Excerpts remarks written and presented by Shantel Mercedes, AL’s first class of Apprentices at the 2024 Spring Gala
In 2012, I was in the 8th grade at Mission Hill and became one of the first students to participate in Apprentice Learning, a program to help us get jobs and secure internships. I was a teen who had no work experience, and no clue what I was doing, however, I was still excited.
And honestly, I was probably more excited because I got to leave school early and “go to work”, for six once-a-week sessions!
Apprentice Learning gave me my first experience in the workforce. It was during my apprenticeship that I learned the value of responsibility, hard work, and dedication to self. I was already a responsible kid, however, I started to take my time and my responsibilities more seriously.
I apprenticed at a knitting and fabric store close to my home. The business itself wasn’t so important, rather it was the outcome and progress I would make within myself for myself that I valued.
After graduating from middle school, Apprentice Learning assisted me in applying and interviewing, for the first time ever for a summer job at Brigham and Women’s Hospital at the Center Community Health and Health Equity student programs.
This became my first paid work experience and the foundation of what I wanted to do with my life, what I wanted to learn, and where I wanted my career to go. I was fortunate to have continued in these programs throughout high school and every summer throughout my undergrad.
I am the first person in my family to go to college, not once, but twice. In 2021, I graduated from Mills College in Oakland, CA, with a Bachelor’s in Public Health and Health Equity with a minor in Sociology. This month, I will graduate from Simmons University with a Master’s in Public Health centered around Health Equity and Social justice.
At 26 years old, I have accomplished much in my life. And it all started when I was 13 years old taking part in Apprentice Learning as a part of my 8th grade school day.
It is through opportunities like Apprentice Learning that students begin to develop their voice, to be confident in their existence, and begin to manage the world while still being in a safe space.
When we give students a chance and give them the grace they deserve, it is then that they truly begin to flourish and value themselves. It is a transgenerational effect, where knowledge and skill intersect and can begin to be passed from one generation to the next.
As a Boston native, a woman of color, and a first-generation American born, I had glass ceilings I couldn’t see, or even touch. It is through mentorship, dedication, discipline and perseverance that I have succeeded and continue to succeed in my life. I always say that if it was not Apprentice Learning, I still would have ended up great, but because of it, I ended up better.
