“The highlight of my time at Job Corps was my instructors. They made me who I am today.”
When Tony Flowers first arrived at the Gary Job Corps Center, he was looking for a way to make money so he could purchase his own clothes. He had always worked dead-end jobs, including shoveling the snow during the Detroit winters and working a newspaper route. He knew he was ready to do more; but without a high school diploma, he knew he couldn’t get far.
If you were to look at Tony on paper before he came to Job Corps, you might not guess that he would one day become a successful business owner who even employs Job Corps graduates himself now.
“I needed to get my GED, and at Job Corps, I did it in record time,” Tony said. Job Corps was an entirely new experience for Tony. “Things like curfew and coming up with a study plan weren’t easy for me; I was so used to doing what I wanted on my own time. But I had to get serious if I wanted it to pay off,” he said.
While the structure and new way of life weren’t always easy for him, he found solace in his new routine and embraced it. He became a model student at the Gary Job Corps Center and gave speeches about the pros of joining Job Corps to new students during their orientation. He took great pride in being a dorm monitor. “I liked keeping the peace,” he said. “Those leadership roles helped me become a man and helped me get ready to be a business owner one day.”
Tony cites one of his best memories of Job Corps as the 21 days leading up to his credential completion. He went to Austin, Texas, and experienced hands-on learning in the field. “That was where I saw what it was going to be like in the real world, and I couldn’t wait to start.” He credits the ways that his center staff went above and beyond to help him prepare for life after Job Corps as one of his greatest influences.
Following his completion of Job Corps, Tony knew he did not want to return to his native Detroit because of the negative influences he had in his life previously. Dr. Simmons from the center’s social activity department worked to find Tony housing in Texas and placed him with Brother Bill Jones in Austin, where he was able to live for free so that he could buy a truck and tools to start his career. “Dr. Simmons saw something in me and knew, if I had the right resources, I could make something of myself,” Tony said. “The support from the Job Corps community empowered me to make something of myself for myself.”
Tony now holds his state master’s license in HVAC and refrigeration. He is a proud small-business owner and even employs Job Corps graduates because he knows that those who graduate from Job Corps have the skills they need to make great careers for themselves. Tony often returns to campus giving motivational speeches and creating mentorship relationships with the students. He most recently trained fellow Gary Job Corps grads Marcus and Malik in how to install a walk-in evaporator cooler. “My instructors took me under their wings and raised me up. They gave me books and words of wisdom and taught me to never let one failure define who I am. That is what I want to do for younger Job Corps graduates now,” he said.
Graduated from Job Corps in: 1987 Employer: Business Owner, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Hometown: Houston, Texas Submitted by: Sellars Huy Notes:
Source: Center Submission