Changes happen

Learn to adapt

 

By Kayla Pratt

 

Kyle Pratt, May 2017

Kyle Pratt was born into a family of predominantly females without any male role models. Yet, he is making strides in the journey to becoming a man. 

Pratt maintains focus on the important things in life while encouraging himself to adapt to different situations. He’s known to be an approachable, friendly, and caring individual. 

He hasn’t had an easy life, often dealing with the struggles of poverty in his family. From an early age, Pratt knew that doing well in school was his only opportunity to create a better future for himself and his family. He learned to adapt to the hardballs that life would throw at him.

Pratt was a very smart child, although he was sickly and missed many days of school. But he easily became the teacher’s pet with good grades and his immaculate manners.

At age 14, Pratt and his twin sister moved to the United States during the middle of the school year. They left their island home Jamaica.

Moving was not easy for Pratt. He left behind his family, friends, community, and social groups for a world that was unknown to him during his adolescence. Like many of those who have gone through the same thing, he would have to use what he was thought to guide him in the new country.

He adapted the Southern American accent so he could be easily understood by his peers and made new friends while adjusting to a new culture. “One’s failure to adapt will lead to the downfall in life,” he said.

Moving from one education system to another, Pratt changed his strategy when it came to success in school. He was on the honor roll every year in high school.

Another thing he realized was that getting a job at 16 was a major part of the American lifestyle. His first job was working for Chick-fil-A and later Zaxby’s. He used his strength on the job – and became a manager at Zaxby’s when he was just 18 years old.

Today, Pratt sends his days between GSU and a suburban Zaxby’s where he is a manager.  He had to change his mindset from being a crewmember to the manager of a store. He has more responsibilities and his interactions with other employees and customers have changed. Many of the younger employees look up to and respect him.

Even employees who were at the restaurant before he was hired to respect him as a manager. “His promotion was well deserved, and he is good at adjusting to his role as a manager. He makes many of the employees that he works with feel welcomed and appreciated for the work that they do,” said former employee, Heidi Atrian.

Pratt encourages fellow workers to adapt to the new responsibilities that they are tasked with. He knows that the future holds many new experiences and that adapting to those new things is not something he is worried about.