I Love The Growth, Hope and Future LMC Gave Me

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My name is Jakeria Thomas and this is my Story of Change. 

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Before I joined LMC, I was just ok with going to school and going to the Boys and Girls Club. It was fun and exciting to go because I was young and all my friends went as well. We would go everyday after school, playing all the board games and watching the teenagers play basketball, but a shift changed when I turned 15. 

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At the time, my family was going through a lot of poverty, always worrying about a place to lay our heads and find our next meal. I would wake up wondering where my brother Jimmie was. One day, I finally asked him.

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He told me he was working. I knew my other siblings were working; they would tell me about all the exciting things that happened during their work hours. That made me realize that I want to do more productive things with my time. But I was the youngest of six siblings; it was going to be a slow process for me. Also, my sisters had kids a little young so, while everyone was at work or living their lives, I had to stay home and babysit, which made me angry.

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The summer was approaching and I finally had an opportunity to change everything I didn't like about my life before. When my brother Jimmie came home from work and told me to be physically and mentally prepared for work tomorrow, there was not an option to say no.

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I was nervous, excited and finally able to be productive with my time.

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The next day came. We woke up at 7 am sharp to get ready.

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Jimmie told me to put on some shoes and clothes that I don't care about because I would get dirty. So we did exactly that and then walked down the street from where we were staying with our granddad towards the Boys and Girls Club. That’s where our ride was picking us up.

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Mrs. Clarie drove up; she’s a very nice lady and it was a great car ride towards the job. After 10 minutes, we finally arrived at Lookout Mountain Conservancy and honestly, it didn’t look like much. We all walked into the brown cabin and my brother Jimmie told me to just sit down and wait for directions, so I did exactly that.

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Then Mrs. Robyn came by with an exciting welcome. Another intern named Jada was there; Mrs. Robyn asked: do you two know each other? 

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We shook our heads: no. She said get to know each other and then she walked off. I was confused and willing to do anything she told me, so we did exactly that. We asked each other’s names and got on with our day.

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Then, everybody walked across the street with their boots and uniforms looking like experts ready to work. So, I got up and went along with them. They were some type of long tool, with lime green string everywhere on the ground and backpacks full of water. Once again, I was confused.

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Then Jimmie came and gave me some gloves and the long tool — a weed-eater, I later realized — and showed me how to work and load it. 

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He told me: “I’m only going to show you how to do this once because that’s how they did me.” 

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I looked at him with irritation. But I definitely paid attention and locked in. He cranked it up in the middle of the street, the green string spinning super fast.

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Then, he gave me a pep talk and a few minutes later everybody was steady. We walked toward the hill and turned left up another hill and then, a moment I’ll never forget.

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I was standing before one of the first most beautiful sceneries I have ever seen. I literally had to stop and pause and take it in. I’d never seen anything like it.

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Then, I got to work, and asked a lot of questions of Jamal, a purple-shirt intern. (Each intern has a colored shirt designating his or her time and experience and leadership.) A few years later, I would earn a lavender t-shirt before anyone else. I had no way of knowing or imagining that at the time. 

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That first day, I remember working so hard that my brother came and told me to slow down — “You’re working harder than me” — but I continued because it was fun to me. I continued to do that for the next volunteer days and then, of course, I got the job.

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At the time, as part of the interview process with other interns, they asked me a question that I’ll never forget.

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“Where do you see yourself in five years?”

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“LMC,” I said. 

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And I’m still standing with that three years later. 

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Over the three years, LMC was one of the most transformative experiences I've ever had. It helped me open up, become a partner and leader while learning to work under the most challenging weather conditions. I have become the most resilient person.

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Now I'm the first intern in LMC history to earn a lavender shirt without graduation requirements. That’s when I knew I was capable of anything despite the requirements, my background and what anyone else didn’t see in me.

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Mrs. Robyn, a boss, saw it and that’s the only attention I was looking for. I loved the hope and growth it gave me as a person and the future that Lookout Mountain Conservancy can give me. 

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Now, I'm going to college for landscape design and to hopefully be a part of LMC with Jennifer (the incoming intern leader) and I'm excited for that just as my first day stepping on the Lookout Mountain Conservancy property.

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