Audio File
Transcript
My name is Calum Brown. I’m 14.
My name is Damani Brown. I’m 13 years old.
My name is Ross Tedder. I’m 14 years old.
We interviewed Ahmad Wesley on August 13th, 2014.
I’m a Penn Hills grad. I graduated in 1998. I did a lot in my life when I was young. I had run-ins with the law. I went to jail. Just doing things that I know I shouldn’t have been doing, just contributing to the bad part of my community. When I was growing up, there was really nobody in my community that you really wanted to look up to for as being a good example and things like that. My father always instilled who the Lord was to me, who the Lord is. So he’s one of my examples. There’s really not too many.
Grade school… Let’s just start from the beginning. Terrible, because I was a terrible student. I didn’t pay attention. I always goofed around, class clown. As I got to my senior year like high school years, I understood that my education was important, so I graduated, still terrible. Probably with like a 2.3. But when I went to college, I really wanted to become a teacher, so I really went to class, paid attention. I graduated college with a 3.93.
I did have a few goals. When I was young. I had a goal to be a veterinarian. Did I become a veterinarian? No, but I love animals still to this day. My goal was also to become a teacher, and in 2001, I got my associates degree in early childhood education. And then I continue to work with kids now. So has my goal been met? Yes.
Actually, I’ll change my life. Pray. I believe in the Lord. I actually took the Lord to be my number one. So when he became my number one, my life changed drastically. Like I had a lot of opportunities for his teaching, for his coaching, just being a good mentor in the community.
I have two children, but I have four or five other children in the community that I take care of. Is it hard raising kids in this age? No. If you’re a parent, if you’re a true parent, you’re there daily. The kids are gonna go through the same struggles that we went through when we were children, so that experience gives our kids a chance to progress and move further in life. I’m not a big electronic person. All them iPads and add this and add that always on the computer. I think those things take the personal out of the relationship. So I encourage the young folks to always speak to each other. When you see somebody, not just on the text. Don’t walk past everybody on the street and then text him on the phone. Makes no sense to me. I believe in this communication. Communication for me will always be the key for success and doing the right things. So if we don’t communicate, there’s nothing we can do.
My oldest daughter, Amony Wesley. She was born with a heart defect where her heart’s on the other side of her chest. Her intestines is not connected. They didn’t give her a chance to live till she was three. My daughter’s 11 years old. She’s a high honor roll student and has been since day one. And just with her fighting through all that she has been going through- through with her health. She’s not on no medicine, thank God. And she’s doing very well. You would never think that there is something wrong with her heart, by the way, if you see her, in the way she acts. With seeing her go through her pains and trials and struggles lets me know that every day is an opportunity to do better.