“I always got there early, and I couldn’t wait to leave,” Adrian, 18, said with a chuckle.
He’s talking about his first year at Boys Ranch, when his first class after lunch was woodshop.
Adrian said his woodshop teacher noticed his early arrival pattern and started giving him small tasks to do.
“Everyone has to start with the basic stuff,” Adrian laughed. “But, I did it and then he started letting me do more things.”
Of all the mentors he has at Boys Ranch, Adrian says this quiet man with a gentle spirit is at the top of his list. In the years since coming to Boys Ranch, Industrial Design Coordinator James Langham has taught Adrian at least as much about life as about woodworking. Adrian continues to work alongside him in the shop in the Experiential Learning Program.
For his part, Langham, too, said Adrian has come far.
“He has become sure of himself, which is a far cry from when he started. He would tell me he couldn’t do this or that, couldn’t make a certain cut. Now that he’s done it over and over, he realizes he can.”
Adrian also realizes he enjoys working with his hands.
“I like taking something that is just wood and shaping it, cutting it, making it into something beautiful.”
This now tall and fit young man, quick with his yes ma’ams and no sirs, sees a similarity between himself and unfinished wood. He may have been a scrawny sapling, but he’s growing into tall, strong timber. Adrian’s keen self-awareness and great sense of humor give him a mental flexibility to bend one direction or another if he needs to.
“This place has given me more than I could have ever hoped for,” Adrian said.Through the confidence he’s acquired at Boys Ranch, Adrian is ready to do whatever it takes to create the wonderful future he deserves.