Aweys Mohamud met Rookie Runners Coordinator Alexis Agrinsoni at his school and told him he didn't really want to go to college. But he asked Alexis some questions about HSTF, and decided he'd try it. "Before, I would just ride my bike in the afternoons," he said. Now he says, "I like it here...we do a lot of activities. We went to visit Northeastern and I loved it. It was nice and it could be a place for me."

Aweys immigrated to the United States from Kenya in 2004 with his mother, father, and 7 siblings. He explains that they didn't speak any English, but "I learn fast." Even so, he says, "I was shy to speak English, and I wasn't really an outgoing person." After 7 years in Boston and ESL classes in middle school, he says now he and his siblings help their parents with English: "My dad reads aloud and we correct his mistakes."

Aweys says he thinks that going to college might be difficult, but "I could get a good job and now I am thinking about going." Being at HSTF has already taught him a lot. He says he's learned "how to be a good role model, leadership, and friendship." If he wasn't at HSTF after school, he figures he would "stay home watching TV or playing ball at the Hennigan."

His favorite part of being a HSTF youth? "The fact that on Saturdays we get to see different people, like a lawyer or a police officer" gives him ideas about what he could do someday. He smiles and says, "Hyde Square Task Force is just trying to help me."