A little mentoring can go a long way

TREVON ANDREWS/Clarendon Citizen - Maryann Donahue and her mentor Dwayne Ismail were featured speakers at the Communities in Schools Career Day on June 28.

When Business Leaders Youth Alliance Director Dwayne Ismail spoke at Phoenix High School in December of 2009, he asked the students if they knew what they wanted to do with their lives.

One young woman, Maryann Donahue had a plan.

She wanted to enter the military, get her college education and eventually become a forensic scientist.

What she didn’t know was how to get there.

She needed a mentor to help guide her on her path, and Ismail volunteered for the job.

Donahue graduated first in her class in 2010, and in her valedictory speech, tearfully thanked Ismail for his guidance.

“For the first time, I felt that somebody actually cared about what I wanted to do and he encouraged me to ‘go for it,’ instead of telling me that I wouldn’t be able to do it,” she said.

Today, Donahue has finished 20 weeks of basic training for the Army National Guard and Private Donahue is a proud member of the 131st Military Police Battalion at Beaufort. She gives them one weekend a month and two full weeks once a year and the Guard is giving her a chance to fulfill her dreams. She thinks it is a very fair exchange.

“I will always remember Mr. Dwayne telling us about the elephant story,” she said. “He explained that when circus elephants are young, their caregivers will put a rope on their legs, so if they try and run, they can be pulled back. Teenagers have that rope, but there comes a time to break the chain and do what we want to do instead of settling for less.”

Ismail said his challenge to the Phoenix High students was his mantra … stay motivated, follow your dreams and be the best.

“I challenged the students to know what they wanted to do in life,” he said, “Maryann was the first one to raise her hand with an idea of what she wanted to do. She told me that she wanted to graduate, go to college, go in the military and become a forensic scientist.”

Dwayne said that even after graduation, they stayed in touch.

“I encouraged her stick with her dream,” he said. “I would send her newspaper articles about her goals and we slowly developed a trust relationship. I kept on her to make that military dream happen.”

Ismail said that the turnaround in Donahue is amazing.

“I’ve seen where she was and where she is now is amazing,” he added.

Today, Donahue is working at Sub Station II and assists Ismail in talking to kids about staying on track and trusting their dreams.

“Because he believed in me, I will see my dreams come true,” she said.