We asked Olivia Mudge to tell us about her experience in the Johnson City Liberty Partnerships Program. In her own words she talks about what she has experienced, and how Liberty has helped to expand her horizons and open her mind to new possibilities.
I became a liberty student in 5th grade, and was one of the first students in the program when it arrived at JC middle school.
During the three and a half years I've been in Liberty I've gotten to experience many things that only a select few of students could experience. I've gotten to help others and meet people that not many people even know about. The things I've done during this time have made me realize the little things that make impacts on others.
In the past years I've met billionaires, pilots ,directors , and CEO’s. And I’ve helped out the community and others in need. Three years in a row I've helped at the CHOW warehouse to package and reorder food for people in need. I’ve also met billionaire Adam Weitsman and gotten to see what it is like for people working for him.
In only the past year I’ve gone to three different colleges, Ithaca College, SUNY Cortland, and Cornell University. At these colleges I've gotten to see what it's like for everyday students and potentially go there someday. I’ve also had the ability to meet some very experienced people in different workforces who come to Johnson City Schools to meet Liberty Partnership. Such as Ty-muse who is the CEO of Visions Federal Credit Union, a trauma doctor who got to let us in on a bit of what his job is like, we’ve also gotten to meet the director of the agency Stacy, and we’ve gotten to see how a firefighter does his job.
But there's been various other things that we’ve gotten to do outside of learning like the Liberty summer program, secret santa, baseball games, hockey games, and we have also gone to an airplane museum where the whole summer program saw Mr. P fly a plane. And at the end of the summer a select few of us have gone to a banquet hall to explain our summer experience to the other Liberty Partnerships near us.
I’m glad that Mr. P chose me to be in Liberty Partnerships. I believe that these experiences and opportunities that are given to us in Liberty will help me better understand what I want to do in the future, and will bring out the best in all of us who are in the program.