Diandra Shears recalls saying to herself, “I’m outta here,” during the 10th grade. After her mother’s incarceration, a fallout with her stepfather, and multiple school fights, Diandra saw no other options. 

“I was fighting up to three times a week. School was a battleground and I’d reached my limit, so, I dropped out,” she said. Throughout her childhood, positive adult role models were absent, and she struggles to remember a time when she didn’t feel on her own. 

“I always had responsibilities way beyond my years,” she said, recalling how she had to cook for her younger half-siblings when most kids her age were playing. “There was no time for me to be a kid,” she added.

By her early teens, Diandra had moved between different relatives’ homes, leading her to rebel at home and at school. She developed a “tough shell” as a survival instinct, which resulted in more fights that escalated quickly from verbal to physical. 

Diandra admitted, “I was totally immune to punishment.” By high school, her aggressive behavior was spinning out of control. “That’s when my fighting career really got going,” she said, noting that she didn’t care about the consequences. However, underneath it all, she did care. 

After dropping out of school, regret overwhelmed her. She took a year and a half to muster the courage to return to school and eventually reached out to East Side House.

At East Side House’s Alfred E. Smith YABC Program, Diandra sensed she had found the right fit. However, walking into orientation, she recognized a girl who had once been her enemy. Diandra resisted the urge to react, saying to herself, “This is my last chance.” 

She faced a challenging schedule of classes to catch up on her credits, but she resolved to
be dedicated. “I was taking all the hardest subjects and Regents Exams at the same time in order to finish,” she said. 

The difference this time was the East Side House staff who believed in her. “They gave me a shot, but wanted me to prove myself,” said Diandra.

Two YABC staff members, Khris Harrison, and Althea Stevens, took her under their wing and provided persistent encouragement. Diandra tackled every academic hurdle and began developing valuable skills through an internship at the school office. “I had made a conscious decision to not make friends and avoid trouble,” Diandra said, but gradually, she began to trust the adults around her. She started to refer to Khris and Althea as “Mom and Dad,” realizing they had become like family to her.

Despite facing setbacks, including a dispute over credits that delayed her graduation, Diandra persevered. “Everyone at East Side House kept fighting right alongside me,” she said. She graduated in August and was soon hired as a Program Assistant at an ESH after-school program. “I guess they saw something in me that could make a difference with other kids,” Diandra said. She excelled in her job, becoming a mentor to children who reminded her of her younger self. While encouraging her students, Diandra also pursued her own goals and enrolled in college. Balancing full-time work and college courses, she prevailed. Next spring, she will graduate with her Associate’s Degree, and the three tickets for her graduation ceremony have
already been spoken for by “Mom and Dad” (Khris and Althea) and Natalie Lozada.

Diandra acknowledges that most college graduates invite blood relatives to such occasions, but for her, the bonds she has made are thicker than blood. “Without them, I would not be here. I wouldn’t be helping other kids to achieve. East Side House is my family,” she said.