Photo By Christopher Hurd | Air Force Tech Sgt. Chris Pearson, noncommissioned officer in charge of logistics at...... read more read more
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WASHINGTON -- For some people overcoming adversity helps to define and push them to be the person they are capable of becoming.
For Air Force Tech. Sgt. Chris Pearson, noncommissioned officer in charge of logistics at the Pentagon Tri-Service Dental Group, it is overcoming that adversity in his life through help from his mentors that has helped take his life from drugs and violence to living the "American dream."
“Adversity is a monster if you let it whoop your [behind],” he said. “You have to use it as fuel in a positive way; you can’t let the situation you’re in determine your altitude.”
For Pearson, no amount of adversity was going to stop him from reaching his goals.
Pearson grew up in Barry Farm in southeast Washington D.C., a neighborhood that has seen wide spread violence and drug abuse.
Growing up all of his friends started selling drugs when he was young. The drugs and violence ultimately took a toll on his life, losing his first friend at age 12. At 14, a life changing event occurred when he lost three of his friends in one day due to gun violence. After that day, he decided this wasn’t a path that he wanted to go down.
“A light came on and I saw there was more to life,” he said. “I knew I had to be something bigger than what was presented here, I had to be different.”
With the help of his mother and mentors, like his high school basketball coach Michael Grafton, he was able to focus on other things to help him improve his life.
“My mom always used to preach to me the world is bigger than Barry Farm,” he said. “There was more to [life] than standing on the corner dying for something that I didn’t truly believe in.”
Instead of hanging in the streets he spent much of his time playing sports. He used basketball to earn a scholarship to West Virginia University Institute of Technology. In his freshman year however, he would again face adversity after being placed on academic probation forcing him to return home with no way to pay for school.
Out of school and working for a year, his mother feared he would fall back into the drug environment he worked to escape. One day, his mother, who worked at the Washington Navy Yard, brought home pamphlets for the Navy and the Air Force. She gave him an ultimatum, join one or get out. He chose the Air Force.
“[Joining the Air Force] was the best decision I ever made,” he said. “It saved me from a path I didn’t want. It gave me the ability to dream, the opportunity to see the world and the confidence to lead.”
After arriving at his first duty station, he quickly looked for ways to volunteer and help others. At Tinker Air Force base in Oklahoma he took part in his first volunteer opportunity, helping plant flowers and build a playground at a local school.
From that point, he has always looked for ways to volunteer and help others.
In 2010, he received news that his mother had cancer. After transferring to be close to home he got the chance to give back and mentor others like he had been mentored. Something that was instrumental in his life.
“Through every stage in my life I’ve had a mentor to make me better,” he said. “That is why I feel the need to come back and help my community, because so many people invested time in me and I feel it’s only right that I come back and do the same thing.”
Adversity would once again hit Pearson after his mother died from her battle with cancer. Driving his car in his old neighborhood, he was stopped by the police who found a gun in his car. After being arrested, he thought his military career was over. But after his command looked at his record they decided to give him a second chance.
“I’ve seen adversity on levels that people don’t know how these shoulders withstood it and I took that second chance and I’ve been rocking and rolling ever since,” he said.
Today, he mentors 15 kids, three of which started college this fall. When he first started mentoring them they were missing class and failing. After some guidance and encouragement they steadily made progress achieving little goals along the way to making bigger changes in their lives.
“You just need to give them a little push, a little encouragement to get the best results out of them,” he said. “A lot of situations out in this environment, individuals just need to see somebody cares. Once they see that an individual cares, it motivates them and gives them that self confidence that they are lacking.”
In 2012 Pearson was recognized for his community service winning the American Legion Spirit of Service award. It was the biggest honor he had received, but still it paled in comparison to what he gets from the kids.
“There is no award I can win or recognition I can get bigger than a child just saying ‘thank you’ or a parent saying ‘thank you’, that’s the reward I get,” he said. “A simple thank you means more to me than anything.”
At Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling (JBAB) he started working with Air Force Staff Sgt. William H. Dameron to come up with the Joint Uniformed Mentoring Program (JUMP!). The program pairs military members with local elementary and middle school kids. JBAB does some things to help local communities, he says, but we could do a lot more. And that is where JUMP! comes in.
“Not everyone wants to join the military, but we can help push an individual, a teenager or a kid in the right direction to help them achieve their goals,” he said “That is what JUMP! is really striving for. Yes we understand your situation, but let us help motivate, mentor and show you the right way to get this ball rolling because lives can be affected and changed.”
For those thinking about mentoring, Pearson says that motivation comes from within.
“I feel everyone has that willingness to help,” he said. “It just has to come from within. I think everyone has that embedded in them.”
If you are interested in JUMP!, the next training sessions are scheduled for Oct. 8 at 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. at the Stewart Theatre.
For information on the program contact Pearson at 202-997-8749 or email at chris.t.pearson2.mil@mail.mil.
| Date Taken: | 10.23.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 02.29.2016 12:13 |
| Story ID: | 190437 |
| Location: | WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, US |
| Web Views: | 142 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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