Christian Ruiz

 

Christian Ruiz chose to go to the Acorn High School for Social Justice because he was interested in their forensic program. When he went there, however, he found it wasn’t yet available. After becoming disengaged, he stopped showing up to class. In his third year, he didn’t have enough credits to be a junior and decided to drop out. Since he was under age, his mother had to sign a consent form. His counselor strongly suggested a program called The Way To Work (formerly known as VFI).

“At first, I thought: Here we go again, another school, but it was different,” he said. “The way people dressed wasn’t like high school, where kids wore their pants hanging low; it was more professional.”

At The Way To Work, Christian enrolled in the Computer Technology training program and began to learn the value of having a job and succeeding in life. During a The Way To Work job fair, a recruiter from Amalgamated Bank hired him as a Mail Clerk, where he earned $10.50 an hour. He graduated The Way To Work in Spring 2007.

Although he was working, he didn’t have his GED which was a requirement to work at the bank. “They told me: If you don’t have your GED after your three month probation is over, we’ll have to let you go.”

Facing the harsh reality of the workforce, he contacted The Way To Work for help in obtaining his GED. He was able to pass it and keep his position at the bank and is now earning $11.50 an hour with benefits. He is also taking online courses at The University of Phoenix towards an Associate’s Degree in Criminal Justice, which he hopes to gain in November of 2008. He began to revisit his earlier goals of becoming a Forensic Detective which motivated him to take and pass the NYPD exam.

Christian, now 18, plans to attend John Jay College for Criminal Justice and proceed to join the NYPD after his 21st birthday. He hopes to join the F.B.I. in the future.