with some of them when home in Boulder for Thanksgiving, Mann says she was sinking at public school. “There are kids that just don’t fit that mold,” she says.
In contrast, the staff at the MYCP in Dillon were part of her life 24-7. No matter what time of day or day of the week, she could and did turn to them for support. “They’re protective of us. They encourage us,” she says.
That encouragement will continue as Mann crosses the stage December 20 to accept her military school diploma from MYCP – and after. A mentor in the community of Boulder will serve as Mann’s confidant and cheerleader as she starts to make her way in the outside world.
“I’m not supposed to be like a parent...I’m there to listen,” says mentor Vanessa Brown.
Brown makes it clear that she expects Mann to succeed. “I’m going to do everything I can to make sure she’s successful,” says Brown.
She adds, “I’m really excited for the next year.”
When Nicky Mann entered the MYCP, a program developed by the Montana National Guard, she had whittled her choices down to almost nothing, she recalls. “I was pretty much down to two options,” Riverside (Youth Correctional Facility) or MYCP, says Mann.
The program in Dillon, with the slogan “A better Montana, one youth at a time!” was designed to help at-risk youth develop skills and abilities necessary to become productive citizens. Participants must be high school dropouts between age 16 and 18, drug free Montana residents able to pass a physical exam. They must also have never been convicted of a felony and cannot be on probation.
There is no charge to the students or their families for participation in the voluntary program.
While in the program, the youths are encouraged to focus on physical, mental, emotional and educational goals. They also receive leadership training, breaking the links to a history of being a follower, and are assigned positions of increasing responsibility within the ranks.
Once finished, the participants are boosted by a mentor who makes sure they are either in continuing education, the job force or the military.
Though several of her MYCP classmates plan to enter the military, for Mann, the plan calls for working for a few months to raise money to start college in the fall. She says the time management skills and self-discipline she learned in the program will help her remain responsible and directed.
Not everyone who enters the program makes it through, says Mann, noting that out of 98 who started in her company, only 61 remain. There were plenty of challenges, and a fair share of tears from time to time, but the hardest part, she says, was “truthfully, living with sixteen girls.”
Anxious to start her new life, Mann spent part of her Thanksgiving break submitting job applications. Writing resumes and cover letters and filling out job applications were among the skills taught at Dillon, she says.
She also will be working to live differently from in the past. Some of her friends from the past are still in the picture, but many will not be, she says. The ones who are still into drugs and drinking will not merit a space in her life, says Mann.
“That’s what I used to do, and it got me nowhere, and they’re going nowhere,” she says.
“It’s not worth my time to get back into that,” Mann says. She is interested in making sure they hear the message of her changes and perhaps recognize an open door for themselves, she says.
Her former friends who are going nowhere are not the only concern for Mann. She has expanded her view and knows that there are things she can do to improve the community around her. While home for the holiday, she gave back, helping in the ambulance barn and assisting the Toys for Tots preparations.
Perhaps the biggest change in Mann’s life, though, will come in terms of her relationship with her family.
“I was an ‘it’s all about me’ kind of person,” she recalls.
“I’ve realized my mom’s a completely different kind of person than I thought she was,” says Mann. “She’s been nothing but supportive.”
Mann’s willingness to accept that parental support now has already influenced the young woman’s path. Initially planning to enter college in January, she talked with her mother and decided that raising money for a while and starting in the fall would be a wiser move, she says.
After all, she says, her mother has her best interests at heart, and college is expensive. Somehow she will work for the money and find a productive life, a far different person than she was just months ago, she vows.
Boulder teen credits youth program for turnaround
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Copyright The Boulder Monitor, 2008. All rights reserved.
