Darnell Calvin left his Modesto home one Tuesday morning in late June feeling tired, anxious to be boarding only his second flight, and a bit nervous about participating in the 2024 International Youth Leadership Conference.
He returned from the two-day event in Tampa, Florida, feeling better prepared to be a leader and mentor to other Black youth.
Calvin pulled an all-nighter to study for the conference, and it paid off. “My personal favorite thing at the event was the quiz bowl since everyone was very nervous for it,” he recalled. “They pretty much made me nervous as well, since we had to go against teams from all across the world. But once we understood that we studied long and hard and that we were capable of competing, that nervousness disappeared.”
Calvin was one of six Modesto and 1 Stockton students who attended the IYL Conference,which is hosted by the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, a historically Black fraternity. It’s a member of the Divine Nine, the first Black sororities and fraternities in the nation.
The conference hosted 150 predominately African American boys. Afterward, the students participated in Omega’s STEM Cyber Capture the Flag one-day event exposing Black youth to STEM education.
According to the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics , Black workers represented only 9% of all STEM jobs in 2021.
“Making this trip was important to me because as a mentor it is imperative that we provide guidance, support and experiences that expose — especially Black boys — to opportunities outside their local community comfort zones that help lay the foundation for future experiences and opportunities that make an impact in a positive way in their lives,” said John Ervin III, the Modesto City Schools’ board president and Mentor in Project UPLIFT.
Project UPLIFT is a Modesto-based community and after-school mentoring and education program for at-risk youth. It paid $6,000 for the six students — students at Davis, Beyer, Enochs, Modesto and Gregori high schools — to attend the conference.
Calvin, who will be a junior at Davis High School, said the trip was a great opportunity for young Black men to show they can be leaders, to network with other like-minded individuals and to learn more about Black history.
“STEM promotes critical thinking and increased scientific literacy skills,” he said. “It especially helps African Americans since we only make up 9% in the STEM field, so it will help diversify and create more opportunities in the workforce.”
He plans to pursue a degree in computer science at Morehouse, a historically Black college in Atlanta. There, he also plans to play basketball and become a leader and a mentor to Black youth in his community as others do for him in Modesto.
“I hope other Black students in Modesto get this experience more than anything,” he said. “Not only would our group expand but we would be capable of showing them more opportunities than the ones that have always been presented to them.”
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