Why I BUILD | Shawn Berriman

National, Metro DC - August 2, 2021

Several months ago, I came across a report on COVID-19’s impact on DC students. It was disturbing. It’s incredibly tough to read it and not feel for those impacted.

There was one particular line in the report that moved me: “Students who attend schools that serve a majority at-risk student population were less likely to report that they have a friend at school and that they feel loved.”

It moved me because that was my high school experience… few friends and the constant feeling that I didn’t matter to anyone.

I reflected on this while attending a BUILD class session. At the end of class the BUILD teacher Marsh, as he is known, dismissed his class with the following: “Goodbye young people and if no one has told you today that they love you, I love you.”

Such a powerful thing to say to someone, let alone a young person who may be struggling with a lack of friends, or feeling valued.

This is one of the reasons that I love BUILD and our work. It’s about more than academics. And it’s about more than graduation. It’s also about students being valued and developing their innate Spark skills to become “CEOs of their own lives.” For me, I’d even go so far as to say that BUILD is about giving students hope… that where someone’s story starts doesn’t have to be where it will end.

I never did receive much adult attention or mentorship until after I graduated high school. By then it was too late to help with my school grades or prepare me to go to college. But, it did leave me feeling valued. And it sparked my journey towards helping others – to becoming the CEO of my life.

That’s one of the reasons why I’m a BUILDer.

WRITTEN BY - BUILD