Moving On: Mashawn's Story

A little reserved at first, Mashawn reveals a sense of humor and quiet confidence as he interacts with people at Project Hope.

Like many of his friends, he dropped out of school when he was 16, getting involved with a bad crowd. He never did well in school and freely admits he was there for the wrong reasons. “When I went to school, it was for the social life. Things weren’t good at home; I always felt out of place at home.”

“I don’t want to be in Portland all my life. I want to go to College and get a degree. I want to open my own business. I want… to do so much."

Home has always been tumultuous. His mother had Mashawn when she was only 16 and his father, when he wasn’t in and out of jail, was frequently absent.

Nonetheless, Mashawn developed a close bond with his father so, as a 6 year old, it was extremely painful when his father was sentenced to more than 10 years in jail. “When I finally realized how long he was going away for, I kinda shut down. I taught myself to turn my sadness into aggression or anger so I wouldn’t have to deal with it. I thought it was better than being sad at all the time.”

He gravitated towards bad influences and other youths who drank and used drugs. For Mashawn, it was all he had known - growing up, marijuana and alcohol was always present. “I’m 18 with a clean record. Do you know how good that sounds in my family?” he asks.

After failed efforts at various job programs and charter schools, he stopped caring about his future and spent most of his day hanging out with friends on the street –anything that would keep him from going home. “I didn’t get the big picture that it was my fault”.

But he soon realized that without his GED, there wasn’t much hope for a real job. He hated filling out job applications because he knew he wasn’t going to be hired. Without any opportunities, he heard about Project Hope. Unsure at first, Mashawn decided to give the program a try and he’s found that it’s working and helping him get focused.

Mashawn is currently taking prep classes and is about to take his final test for his GED. Beyond that, he’s planning on a marketing degree at PCC and is preparing for the college placement test. At 18, Mashawn is finally seeing that that his future is wide open.