Finish on Empty: Robert’s Story

When his mother, Debbie, became ill with stage 4 cancer, Robert Jones began to question whether he’d be able to continue working while keeping up with the demands of caregiving. As a College Success Foundation advisor at Lincoln High School, Robert works with low-income juniors and seniors on navigating the college admissions and financial aid process.

Knowing what the future held for his mom, Robert wasn’t sure he could offer those students what they needed during those critical two years of high school. Then his mother said something to him that he would never forget.

Let your kids know that this is part of life. I am giving you permission to tell people this story. You have to continue to go on and finish until you’re on empty.

Even during her darkest hours, his mom encouraged him not to quit. She also encouraged him to be open with his students about what he was going through. It was all he needed: his biggest fan telling him to persist. So Robert did exactly that. Even when he did not feel like he had anything to offer, he continued.

What he did not realize was how much his students were watching. After his mother passed, Robert started to receive letters, phone calls, visits and gifts. Students, peers and community members shared how much it meant for them to watch what Robert did for his mother and continue to show up for his students.

“We all go through stress,” Robert remembers his mother saying. “We all go through times of difficulty, but how we deal with it defines the character and person you are.”  

At a job he had only intended to work at for two years, Robert found purpose that fueled him even when he thought he had nothing left to give, and those two years turned into over 15 years. Today, many of the hundreds of students he has worked with throughout his career continue to come to him for advice long after graduation.

Robert is an embodiment of his mother and his father’s legacy of working in community. He credits the lessons he received from both of them as to why he has been effective in the work that he does today.

Just like his mother, Debbie, Robert is a gifted speaker and hosted Empowering Youth Tacoma on May 18, 2021. View the event.