Jesus Reyes, Common Ground Class of 2015, worked with the School Garden Resource Center and with the site crew as part of Green Jobs Corps. Jesus is now a junior at the University of Maine at Machias, studying conservation, outdoor recreation, and marine sciences. Since graduating high school, he has worked in landscaping, carpentry, and masonry, as an automotive mechanic, and for the US Fish and Wildlife Service. This was his second year working with the US Fish and Wildlife Service.
Jesus Reyes, Common Ground Class of 2015, on the coast of Maine, where he is a college student.
Opportunities for self-growth
“Just getting experience in the workplace, that was what most attracted me to it. Being able to speak to people and convey my ideas, learning how to manage myself, learning how to manage time… What really interested me was the opportunities for self-growth. …I used Green Jobs Corps as a tool to get me ready for the real world.”
My eyes were opened to the environment.
“Since attending Common Ground, that’s when my eyes were opened to the environment…it’s not like Green Jobs Corps was the first to bring the environment to my eyes. What they did bring to my eyes, though, was in which way you could take what you learned and teach other people and show other people. It’s one thing to say something about the environment and have people try and understand that way, but it’s another thing to show them, to have them put their hands in the dirt and actually see what you’re talking about.”
Building people skills.
“The entire experience really does prepare you in terms of being able to speak to people, being able to be clear, being able to understand people, listen to them, and try to get where they’re coming from.”
This Green Jobs Corps alumni profile is written by Marisa Vargas-Morawetz, who worked as a Yale Presidential Public Service Intern with Common Ground in summer 2017. Read more about what Marisa learned by talking to Green Jobs Corps program alumni, and meet other program alumni.
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