Growing up in a military family with one parent often away, Kyle learned to help out wherever he could. Without being asked, he stacks the chairs after an assembly, puts the sports equipment away after a game and arrives early to band practice to get the room set up. His teachers have noticed this and commented about it on his report cards.

In his part-time job, Kyle arrives early and comes back on time from his breaks. He noticed a reoccurring problem and came up with a creative way to fix it. His manager has been really impressed with his initiative and has asked Kyle if he’d be interested in training to be a shift supervisor.

Kyle is planning a gap year after graduation, splitting his time between working for 6 months and volunteering in a community development program. For the program that Kyle is applying for, he needs to provide academic and professional references. Kyle’s teachers and manager are all happy to do this for him. It’s easy to write something positive about him as he has always “gone above and beyond.”