Program Details

Darmeze Fenderson is an Out-of-School youth who completed the 160 Driving Academy to gain his commercial driver's license (CDL) and is now employed with the St. Clair County Highway Department. Darmeze’s Career Specialist felt it was only suitable to allow Darmeze to tell his story through his lenses.

“I signed up for 160 Driving Academy and was looking forward to how things would go. The first week, I took a class portion of the academy and studied daily for the computer test. I passed on my first round and was very proud of myself; I knew it could only improve from that point. For another three weeks, I trained in the yard, and I have to say, the yard was a challenge! I started lost and worried, hoping that I could learn to drive 18-wheelers and beat what I felt was a challenge. As every week went by, I only got better and better, but by the time testing came, I had failed the road test. I felt defeated because something I trained so hard for, I couldn’t even pass. Luckily, that wasn’t my last chance. I trained again for another week and tested again. By the end of that week, I passed my CDL Class A Drivers Test. I was so proud of myself for overcoming the odds when I didn’t have a big support system. All of that alone makes me feel unstoppable. If I can do this on my own, I can do anything, I felt. After I got my CDL, I got a great job thanks to the help of my wonderful career specialist, Sandy, who had been with me the whole way, and I could keep thanking her more than I already had. Now I’m on the road to success, LITERALLY.”