We really have to make this thing work. I was reminded of that again yesterday in a very simple way.

I was mired in Monday doubt. Are kids -- all 18 of them -- are great. But some of them have been slow to connect with their coaches for a variety of reasons -- access to a computer, confusion about how to log in, beginnng of school, etc. Our Thursday meeting with them grows in importance. We need their input on the experience so far. And we need to course correct some things. With all that is going on in their lives this fall, will they show up? The other Monday doubt is the cloud that has hung over us since our March start-up: funding. That cloud never dissipates. Now that we have traveled from "concept" to "reality" in just a few months, will we find the funds to sustain us? Now that we have built the "black box" will we be able to put it to full use and bring in more students?

Immersed in these thoughts, I hear Stacey call my name. A young man is standing at our door. He has just climbed to stairs to our office. He is alone.

"I'm here to see when you are starting up again with new students."

Happy for this interruption I invite him to sit down and talk. I realize this is his second visit to FUTURE 5. "C" had been here in June with his father. He had heard about the program and was disappointed that he missed our first wave. I remember that his father, a Jamaican immigrant, had listened intently to our discussion with his son and seemed eager for "C" to join our program.

Now "C" had come back all on his own. He tells me he is a senior at Westhill High. Like many of his friends he has no clue what he is doing after graduation. No college plans in the works as yet. But his interest is computer technology and we discuss how FUTURE 5 might help him link this interest to a plan for his future. He tells he has heard about what we are doing from a friend at Westhill, who is one of our orginal members. I can see the determination in his face. I can also see the uncertainty and the fear. "It's tough out there," he tells me. I tell him that he has already shown the kind of committment we are looking for since he has made the effort to come to our office twice. "You will be in the first group this fall," I promise.

As he leaves, I shake off some of my own doubts and fears and mutter to myself, "we really have to make this thing work!"