More Than a Summer Job: Paterson Youth Find New Futures in Environmental Stewardship
Watch our short reel of youth participants on immersive site visits across New Jersey
Ask a group of teenagers what comes to mind when they hear the phrase environmental careers, and many picture recycling bins, park cleanups, or scientists working in laboratories.
That’s where many of the ten Paterson students participating in NJCDC’s Compete for Life program began this summer.
Just a few weeks later, after meeting fisheries biologists, environmental justice advocates, renewable energy professionals, engineers, conservation officers, and other experts across New Jersey, many say they see both the field — and their own futures — differently.
A Six-Week Journey Across New Jersey’s Environmental Field
That shift in perspective is exactly what the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s (NJDEP) Youth Inclusion Initiative is designed to inspire. Through a partnership between NJDEP and NJCDC, ten Compete for Life students are participating in the six-week paid workforce development program, introducing young people from overburdened communities to the many careers dedicated to protecting our state’s natural resources.
Along the way, they’re also applying what they learn by helping restore NJCDC’s William Carlos Williams Community Plaza, transforming the neighborhood green space into a cleaner, safer, and more welcoming gathering place for Paterson residents.
Each week introduces students to a different side of environmental stewardship through immersive site visits, conversations with professionals, and hands-on experiences across New Jersey. From installing solar panels and sampling fish populations to exploring wetlands, touring recycling facilities, and learning about environmental justice, water quality, and climate resilience, students are gaining firsthand exposure to careers they may never have otherwise encountered. Mondays bring those lessons back to Paterson, where they put that knowledge into practice through landscaping, planting, cleanup, and beautification projects at the Plaza.
Seeing New Careers — and Themselves — Differently
For many participants, the biggest realization hasn’t been learning more about the environment itself — it’s recognizing that there are careers, passions, and futures they had simply never been exposed to before.
“I ’ve got to see a lot of different aspects and fields that I never even knew existed about the importance of protecting and preserving our environment,” said Rehan Ahmed, a student at PCTI STEM Academy.
The experience, Rehan said, is already changing the way he thinks about both environmental work and his own future.
“Putting myself into these fields is really changing my perspective so much and making me really appreciate the small things that people do for the community and for New Jersey’s environment.”
Jarius Figueroa, a rising senior at International High School, said the program has changed his understanding of what environmental work can look like.
“I didn’t really know what people at the DEP did,” he said. “I just knew they protected the environment. I didn’t realize there were so many different jobs.”
Meeting professionals from across the field also challenged his assumptions about how careers take shape.
“Everyone we talked to had a different story about how they got where they are,” Jarius said. “One person started as a yoga instructor in Thailand and somehow ended up working for the DEP. It made me realize that if you keep exploring different opportunities, you'll eventually find what you're passionate about.”
For Jazlynn Nila, a rising junior at Passaic County Technical Institute, the program is already reshaping her long-term goals.
“When I was little, I always wanted to be a lawyer,” she said. “Now I can see myself fighting for environmental justice and people’s rights. I never really connected those things before, but now I can picture myself doing work like that.”
Others say the experience has also changed the way they think about everyday environmental choices.
“Before this, I didn’t realize how much there was to learn about recycling,” said Jacqueline Martinez, who recently graduated from John F. Kennedy High School and will attend Montclair State University this fall. “Now I think a lot more about what can and can’t be recycled and how those small decisions can make a difference.”
Even at this early stage, many students say they’re already looking at the world differently. They’re asking new questions about the futures available to them, paying closer attention to the environment around them, and beginning to see themselves as people capable of making a meaningful difference.
Bringing New Skills Home to Paterson
That’s exactly the kind of transformation NJCDC’s Program Director Patricia Hernandez Mora hopes students take away from the experience.
“One of the most rewarding parts of this program has been watching students discover careers they may never have considered while seeing that they can make a real impact in their own community,” she said. “They’re building new skills, growing in confidence, and beginning to see themselves as the next generation of environmental leaders.”
For Rafan Rahman, who recently graduated from Passaic County Technical Institute, the new sense of possibility has become deeply personal. While he’s helping restore a neighborhood space that will serve Paterson residents for years to come, he’s also beginning to imagine the role he hopes to play in shaping the future of his own community.
“When I graduate college a few years from now, I’ll be able to come back here and say, ‘I did this,’” he said. “I helped make this place better.”