Steele Canyon Junior Aims High After Receiving Sponsorship

A Bridge for Kids receives 100's of applications from low income teens each year and we make a point to interview EVERY one of those students.  This takes 1,000+ volunteer hours to accomplish  but it is well worth the effort because we routinely meet kids that are deserving of a "hand up". A recent trip to Steele Canyon High School was especially rewarding, because we meet Tyler.  That is until he turned 9, and his family was flipped upside down when his mother was diagnosed with Stage 2 Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma.  After this devastating event, the family began going through financial issues due to the fact that it was just his dad that was employed now, working as an Elementary School Custodian and the family had no other source of income. The family also had to start paying for very expensive radiation and various chemo treatments for Tyler's mother. This predictably put a strain on their bank account as the family lived paycheck to paycheck.  Tyler and his family persisted through all of these events, and are now much stronger and far more bonded together.   Although his mother is now doing much better and is clear of any tumors at the moment, the family’s savings are now completely drained from these treatments.Tyler was recommend to A Bridge for Kids by his high school counselor, was interviewed by one of many volunteers who travel the county each day, and was fortunate enough to find a sponsor who was interested in helping to level the playing field for him and provided him with a $1,000 sponsorship.  Immediately after receiving the good news, Tyler signed up for an SAT prep class that was just starting and was awarded the last seat on our West Coast College tour to be held in July.  Overjoyed, he sent his sponsor a thank you note (see below) expressing his gratitude for her act of kindness.If you would like to sponsor someone like Tyler, please contact us at info@abridgeforkids.org or to make a donation please click here. A thank you note to my sponsor:I have no words to describe the amount of gratitude and appreciation that I have for you and your selfless sponsorship. Although it may not seem like much to some, this sponsorship means so much to me. I would like to introduce myself and my interests, my family dynamic, and what your sponsorship will be utilized for.My name is Tyler, and I am a junior in high school. I am extremely invested in my schoolwork, and simply obtaining any goals that I set out to achieve. In my free time, I like to read, listen to music, learn, and act in musicals. I live with my dad, mom, and adopted brother. My dad is a custodian at an elementary school, and my mom is a Special Education TA, also at an elementary school. My brother is 19 years old, and he currently works in a factory job. None of my family members have ever even attempted to graduate from college. I want to break this cycle and become the first person in my family not only to graduate from college, but to eventually get my PhD. At the moment, I am debating between majoring in an engineering background, where I would make a lot of money, or majoring in a history background, which is my true passion, although there would not be as many job opportunities.Through this sponsorship, I will finally be able to take some community college courses over summer, specifically Statistics and Pre-1250 AD Art History, and actually succeed in them. Similarly, I will be able to buy AP prep books for next year’s plethora of AP courses, which include Government, Economics, Calculus, Chemistry, English Literature, and Psychology. In addition to academics, your sponsorship will be heavily utilized in order to ease the strain that participating in musicals has on my family. Every year, my family must pay over $500 to allow me to participate in musicals, and these fees bring much financial strain to my family. By sponsoring me, I will be able to use that money to fully involve myself in these musicals, without having to stress about finding the finances to do so.Your sponsorship really means the world not only to me, but also to my family, as without you, I am not completely sure I would be able to fully involve myself in as much as I will be able to with your sponsorship.Sincerely, Tyler