Meet Suhieb
Dear friend,
As a little boy in Eastern Africa, Suhieb pedaled his heart out in the hot sun at a neighborhood park as one of his older brothers taught him how to ride a bike. Today, he is an 18-year-old high school senior in Arlington, who puts his whole heart into studying, cycling and even learning how to drive. While a lot has changed for Suhieb, one thing has stayed the same: he works very hard to achieve his goals.
When he first started learning mechanics at Phoenix’s bike club at Wakefield High School, Suhieb had a specific goal in mind. He wanted to build his very own road bike, just like the one his older brother had once owned, that he and his childhood friends had admired when he was growing up.
Suhieb put in hours of work at the bike club, learning everything from fixing flat tires to making brake adjustments, before he picked out a sweet road bike to refurbish. He enthusiastically recalls finishing the bike earlier this spring: “It was exciting…It was awesome. It was fast, too.”
Nothing makes us happier than seeing students experience the results of their own hard work. As the year soon comes to an end, it’s the last opportunity to ensure the gift of “exciting, awesome and fast” to more students like Suhieb.
Not one to shy away from hard work, as summer began, Suhieb took the initiative to apply for our new paid shop internship program and earned a spot as one of our very first three interns. Every day brought a new challenge under the patient mentorship of our Shop Manager Noe, whether it was diving into advanced mechanics, gaining confidence in helping customers, or learning practical skills like using the cash register.
Suhieb was an eager learner, recalling that “when you start the internship… you just want to learn more and more things.” When thinking back to the skills he gained as an intern, Suhieb is proudest of the progress he made in communication. Having immigrated to the U.S. only two years ago, he was eager to improve his English-speaking abilities.
To help him, Noe gave him more opportunities to interact with customers, took the time to listen to his conversations, and offered suggestions for how to make his wording clearer. Suhieb noticed that the language advice gave him more confidence not only at work, but also while casually talking with friends.
When Suhieb’s internship ended, his hard work did not. This fall, he started his senior year—a big deal for both him and his mom, whose top priority for all seven of her children is that they work hard in their studies. This year, his new bike has helped him stay active and alleviate the stress of a challenging course load. When he is feeling down or having a bad day, he hops on his bike and goes out for a ride. In his words, “It gives you relief… You can ride a bike to forget about the things you had problems with.”
Suhieb is not alone. Middle school and high school years can be really stressful—and lots of our students mention that working on their bikes and getting out riding helps them let go of the worries of the day. In 2023, we’ve set a goal to welcome at least 350 students into our programs. Would you give a gift today to help us give 350 students the joy and stress relief of biking?
For Suhieb, the only thing more fun than riding is… racing! When he learned about Phoenix’s junior race team and the sport of cyclocross, he quickly joined and found that racing was a perfect outlet for his competitive spirit and his enthusiasm for staying active. It was also a great way for him to connect further with the Phoenix community and benefit from new friendships with teammates.
Suhieb loved competing in his first race in October, but found it even more physically challenging than he’d expected. True to his character, instead of getting discouraged, he spent hours at the shop making mechanical upgrades to his bike and worked even harder at team practices to increase his speed and stamina. Since that first race, Suhieb has enjoyed seeing improvements in his endurance and even finished close to the top 10 in one of his November races!
Today, Suhieb rides the kind of fast, sleek bike his older brother once owned because he invested many hours to master new skills in our shop. And he has succeeded in learning how to adjust derailleurs, run a bike shop, improve his communication skills, and tear it up on the race course because of his determination and hard work.
But he only had access to those learning opportunities—and the guidance of mentors like Noe—because supporters like you gave to make our programs possible. And that’s why I’m writing to you today.
For every Suhieb, there are hundreds of other students who would benefit from learning at Phoenix—and we want to have the capacity to welcome them! In 2023, we are expanding our team of bike club instructors, starting a new “junior instructor” program to train older students how to teach mechanics skills, and expanding the shop internship program to run year-round.
Would you partner with us to make this growth possible in the coming year? You have the chance to impact hundreds of teens’ lives through a year-end gift. You are able to make stories like Suhieb’s possible!
Sincerely,
Emily Gage, Executive Director
P.S. Join HUB Club to keep the wheels of our organization rolling all year long by setting up a recurring donation with us when you choose the “Monthly” tab on our donation form.