I Did it and You Can Leap Too

Four Years of Alumni Inspire Future Graduates

I love to tell them that I started in those same seats and felt what they are feeling now. But look at me now. If I did it, they can, too. –Ruth

team1 You can tell a program works when former participants leap at the chance to return. As week one of the 24th Leap to Confidence class opened in San Diego, past class members were well-represented.

Classroom assistant Stella graduated from the program just a few months ago. She arrives early and is enthusiastic. Standing in front of the group, Stella explains that she came to Leap to Confidence having left decades of abuse in her marriage and starting over as a single mother. She is hopeful for the future. At the end of class she declares, “I can do it—and more.”

Another classroom assistant, Nikki has trekked multiple blocks east in her heels to get from work at a downtown law practice. Nikki is a 2013 graduate who survived interstate stalking and cyber abuse to reclaim her life. A certified paralegal, she now serves Pro Bono Committee Chair for the San Diego Paralegal Association.

Nikki enjoys “giving back to the organizations and community that had so freely given to me during my time of greatest need.” She shares that it has been her dream to return to Leap to Confidence and believes that the fact that I am here is “a great testament to the fact that anyone else in the Leap to Success programs can certainly pull off the same kind of thing!”

Full of energy and strength, instructor Mariel aligns each notebook and chair preparing for the ladies’ arrival. She attended the program in 2012 while living at the YWCA with her children. Today, she has restarted her successful floral business and joined the Leap to Success team as a graduate instructor. Later, after briefly introducing herself before the group, Mariel strides back to her seat declaring, “This program works! This program really works. That’s all I’m going to say.”

Instructor Ruth saunters into class next wearing her fuchsia blazer. When she first came to Leap to Success in 2009, Ruth’s voice rarely broke above a whisper. But today, she addresses the group of 32 women with a strong deep voice.

“My favorite thing about being an instructor is seeing the transformation of women,” says Ruth. “I love to tell them that I started in those same seats and felt what they are feeling now. But look at me now. If I did it, they can, too.”

In the leadership team alone, four different years of Leap to Success programs are represented. Women who were personally impacted want to give back. Many are grateful for the help they received when they needed it and believe it is their turn to help others make new leaps.

Eventually, all of the new class members find their seats, and it’s the largest class in our history with 32 students. With a whole new room of future leaders, it’s exciting to know that lives will be changed and stories will emerge as new leaps are taken. And it is exciting to wonder, which of the new women might join the ranks of Leap to Success alumni to give back and inspire future classes to keep leaping forward.