Lavarius Majette

HI my name is PV2 Lavarius Majette. Before I went to Commonwealth Challenge I was in Courtland, VA where I was skipping school, and hanging with the wrong people. When I went to Challenge I transformed from that young boy I left into a man thanks to the Cadre and other staff. I am currently in The U.S. Army National Guard as a Human Resources Specialist. In January I will be attending Old Dominion University majoring in Vocal Music and Performance. I would advise any teen 16 to 18 who want a second chance at life to go to the Challenge program, it helped me so I know it can help you.

Thanks Challenge for a second chance!!!

Timothy Lee - Class 20

My name is Timothy Lee and I am a graduate of Class 20. I am from the Eastern Shore of Virginia; it is a very rural town with not much to do. I didn't do well in school because I didn't have much motivation or drive for my life. I never really took school seriously, slacked off, never did homework, and I just did not have the focus and guidance I needed. I dropped out of school in the 9th grade, because I wanted the burden of school off my shoulders. All that really did was bring more burdens because now my future was in jeopardy little did I realize. My mother brought home a tape a friend had given her about the Commonwealth Challenge program, from the second I viewed it, I was intrigued. It was originally for my brother to see and I had thought about it but I never actually considered ever doing it. I was always fascinated with the military and its life style, but seeing how hard they were on the kids…scared me a little. So finally, after a year of doing nothing but working, I decided I wanted to do it. Although I didn't card abut much, or even really care about anything, deep down, I really did want to be something, I just needed to know I was worth it. Little did I know, this would be the best decision I had ever made for my life. To make a long story short, I went and got in and before I knew it, it was off to A.P Hill. (The two intense weeks of boot camp you will never forget.) I won't get into detail about every month at challenge but the Cadre and Superior people that are over you, are people that you cannot stand at first, but end up having the utmost respect for in the end. Challenge taught me a lot of things. Discipline, most of all, is the trait they will instill in you from the moment you arrive here. They will teach you about taking responsibility for yourself, keeping yourself "Squared Away" and giving you tools you will need in your life, for the REST of your life. The great thing about challenge is, you are being taught and driven by actual military personnel, the ultimate reason you respect them and trust them. I couldn't thank this program enough for life-lasting tool and guidance they gave me, sometimes I wish I was still there, but it's always going to be tome to move on from every milestone in your life, that's also something they will teach you. I could go on and on about challenge, but I won't. If you really want to be something and know that you're more than what you are I would really encourage and ask you, are you up for the Challenge? I am now in the United States Coast Guard, and I am stationed in St. Petersburg Florida working on a ship. I've traveled, dealt with Haitian and Cuban migrant interdiction. I have seen Puerto Rico, the Bahamas, Haiti, Dominican Republic, Key West and the Caribbean blue oceans and I've only been in a year. Going to Challenge doesn't mean you have to join the military but I can almost guarantee your life will be headed in a whole new direction. If you take the Challenge, that's your 1st step in taking responsibility and ownership of your life because NO ONE else will do it for you. Give yourself a chance, because you're worth it.

Juan Bautista Giusti

Juan Bautista Giusti graduated from the Virginia National Guard Commonwealth Challenge in June 1998. He was a Cadet from class 8. After leaving Commonwealth Challenge he joined the Virginia Army National Guard. His position in the ANG was a Computer Information Analyst. Graduating from the Department of Defense University of Information Technology in Fort Gordon, GA, Juan has spent 10 + years as a IT consultant, implementer, manager and trainer, with 5 years spent at the Pentagon delivering solutions to thousands of Government users from the most prestigious government organizations in the country. A few of his clients have included the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, Department of Homeland Defense, Defense Security Cooperation Agency, Defense Information Systems Agency, Defense Technology Security Administration, Department of the United States Army, and the Defense Continuity and Crisis Management Office. In the recent past year was promoted to be his company's hands-on network infrastructure specialist under the direction of the companies IT Director. Juan is the sole Network Infrastructure Specialist for Applied Information Sciences, a Microsoft Managed Certified Gold Partner with revenue toping more than $35 Million and growing.

At AIS Corporate Headquarters, Juan is responsible for deploying, monitoring, securing, and maintaining all internal corporate technology systems including MS Exchange, Active Directory, MS SharePoint, Virtual Servers, general file and print services. He also acts as a support incident escalation resource within the corporate systems group and provides support to the AIS user community, which consist mostly of developers. He reports directly to the Director of Information Technology based in AIS headquarters in Reston, VA.

Responsibilities

Responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

Maintain and enhance Windows Active Directory environment;
Maintain and enhance Microsoft Exchange email environment;
Maintain, upgrade, and enhance existing Microsoft environment.
Research, implement and maintain new corporate systems;
Act as all tier level resource for support incident handling within the company;
Supervise contractors and consultants on an as-needed basis;
Monitor internal job movement and add/remove security access rights as necessary;
Maintain and enhance systems documentation;
Assist with design, implementation and testing of the corporate systems disaster recovery plan;
Other responsibilities as requested by the Director of Information Technology.

In August 2007, Juan Giusti formed Advanced Global Technologies, L.L.C. He has been in the process of completing paperwork so he can grow his business and compete in government contracting.