Think Together Staff Story- Meet Aaron
It’s a special moment when someone discovers their passion and what they want to do for their career. For San Bernardino Program Leader Aaron Smyers, that calling happened when he was a Think Together student back in 2009. Aaron began working as a program leader three months ago after being a volunteer from 2016-to 2020. Nothing is more humbling to us than when previous students want to come back to work with us to change the odds for kids for the next generation. These staff stories are special to us as well because we can see just how far Think Together has come over the last 25 years through the eyes of these staff members.
We sat down with Aaron to ask him to share his Think Together journey, and we are excited to share his story with you.
Q. Aaron, could you tell us a bit about how your experience was as a Think Together student?
A. I came to Vista Grande as a brand-new student in 2009 straight from Montclair and started a new school with new people. I didn’t know anybody and Think Together was just a different way to not only meet new people but also be able to work on homework which I needed as a kid as well with an active IEP (Individualized Education Program). I struggled in various subjects and struggled just focusing on homework. I appreciated the collaboration and support of Think Together because I didn’t have to worry about being alone. There are always people there for you and our program leaders were always trying to push us to not only do better for ourselves but also find what we wanted to do as well.
Q. When was the first moment you realized you wanted to be in education?
A. I always loved helping other classes in my program. The staff encouraged us to finish our homework and extra problems so we could help the lower-grade students. I loved being able to help them.
Q. Now working as a program leader, do you find yourself mirroring what the site staff did when you were a student?
A. Yes, one of my favorite program leaders of all is now a site coordinator and she was always so reliable and supportive. She encouraged us to talk about anything and I struggled a lot. As a 6th grader in her class, she saw that, but always gave me opportunities to do better. I see myself pushing forward to be like her and I find myself mirroring even my coworkers now. I want to do better and be better for my students.
Q. How have you seen Think Together evolve through your own experiences?
I want to say the biggest change comes in the budget. From 2009-to 2019, there were more limits to the budget and our site had to get creative with it. But now we have more supporters and partners who want to listen and be a part of our stories and it’s made Think Together that much better because we can afford to do so much more for our kids. The experience just gets better from here as we can give them [the students] better opportunities.
Q. What are your career goals? Do you see yourself staying at Think Together?
A. I love management and organization, and I would love to move up within Think Together. I would love to one day become a quality assurance coach. I would love to stay here my entire career until retirement, I love what I do here, and I love making a difference.
Site staff like Aaron are the backbone of the organization, and we are so grateful to have such passionate and devoted employees who are actively changing the odds for kids within their communities and being positive role models.
If you want to be like Aaron and make a difference in your community, visit thinktogether.org/jobs and see what opportunities are available near you.