FARAI CHIDEYA, host:
There are 122 centers across the country. Esther Johnson recently visited the Guthrie Job Corps Center in Oklahoma. It serves more than 40,000 young men and women in that state, as well as Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas and New Mexico. Thirty-two-year-old Franqee Higgens graduated from the Guthrie Center. He's now an electrical inspector living in Dallas.
Now Franqee says Job Corps wasn't easy. After some tough early years, Job Corps taught him more than just a trade. Through the program, he ultimately learned how to save himself. Here's Franqee Higgens in his own words.
Mr. FRANQEE HIGGENS (Job Corps Graduate): Upon graduating from high school, I decided to take the path of selling drugs and running with gang members. And that's all I did. And one day, I was sitting on my couch smoking marijuana and a commercial came on. And I didn't know what it was about, but it says where do you see yourself in five years? You know, and I kind of just sat there, like, man. I haven't ever thought about that question.
So I wrote down the number, and when I called them, they were like, welcome to Job Corps. How can we help you? When upon entering Job Corps, they gave me a drug test, which they do to all the students. And if you fail you have to take another drug test in 15 days. Well, upon taking my drug test, I found out that I've scored record levels of drugs in a man's system. I had the most ever recorded at the Guthrie Job Corps at that time.
The funny thing, you know, after I passed a second drug test, I started back smoking. I go home every weekend. I still was selling drugs, so it was like I knew how not to get caught basically. Made it through the program. I took plumbing.
Once I'd left the Job Corps, you know, I was out applying for jobs and everybody wanted to give me a drug test. It's like, wow. I never stopped smoking, so I couldn't get a job. And they pulled a cup out and say can you pee in this, and I just walk out because it's like I know I can't pass this. And that was when I decided, okay, call Job Corps back. You need to get back up here and take it serious, so…
Things were going well when one day a young student who is in class with me, he used to stare at me all the time. And I could tell he was high, you know, I'd been there before. And after about two weeks, he walks out to me and hands me marijuana. And I'm looking like, okay, what's this for? And he's like, will you turn this in for me? You know, I want to stop smoking and I want you to show me something. Teach me, show me how to wire. I was doing electrical house wiring, so he was like show me what you know. And it was at that point that I realized, okay, not only am I student here but I'm being looked up to as a role model.
There were 650 students on center. I'd say it was probably 85 percent black, 10 percent Hispanic, five percent white. They come from low-income housing. A lot of them actually came from foster homes and lot of the females come from sexually abusive backgrounds. A lot of the guys come from no man in their lives, you know, and myself included, there were no men in our life. For a lot of the students on the center the staff was the first time we've really dealt with an authority figure, which was a challenge to some of us.
My last week on campus, I won top vocational student. And it didn't dawn on me at the time, but I remember joking with my instructor months before saying, my goal is to win every award the center gives out. And when I won that vocational student of the month, that was the last award on that center that I hadn't achieved.
And actually last month I just came back from Florida, at the International Builders Conference, where HBI, which is the educational branch of the National Association of Home Builders, presented me with the Presidential Award as top former Job Corps student.
Job Corps taught me how to take responsibility for my actions. I preach it to anybody willing to listen. I do a lot of talking to people who stereotype Job Corps as, oh, that's a bunch of thugs and a bunch of bad kids, and we don't want to hire them. You know, actually I'll start off telling them here's my credentials. Then when they say where'd you learn, it's like Job Corps. I would like to go back to Job Corps and serve as a role model and a mentor to show the students, hey guys, I was here - one day have a former student come back and be my boss.
CHIDEYA: That again was Franqee Higgens, a 32-year-old electrical engineer living in Dallas, Texas. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.