My Story: Amanda Ferraris and Shayla Cajero

Amanda Ferraris serves as a mentor for Shayla Cajero through Goodwill of Southern Arizona’s GoodGuides youth mentoring program

I first met Shayla in March 2013. She’s become this huge part of my life, and I think she’s just this amazing person. She has this unique perspective on life, and it’s really opened my eyes.

When I first met her, she seemed to have a very negative view on life and think that the world was against her. She had to push her way through life; she didn’t get along with people just to get along with people, she got along with people just to survive.

In the few months that we’ve been interacting and engaged in this mentoring relationship through Goodwill of Southern Arizona, I’ve seen her become more polite towards strangers. I’ve seen her handle difficult situations with her friends in a more adult-like manner — definitely in a more positive manner that is going to get her more satisfaction out of the end outcome.

But most importantly, I’ve seen her become more enthusiastic about her own life, and she has this amazing self-confidence now. She knows the things that she’s really interested in, and she knows the things that she’s good at. She’s more willing to go out on a limb and try things that she’s not done or succeeded at before.

Overall, her whole perspective on life has changed. Instead of her thinking that she’s set on this specific path down life, she can now look and say, “That’s not where I want to be.” She sees herself in a more positive situation later on in life, and sees herself with a more successful future.

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