Mr. Tyler garbett

Mr. Tyler Garbett is the Lead for YDH's  Artistic Development  Advocacy Project.

Following is the featured Destiny Spotlight interview provided in our June 2021 newsletter.

Mr. Tyler Garbett is an energetic young man who knows his destiny, who cares much about family, and has a bright future ahead of him. Mr. Garbett was raised in Philadelphia, and will receive his Masters Degree in Human Services Counseling in December 2021. He currently works with persons with intellectual disabilities.

I see Destiny as divine order, following in the steps God has for you. I love the Lord, church, and music. Not everyone knows that finding my voice while in church was my special God-given discovery. I direct choirs and sing, but I’ll only sing gospel. I’m family oriented – family comes first. While I like simple things, there are times I can be over the top. I love life. I am a car guy who appreciates when the sun comes out and the weather is nice - that’s a good day for me.

I went to school because it was required of me. I grew up in a family where higher education was required. Since it was a given, a lot was planned beforehand, even though it was not what I wanted to do. This caused me to try to find myself and learn what was the right fit for me. I had help from my grandmother who was a mentor to me, along with my dad and my godmother, who worked at my school and was hands on in my life.

When I went to college, I wasn’t motivated and during my first two years there was a lot of confusion. I didn’t have a plan and I didn’t know what I wanted to study. There were tons of obstacles on the way to my finding my right path. Losing both of my grandfathers, who were my mentors and role models, didn’t help. It was hard dealing with their loss during that time, but I picked up the pieces and pressed forward. School kept me moving in the right direction and helped me build structure as I figured things out. I have learned to appreciate the importance of higher education. 

I started as a Math Communication Major, then switched to Human Services as a backup, following in my grandmother’s footsteps. Then, when I started my first job in Human Services, I began to love what I was doing and things started coming together. My being a good listener and a good public speaker, which are my two best traits, fell right in line with my destiny and my career path. I now advocate for people with intellectual disabilities, those who can’t speak for themselves. I have been able to help my brother and nephew who also have intellectual disabilities; which is very fulfilling. 

I have an understanding of young people who have lost their way or are discouraged, because that was me. My advice is to  o back to school, which is not something everyone wants to hear. We have to just take a step back to look at our situation from all aspects. Learn from our circumstances, find our supports, and then move forward.

We, the younger generations, also need to stop acting like we know everything and start listening to our elders. We have turned matters around so much. In the 80s and 90s, we started doing our own thing our own way. Now things are out of order because we’ve stopped taking advice from those who came before us. Yes, we’re in an advanced technological age and things come quicker to us than to our elders, but there is a lot we can still learn from them. We can gain a lot from their wisdom, experiences, and advice if we will devote the time to listen.

The world right now needs a lot of things from us. We need to invest time and attention to climate and pollution control; they are put on the back burner but need to be brought to the forefront. And peace, we definitely need peace.