Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Program for Las Vegas teens offers opportunities for success via community service

Syeda Jamshed

Camalot Todd

Syeda Jamshed, 17, who immigrated to the U.S. during middle school poses for a photo Friday, July 6, 2018. Jamshed is one of five Las Vegas students chosen for a paid internship and Student Leaders program through a partnership between the Boys and Girls Club of Southern Nevada and Bank of America.

Syeda Jamshed walks the halls of the Boys & Girls Club of Southern Nevada helping children find their lost backpack or making sure they are where they’re supposed to be during camp. Jamshed, 17, is barely taller than the children she supervises at her paid internship through an eight-week Student Leaders program by Bank of America.

But when she walks into any of the rooms, the children all greet her with a resounding, “Hi, Ms. Jamshed.”

The internship is the first part of the leadership program. The second is a weeklong leadership training program in Washington, D.C., where the students meet elected officials, discuss civil rights and participate in a service program with the American Red Cross.

“We look at this for their economic mobility to be better when they get older. We know that getting a job earlier in life — we’ve seen those statistics — it helps,” said Dan Giraldo, Bank of America’s senior vice president of community engagement and business enterprise.

The program focuses on youth from lower-income or disadvantaged backgrounds, according to a press release.

“You’ve met Syeda, you know her background and some of her history, but they all have a very unique story,” Giraldo said.

Jamshed is the eldest of five children and immigrated with her family to the U.S. from Pakistan in 2010. In middle school, students bullied her.

“I had to start middle school, sixth grade, and I didn’t know that I had a really bad accent,” Jamshed said. “Kids would call me Indian, terrorist and all that stuff, which ... I learned that everyone went through that. So, I would hide in the bathroom and just cry.”

Her father died shortly after arriving to be with his family in 2011, the night of Jamshed’s birthday. Jamshed, her siblings and her mother — pregnant with her youngest sibling, came to the U.S. before her father.

Click to enlarge photo

Pictured from left to right: Peter Grema, Al Welch, Syeda Jamshed, Ally Beckwith, Olivia Leal and Alexandra Gainey

“It was his biggest dream to come to America and we had everything in Pakistan, like a good home, my dad had a good-paying job, but he was like, ‘I want to come here for my kids’ education.’ He basically sacrificed his life for us,” Jamshed said. “Every relative was like, 'Wow you have everything, why do you want to go there? If you go to America you will struggle.”

They did struggle. Her father left a stable government job and worked retail at a shop in Caesars Palace, taking to the bus to work. When he died, Jamshed said they lost their home and income and moved in with family.

“He left all of that, and the only reason he would tell everybody is that ‘my kids’ education is everything to me. I want to give them a fair chance in life,’” Jamshed said. “Can I give a shout-out to my family — I really want to thank them for their love and support to all my family.”

Jamshed graduated high school this spring from Nevada Connections Academy, where she was part of the National Honor Society and is attending UNLV this fall, majoring in pre-professional biological sciences.

The Student Leaders program offers youth like Jamshed a chance to build a resume and learn job skills, but the program specifically focuses on youth who are eager to serve others.

“We’re looking for young adults who have given back to the community, looking to better themselves [and] more or less to make a difference,” Giraldo said.

Jamshed works directly with the children as a program aide. She loves it and is used to it because of her four siblings — her favorite being her youngest brother.

Student Leadership Summit in Washington D.C.

Launch slideshow »

“My mom was three months pregnant when my dad had his heart attack. Although we got to spend time with our dad and got to know him and got to look up to him ... he didn’t,” Jamshed said.

Her favorite aspect of the job is being there to comfort children over issues big and small, like family problems or finding a lost backpack.

“When I look back, I was like, 'Wow, I needed a person to talk to and I didn’t have that,'” Jamshed said. “But I’m that person who is listening to the child and giving them comfort — so, that mentoring part, that’s really what it’s all about.”

The paid internship and partnership between Boys & Girls Club is in its 14th year and counts Assemblyman Nelson Araujo as alumni. It is a part of Bank of America’s three-year, $40 million commitment to help connect young adults with financial skills, training and jobs.

In addition to Jamshed, Peter Grema, Ally Beckwith, Olivia Leal and Alexandra Gainey were chosen as this summer’s student leaders.