Marine Corps Base Quantico --
His own personal story is what brought Sgt. Micah
Patrick, financial management resource analyst, Training and Education Command,
to Saturday’s Leadership Mentor Workshop at the National Museum of the Marine
Corps.
Intended to provide positive role models for local
youths, the program paired 21 Prince William County teenagers from challenged backgrounds with seven
Marines who overcame similar obstacles while growing up to make better lives
for themselves.
The program’s mission struck a personal chord for Patrick
and each of the other Marines who volunteered to be there.
“I can relate to these kids,” Patrick said. “I was raised
by a single mom and there were a lot of negative influences around me. But I
knew that I didn’t want that for myself and that I wanted a better life. The
Marine Corps changed my life. It changed my attitude; it changed how I see
everything. It changed my life and it can change anybody’s life.”
Sgt. Michael Hough, intelligence analyst, Marine Corps
Intelligence Activity, echoed similar comments before offering his own personal
testimony that described the daily challenges he faced while growing up in Sacramento,
California.
“When I see these guys, I feel like I’m looking at
myself,” Hough said.
The second-year NMMC program, which is run in conjunction
with the Gang Response Intervention Team Coordinator serving Prince William
County and the cities of Manassas and Manassas Park and supported by the Marine
Corps Heritage Foundation, is designed to improve leadership skills and better
enable the teens to make good decisions.
“Personally, I think it’s one of the most important
programs we have,” Jim Bish, the NMMC’s Teacher in Residence.
It didn’t take long for the teens to begin warming up to
the Marines after breaking up into their individual groups. Following a tour of
the museum by Docent Lonnie Martin, a former Marine Corps Base Quantico
sergeant major, the group broke for lunch before each of the Marines gave their
own stirring personal testimonies.
The students concluded their four-hour experience with
the Marines with a role play activity and the writing of reflective questions.
“You are the future of America, and we believe in you,”
Gunnery Sgt. Frankco Westry, chief instructor, Staff Noncommissioned Officer
Academy, told the teens at the start of the day.
Writer: jhollis@quanticosentryonline.com