A Story of Resilience
January 25, 2024 at the Elevation Data Retreat, I met a consultant who sat at my assigned table who was overjoyed to learn about Sea Scope Inc. She told me about her 19 year old nephew Xyren who has been telling the family he wants to be a marine biologist for years, but “they don’t know what to do with him.” I immediately told her to send him to me. So she picked up her phone while in that training session and contacted her nephew.
Within a few days, on January 27th, Xyren attended his first Sea Scope Inc activity, a virtual workshop on coral restoration hosted by DWP-CARES. After seeing his authentic interest in coral species, Xyren was scheduled to meet with me virtually. He explained that he has been interested in marine biology for 3 years after discovering it as a profession through an anime cartoon called JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure. At that time, Xyren had no plans following high school graduation, which was coming up in June. He learned during our conversation that Vincennes University (our University partner) has a 2 year Associates transfer program with a focus in Zoology and Marine Biology, AND that through our AquaForce program he would be able to become a scuba diver, which is a common pathway for many marine biologists. The excitement of knowing that he didn’t have to settle for anything less than what he had dreamed of was something I could see all over his face. That smile!
So, we went to work on getting him prepared to step into his path of purpose. Within two weeks, Xyren applied to Vincennes University, applied for a US passport, learned how to snorkel, completed his SDI Open Water Diver eLearning, and was in the pool for training on February 9th for his open water scuba diver confined water training. Additionally, Xyren was guided through completing his scholar track online requirements and his 21st Century Scholars application appeal. Apparently, Xyren was not registered for the program in middle school. At that time, he admitted to having struggled with his mental health and anger due to his father’s passing and was not the best student.
Not only was Xyren accepted in Vincennes University, he was accepted as a 21st Century Scholar, certified as an SDI Supervised Diver on our spring break training in the Florida Keys, and has been selected to be our 2nd AquaForce Scuba Diver Pro Intern and leaves 4 weeks from today to train in Barbados with Roger’s Scuba Shack to become a Divemaster. As a Divemaster, he will be in a position as a professional diver to even lead scientific dives.
When I asked Xyren, how would he describe HIS story, he said, “it's a story of resilience because I never gave up on my dream of becoming a marine biologist.” His aunt also stated that If you knew the story of Xyren’s painful childhood, you would agree that he truly is an example of resilience. And I agree, God has favored this young man and his strength and joy is admirable to see.
