Dayquan Learned Life Lessons

Thank you all for supporting GRuB. Because of your contributions, Dayquan, a 17 year old that wanted to better his life, was able to do so with his GRuB community. Here is Dayquan’s story of how GRuB became his family:

Hello, my name is Dayquan. I am 17 years old and I’m a crew member at the GRuB farm. I am going to tell you about a moment at GRuB that meant a lot to me. Upon arriving at GRuB I was a very judgmental person who was insecure with myself and very misguided.

While meeting the crew I was going be working with, I saw some familiar faces and some not so familiar faces, but what you’ve heard or what you see doesn’t define a person. I was reluctant to go up and say hi to people, thinking, “I was rude to these people and picked on them for years.” And, “after all this time are they willing to forgive me?”

Despite the discouraging thoughts I went up and asked Nina what everyone would be doing after GRuB today, she kindly replied that some of the crew was going on a picnic. I asked if I could come with, and she said yes. I was excited to rub elbows in a sense with my new peers. As we wrapped up our day at GRuB I could feel excitement growing within me. We headed off to the park, conversing and walking to get to know each other a little better. When we got to the park we all sat down in a circle and began to talk with one another. I remember saying something about this generations music and 3 or 4 other voices had jumped in with agreement, the feeling of jubilee and acceptance captured my body, and in a state of euphoria it was like I was thrown back into grade school where you just let loose and didn’t worry about what was cool and what’s not.

With workshops and trust building exercises, we learned never to judge someone for what they look like or how you assume they act like, but by getting to know them on a sympathetic level. This is something I still use today. I can honestly say that GRuB has taught me life lessons my father did not, and has taught me a lot about myself. I have formed a family with my crew members, staff, board members, and my community as well.h the intention of getting to know these people, I asked if could come along

Thank you again, Ellen, Brandon, Kristen, Laurie, and Ken, for making Dayquan’s experience at GRuB possible. With your support, Dayquan feels more confident and open around his peers.