GREENSBORO — Western Guilford High School graduating senior Supreme Robinson has a few feathers in his cap from his 12th grade year.
Like being named homecoming king by his classmates, serving on the superintendent’s council at the recommendation of his principal, and landing a $20 an-hour job as a package handler with FedEx through a school internship program.
Out of all of it, Robinson said he sees his graduation as the biggest accomplishment.
“It was hard to get here — a lot of obstacles,” he said.
Earlier in high school, Robinson had gotten in trouble frequently, he said. But Robinson said after he lost a friend he realized, “life is very serious and it can be taken away from you at any time.”
Another thing he realized as he grew up, he said, was that “people are always going to have something to say, and it’s not worth fighting over ... a lot of this stuff, it’s not worth even entertaining,” he said. “Once I learned that, it made school a lot easier.”
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During senior year, Robinson interviewed for, and got, an internship working as a package handler with FedEx, where Western Guilford staff say they hear he is making a good impression.
“I think he has the ability to connect with just about anybody,” said Jeff Silverthorne, the Global Supply Management teacher.
The opportunity with FedEx came up through Robinson’s participation in Western Guilford High School’s Signature Career Academy of Transportation, Distribution & Global Logistics. Robinson is among the first class of graduates from the academy, which started in 2019.
At FedEx, Robinson has been enjoying his work, including figuring out how to best stack packages to fill the large metal rectangular containers that FedEx uses for its air shipments, to ensure that everything can fit. He’s seeing and applying first-hand some of the knowledge he gained about in the career academy.
“It’s fun; it’s very interesting,” he said of his job. “You learn something new every day.”
This fall, he’ll be studying supply-chain logistics at GTCC while continuing to work at FedEx, where he’s looking to work his way up.
“You’ve just got be consistent,” he said, “And show that you want to be there.”
Jessie Pounds