Minnesota
Medcalf: What good allyship in Minnesota looks like
Archie was also searching for answers after high school while grappling with the unknowns attached to his future.
During the Co-Lab pilot program, he would use his free YMCA membership and encourage others to join him there. He still dreams of playing baseball at collegiate and professional levels someday, but he also enjoys serving as a youth baseball coach in the Twin Cities.
When I met him, I only saw a young man who, through the Co-Lab program, had been given the only gift that moves any human being from hope to action: a belief that the future can be bright.
“Now, I have a growth mindset, meaning I feel like I can build more onto what comes next or say, “Hey, I’m excited for what’s next’ or, even if I don’t know how to do this, I’m going to still try to do it, learn new things, achieve new things, and be better and greater,” he said. “This program definitely made me more confident.”