A teacher once told Multnomah County Chair Jeff Cogen he was a loser who would never amount to anything.
Speaking to 55 graduates of SE Works’ Class of 2011 who’ve overcome dropping out, being in jail or in gangs to earn their high school diplomas, Jeff said that he had also gotten into trouble in school. He skipped classes and argued with his parents and teachers. He even got kicked out of middle school.
“That was a low point,’’ he said in a commencement speech at the Franklin High School auditorium last week.
Multnomah County has awarded funding to SE Works to develop educational and work opportunities for young people for the last six years, most recently $28,500.
Jeff told the graduates that getting in trouble was a turning point for him. He started at a new school where he got involved in debate and found his ability to argue was “suddenly a good thing.’’ He went on to graduate high school, college and law school. Twenty years later, he has a job he loves but “never knew existed and could not have ever had without an education.’’
Jeff applauded the students who had overcome so many hurdles. Forty-five of the graduates have either enrolled or are expected to enroll in college.
“There will be days ahead that get you down, but remember what got you here today and take strength from that.”
Among the graduates was Selina Quintero, 17. She had dropped out of a school more than a year when she connected with SE Works and found people who “supported me, believed in me and kept me going. I did it,’’ she said.