Gene Denton 28

Our community needs to tell low-income families how to do stuff and the services available to them. It’s a severe problem. I was talking with my parents about our internet bill. That’s a lot of money, so we called the internet company. They said we could get a cheaper internet bill if we signed up for the affordable connectivity program. I asked people about it, and they didn’t know about it. It’s supposed to help low-income families, but how can they take advantage of them when they don’t even know it exists? Some immigrants may not know how to file taxes and can get help with them. But they don’t know that these resources exist. I think that’s what’s missing in our community: a community center with all this information and people speaking different languages. It would greatly help our community since, where I’m from, it’s primarily low-income families. This community center can’t just help out with that but also with college picking with the families. Letting parents know how they can help out their kids. Tutoring for kids that speak another language because most likely their parents didn’t make it to high school, because I personally experienced this. My parents couldn’t help me because they didn’t make it out of elementary school. The only thing was that I was able to speak English. But what about those who can’t? This is why bilingual people can help tutor those that can’t understand and don’t have English as their first language.

My goal is to get a bachelor’s degree in cybersecurity and begin a career that pays well enough to help my family in Mexico. Seeing my parents work so hard for a better future for their families has inspired me to work hard so that I genuinely have a chance to help out my family or anyone that needs it if I’m successful. I’m unsure which college I want to attend, but I have been accepted to three schools, the University of Saint Mary, Park University, and Northwest Missouri State University. The reason why I choose cybersecurity is that it’s a growing field that’s going to be needed in the future. Its projected growth is 20 percent going into 2025 since technology is constantly advancing. It also has impressive pay. Yearly pay is 53k to 180k, and keep in mind that this industry is still growing, and pay will get even more competitive. If this doesn’t happen, I plan to attend a trade school. At the expos I went to, I made some connections and found that journeymen for construction get to make about 35 dollars an hour, with that being roughly about 73 thousand dollars yearly. This can be a viable option for me as well. Since I’ve worked with my dad in construction, I find it fun to build things and see them grow. I’m a very hands-on person, so this is a job that I am okay with that involves heavy work.

With my first job, I can only support this problem a little, but I can donate money to groups pushing for that ideal community center. I can promote it and make it known. Once it is made, I can help by using my Spanish and telling Hispanic people that there’s a place where they can receive help with all different types of things. I can donate food and help make a pantry for the community where families can get food. These are just essential resources that low-income families should have already, no matter what. With my backup plan, I can use the skills I learned in trade school and help build the building physically. Even potentially help tell community members that want to help build it and be a leader. As well as to donate money once it is constructed and spread the word about the place.