Meet Bway
He is a green industry intern at Tree Trust and a graduate of the Tree Trust YouthBuild program. Tree Trust YouthBuild, a pre-apprenticeship program, offers young people ages 16-21 the opportunity to gain hands-on training and earn a paycheck, all while working towards earning a high school diploma. Training includes a construction track and a tree care track, along with employment readiness classes to set personal and professional goals, learn about managing finances, apply for jobs, and take drivers’ education classes. Tree Trust YouthBuild is a bridge leading to personal and professional development for youth facing barriers to success.
“While participating in the Tree Trust program, I got my driver’s license, learned how to do taxes, achieved two certificates in HBI [Home Builders Institute] and TCIA [Tree Care Industry Association], [and] trained to perform CPR and got certified. I graduated high school while I was in Tree Trust. Without Tree Trust I probably would have dropped out.”
– Bway, Tree Trust intern
Constructing the Scaffolding to Success
Bway is a young person with an amazing success story. He is soft spoken and quick to smile. His favorite day working at Tree Trust is any day he gets to use a chainsaw or operate the mini skid steer. Bway was born in a refugee camp in Thailand. His family relocated to the United States when he was a child. Bway joined Tree Trust’s Career Pathways programing as an alternative to a traditional high school education and worked hard to build the future that will fulfill a childhood dream of being a pilot.
What important thing did you learn that will help you in the future?
Something important that I learned that will help me in the future is learning to live independently and know how to navigate the world, [and] learning how to use multiple tools.
Please share a time/experience where you stepped out of your comfort zone and explain how it influenced your perspective.
The first thing was being interviewed for Tree Trust. I went through the interview. I got hired. But some feedback they gave was that I was being a bit vague with my answers. In the long run I’m more comfortable with interviews [and] more comfortable with social interactions overall and more confident in myself.
Did you have an American Dream?
I didn’t know what America was. As far as I was concerned the refugee camp was all there was in the world. The only thing that I knew for certain was that I wasn’t allowed to leave the camp. I wanted to become a pilot. I think I was like 3 or 4 in Thailand, and I saw a helicopter land in the soccer field that came to our camp. I remember asking my dad, who was holding me up to see the helicopter, if I could fly in it, and he was like, “No, that’s only for the Thai government.” Now, you know, I’m in America. I have the opportunity to not only get on that aircraft but to be the pilot.
Bway successfully completed Tree Trust YouthBuild with a high school diploma, new technical skills with equipment, and sharpened employment readiness skills for any career he chooses. He is currently attending Saint Paul College with plans to transfer to a flight school program in Mankato, actualizing his childhood dream of becoming a pilot. If you are a graduate of Tree Trust programming, we’d love to hear your story too! Reach out today and share with us how Tree Trust transformed your life. Click here to share your story!
