There was a dream that started over 35 years ago. A young boy riding a bus from Chehalis to Centralia on his way to the market. He sat on the bus watching all the places he lived, visited and played go whizzing by. At that point a dream was starting to be born. “I want to drive a bus someday!” he said.
Fast forward 20 years and it’s 2003. That boy is starting a new job driving a bus for one of the most prestigious transportation districts in the country. Over the years that dream changed from driving a bus to knowing about how bus transportation works.
He enrolled in college working hard overcoming dyslexia and graduating close to the top of his class, while having a family and taking care of his kids and the stress of day-to-day life. His job was morphing from driving a bus to a career in bus transportation. He was promoted several times and his dream was really starting to take shape. He began working with contract management of bus vendors.
The young man still had not reach the full extent of his dream. That dream that started as driving a bus was developing and changing as each new level was achieved. He could not escape the deep-down desire to serve the community he once called home.
As in the story the community had taken the place of the father he never had. He wanted to come home and share with his “father” his knowledge, talents and make the community proud of him.
In January 2018 that dream was starting to come to pass as he accepted the position as general manager at Twin Transit. He was excited about the voyage he was about to embark on. The dream that started him on the journey was driving a bus, going to college, having a family and establishing a career that was spotless.
He was also nervous about this new adventure. What if they did not want him? What if I can’t give them what they need? What if I fail? What if he is not accepted?
He moved back home and started work on the vision that started so many years ago. However, this story did not have the ending like the story we all learned in Sunday school. He was not opened with open arms or given a chance to prove himself. He was hit with doubts, lack of confidence and skeptical behaviors from the people he wanted to serve.
This story will not stop here. Derrick Wojcik-Damers will dust off his boots, brush off his pants and turn his cheek. The community that will treat him like the prodigal son is out there. The dream may have started in Chehalis and Centralia. However, there is a city on a hill that will welcome him home as a “father” should.
Ricardo Damers-Wojcik
Chehalis
