Several deadly diseases strike black Americans harder and more often than they do other Americans. Fighting back means genetic research. It means changing the system for testing new drugs. It means improving health education. It means overcoming disparities in health care. It means investments targeted at the health of black Americans. My 80-year-old grandfather is currently in a three-year battle with stage four colon cancer. He attended every colonoscopy, had polys removed, and had chemo treatment. But because of his poor eating habits and sedentary lifestyle the cancer spread. I have seen the toll that puts on a family, as myself, my mother and father, and aunts and uncles had to alternate taking him to doctors' appointments and staying with him at home. I have already lost a family member to colon cancer in February 2012, four months before I graduated from high school. The warnings about the potential health risk that could occur in my life became louder and louder after my parents told me about all of their health issues. My father is a type 2 diabetic; my mother has hypertension, high cholesterol, and is anemic. I am 27 years old and these hereditary diseases are already becoming factors in my life. I am currently pre-diabetic, with high cholesterol, it is a hardship to overcome because my family has these same issues and I have seen them choose to continue their sedentary lifestyle, and subconsciously make me think that these diagnoses are normal when they are not. I am willing to cut the highly processed foods and beverages high in sugar and make exercise a priority. The most difficult part is that the diet for majority of life has been high in saturated fat, high sugar, etc. Also, my family prides themselves on making delicious dishes, and center functions and holidays around eating.

I love dogs because of three experiences I had, leading up to getting my first dog. Several dogs have positively impacted my life, but after all of my past experiences, my first dog Pawley has shaped me into a better version of myself. He has taught me how to love unconditionally, smile through hard times, and play even when you're tired. As an elder pandemic puppy, he helped me get outside and stay positive during uncertainty. Also, he helped prepare me for fatherhood, was my rock through COVID, and reminds me every day to enjoy the days we are given. However, I would be inconsiderate if I did not discuss the first dogs in my life before Pawley. I have had good experiences with dogs and not-so-good experiences, but regardless my love for dogs developed more and more the older I got. When I was dating my now wife, Jessica, we were living in Greenville, SC and she asked me to ride with her to her parent's house outside of Atlanta, GA to pick up some decorations she needed. When we arrived, no one was home but we were greeted by two 11-year-old golden retrievers named Sugar and Spice, they were abused as puppies and her family adopted them at 6 months old and had them ever since. They quickly came to the door, and gave me an inquisitive sniff but lay on their sides for belly rubs. We were not there long, but I could tell the importance of dog companionship. Unfortunately, they do not live forever and Sugar passed away after a battle with cancer. But, one of the most painful things was the day Spice crossed the rainbow bridge to be with Sugar. Because I was there with the family and vividly the look in her eyes as she looked up at us, eyes still so full of love. The veterinarian came in and administered the drug and Spice slowly fell asleep. I moved to Greenville, SC in February 2019 and did not have a lot of money. Jessica's best friend, Hayley, had a room in her townhome that I rented for $300 per month, if I walked her dogs, Lilly and Ruger, twice a day. Lilly is a 12-year-old Shih Tzu and Ruger is a 5-year-old german short-haired pointer. The most significant thing I learned about dogs from this experience is that dogs can sense and understand human emotions. My grandmother on my father's side passed away and I was working two jobs at the time to get ahead. I got bereavement time at my full-time job to go to my grandmother's memorial service, but it did not happen because my aunt did not pay invoices for the venue. Because of this, I picked up three shifts and worked at my part-time job, On the last day I went into my room and just broke down from all the events that happened, and Ruger came in my room and started licking my hand and Lilly laid down next to me until I regained my composure. Some people may view dogs as just pets but during trials and tribulations, they are more often than not more stable than even our human counterparts and provide priceless support.

I love dogs because of three experiences I had, leading up to getting my first dog. Several dogs have positively impacted my life, but after all of my past experiences, my first dog Pawley has shaped me into a better version of myself. He has taught me how to love unconditionally, smile through hard times, and play even when you're tired. As an elder pandemic puppy, he helped me get outside and stay positive during uncertainty. Also, he helped prepare me for fatherhood, was my rock through COVID, and reminds me every day to enjoy the days we are given. However, I would be inconsiderate if I did not discuss the first dogs in my life before Pawley. I have had good experiences with dogs and not-so-good experiences, but regardless my love for dogs developed more and more the older I got. When I was dating my now wife, Jessica, we were living in Greenville, SC and she asked me to ride with her to her parent's house outside of Atlanta, GA to pick up some decorations she needed. When we arrived, no one was home but we were greeted by two 11-year-old golden retrievers named Sugar and Spice, they were abused as puppies and her family adopted them at 6 months old and had them ever since. They quickly came to the door, and gave me an inquisitive sniff but lay on their sides for belly rubs. We were not there long, but I could tell the importance of dog companionship. Unfortunately, they do not live forever and Sugar passed away after a battle with cancer. But, one of the most painful things was the day Spice crossed the rainbow bridge to be with Sugar. Because I was there with the family and vividly the look in her eyes as she looked up at us, eyes still so full of love. The veterinarian came in and administered the drug and Spice slowly fell asleep. I moved to Greenville, SC in February 2019 and did not have a lot of money. Jessica's best friend, Hayley, had a room in her townhome that I rented for $300 per month, if I walked her dogs, Lilly and Ruger, twice a day. Lilly is a 12-year-old Shih Tzu and Ruger is a 5-year-old german short-haired pointer. The most significant thing I learned about dogs from this experience is that dogs can sense and understand human emotions. My grandmother on my father's side passed away and I was working two jobs at the time to get ahead. I got bereavement time at my full-time job to go to my grandmother's memorial service, but it did not happen because my aunt did not pay invoices for the venue. Because of this, I picked up three shifts and worked at my part-time job, On the last day I went into my room and just broke down from all the events that happened, and Ruger came in my room and started licking my hand and Lilly laid down next to me until I regained my composure. Some people may view dogs as just pets but during trials and tribulations, they are more often than not more stable than even our human counterparts and provide priceless support.

Like Grandmaster Nam K Hyong, I was born and raised in an environment in which the cultivation of educational growth was difficult. I attended Title IX schools for my Primary and Secondary education, however, due to a lack of school resources I did not feel I was adequately prepared for college. From an early age, I realized that to accomplish my educational goals, I had to work as hard as possible, and work ethic is an area in which I have excelled. No one in my family attended college before me so I had to navigate the pre-college landscape with little support. Standardized testing was not a strength of mine at the time so I committed to attending SAT prep classes, taking practice tests, and learning relevant test material. I am a graduate student, pursuing a Masters in Business Administration at Clemson University. After graduation, my goal is to advocate for minority groups to have better access for them to pursue higher education. Often, minorities are intimidated by the complexity of the work, the lack of support, and the financial costs associated with pursuing post-graduate education. I want to be a voice of reason; I can share my experiences with my community by ensuring they start by believing in themselves and know their professors are there to help. I also want to make my community aware of all possible financial resources, such as Bold.org, which plays a pivotal role in helping many students continue their educations. I studied Political Science in undergraduate school, which was difficult for me because of the level of reading comprehension required to understand the assignments, followed by a demonstration of how well it was received by writing a paper. In my freshman year, I went to the Academic Support Center fifty times my first semester and seventy-four times my second semester. I was able to get the help I needed to complete the assignments. I learned skills such as reading and writing are like muscles, the more those skills are used, the stronger they become. Afterwards going to the career center, I made it a point to read daily for at least thirty minutes. In addition to my studies, I am a credit analyst and I have been working in the banking industry for three years. My primary job is to determine an applicant's creditworthiness based off of the five Cs of credit: Capital, Capacity, Character, Collateral, and Conditions. In my current career path, after two more years of analyst work, I would be considered a senior analyst; after five to ten more years additional opportunities open up to become a Credit Manager, Senior Credit Officer, then Chief Credit Officer. I am working to change my career trajectory. With a Masters's in Business Administration, several more opportunities become available, such as going directly to Credit Manager, or working for other private sector companies that value risk analytics skills such as Accenture, KPMG, and Google. The change I am looking to accomplish in myself is practicing being as consistent as possible. Success in my opinion is constantly making good decisions, that you can quantify and historically record. I believe that there are seven areas in life in that goals should be set in Spiritual, Family, Career, Intellectual, Physical, Social, and Financial. The areas that need the most attention in my situation are physical and financial. In the physical area, I have several hereditary diseases that are already becoming factors in my life: diabetes, high cholesterol, hypertension, colon cancer, and anemia. I am currently pre-diabetic, with high cholesterol, it is a hardship to overcome because my family has these same issues and I have seen them choose to continue their sedentary lifestyle, and subconsciously make me think that these diagnoses are normal, when they are not. I am willing to cut the highly processed foods and beverages that are high in sugar and make exercise a priority. In the financial area, I did not have the financial acumen that I do now because it was not taught to me. Much like many of us, I learned through the "trial by fire" method with financial planning, pyramid schemes, high-interest debt, and bad advice from loved ones have taught me priceless lessons. I was at one point sixty thousand dollars in debt, with student loans, credit cards, and a car loan. I was willing to work a second job, sell the newer car for a more affordable older car, and budget based on my income. After two years of debt reduction, I owe seventeen thousand in student loans and will be debt free in December 2023. With my finances in order, I will be able to provide more for my family, better prepare for the future by contributing to investment vehicles such as retirement accounts and 529 plans and be outrageously generous.

I think that bravery and to live boldly is more than to be fearless during uncertainty. It is being able to overcome our internal challenges such as fear and anxiety, in order to accomplish something meaningful when others do not support your decision. In my life, practicing bravery is standing up for what I believe in, when others do not agree with me. I have over $17k in student loan debt, and it is my goal to pay this off by December 2023, and only own money on my house. I live boldly by paying off debt, I started in mid-2019, and so far have paid off $50k by working two jobs, selling a newer car for an older car, and budgeting. I chose to live like this so that I can have the freedom to get another job if I am in a toxic work environment, or if my wife wants to stay at home when we have our second child. My mother and my wife's parents do not believe that paying off my student loans are important, and their reasoning is because they did not rush to pay off their student loans earlier. I have a lot of fear and anxiety with my financial plan because we only make so much money each month, and have several responsibilities that come before paying off the student loans. Such as paying for graduate school out of pocket, so that I can earn more and be able to provide for my family, and contributing to out son's 529 plan, so that he does not have to consider student loans if he chooses to go to college. But I continue with the plan, so that in the future we will have more options in life.

I love dogs because of three experiences I had, leading up to getting my first dog. Several dogs have impacted my life in a positive way, but after all of my past experiences, my first dog Pawley has shaped me into a better version of myself. He has taught me how to love unconditionally, smile through hard times, and play even when you're tired. As an elder pandemic-puppy, he helped me get outside and stay positive during uncertainty. Also, he helped prepare me for fatherhood, was my rock through COVID, and reminds me everyday to enjoy the days we are given. However, I would be inconsiderate if I did not discuss the first dogs in my life before Pawley. I have had good experiences with dogs and not so good experiences, but regardless my love for dogs developed more and more the older I got. When I was dating my now wife, Jessica, we were living in Greenville, SC and she asked me to ride with her to her parent's house outside of Atlanta, GA to pick up some decorations she needed. When we arrived, no one was home but we were greeted by two 11-year-old golden retrievers named Sugar and Spice, they were abused as puppies and her family adopted them at 6 months old and had them ever since. They quickly came to the door, and gave me an inquisitive sniff but laying on their sides for belly rubs. We were not there long, but I could tell the importance of dog companionship. Unfortunately, they do not live forever and Sugar passed away after a battle with cancer. But, one of the most painful things was the day Spice crossed the rainbow bridge to be with Sugar. Because I was there with the family and vividly the look in her eyes as she looked up at us, eyes still so full of love. The veterinary came in and administered the drug and Spice slowly fell asleep. I moved to Greenville, SC in February 2019 and did not have a lot of money. Jessica's best friend, Hayley, had a room in her townhome that I rented for $300 per month, if I walked her dogs, Lilly and Ruger, twice a day. Lilly is a 12 year old shih tzu and Ruger is a 5 year old german short-haired pointer. The most significant thing I learned about dogs from this experience is that dogs can sense and understand human emotions. My grandmother on my father's side passed away and I was working two jobs at the time to get ahead. I got bereavement time at my full time job to go to my grandmother's memorial service, but it did not happened because my aunt did not pay invoice for the venue. Because of this, I picked up three shifts and worked at my part time job, the last day I went in my room and just broke down from the all the events that happened, and Ruger came in my room and started licking my hand and Lilly laid down next to me until I regained my composure. Some people may view dogs as just pets but during trials and tribulations, they are more often that not more stable than even our human counterparts and provide priceless support.

The most inspiring book I have ever read is The Holy Bible, specifically the Book of James. I hope that is not cliche, but please understand my story. In the summer of 2005, I was going into my first year of middle school and my mother wanted me to bond to my faith, while also improving my reading. She tasked me with reading the entire Bible throughout the summer, it was very difficult because it was the King James Version, we lived in a trailer at the time that could not keep the temperature below 80 degrees. I was overwhelmed by the old literature that confused me, and I missed a lot of the hidden messages because my reading comprehension was poor at the time. It took me from May to Mid-July to make it through the Old Testimate, but once I got into the New Testimate, I felt that it was more applicable to my young life. I had a very rebellious spirit, that was amplified by my mouth. In the book of James, the third chapter is titled taming the tongue, and the verse that resonated with me most was the 6th verse "The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one's life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell." NIV James 3:6. It took a while for me to truly comprehend what that verse meant but this verse has health my relationship with my mother and helped me be a better father and husband.

I graduated from college on May 6th, 2016, I was so naive to think that here I am at 21 years of age and just because I graduated from college, life would be easy. I had to learn how to develop a growth mindset to establish structure by doing these things daily, praying, exercising, reading, and communicating. These different variables provide stability, stress relief, and self-confidence for my daily schedule. To keep a growth mindset, I had to involve other professionals such as a personal trainer/nutritionist, a mentor, and a pastor. The point of having a growth mindset in my opinion is to reach our potential to have a fruitful life, which allows us to provide for our loved ones. To ensure that we can talk full advantage of the benefits of living a life with a growth mindset, we need to love healthy, content, grateful, and continuously learning lives.

I have made a lot of mistakes in my life, such as allowing my cholesterol to be considered at risk, being diagnosed as a pre-diabetic, and having over twenty thousand dollars in federal student loan debt. All of these self induced obstacles are due to being impatient. I let my health worsen because, I was not getting the physical results I desired from working out, but, I was not getting the desired results because I would work out for less than thirty minutes. Also, I was not preparing to eat a nutritious meal the night before, therefore, I went to high processed, high in fat, fast foods. I amassed student loan debt because I chose to go to a military college, and I was preparing for it physically and militaristically, but not financially. As my undergraduate college career progressed, I realized after three years that I had a growing amount of student loan debt and needed to find scholarships to ease the amount on my family. Currently, when I look back at my life and see the errors I made in the past, I realize it is because of impatience; as the old story of the tortoise and the hare goes, just because you are the fastest at achieving some goal in life does not necessarily mean that you are the best. Being patient is important to me because I am able to more concisely reach my goals, more efficiently take care of my day to day task, and gives me a better out look for the future.

There are three positive things that the pandemic has done for my life. First, the pandemic brought me closer to Jesus, I was a "lazy believer" before the pandemic because I have not experienced hard times, but through it, I learned how to surrender to the lord. Second, it brought me closer to my mother, I am the only child and had a shaky relationship with my mother because we are a lot alike, therefore we bump heads a lot. During the pandemic, we had to vent our frustrations to each other, count on each other for supplies if there was a shortage at the store, and work together on taking care of my eight-year son because of their transition from in-person to online school. From those obstacles, we learned that we can trust each other. Lastly, I learned a lot about myself, I am resilient against negative thoughts that I may read on social media or hear on the news. The harder the circumstances the better I perform, my cousin died from COVID last year, and it was both shocking and depressing, but, that did not stop me from working on my job as well as my overall wellness.

When I was 8 years old, I learned that my uncle was homeless; he would live with my parents off and on for a few years but ended up committing suicide. I did not understand why he chose the path he did in his life, but as I have gotten older, I was able to talk to my parents and learn the truth. He was a felon and could not get a job that paid a liveable wage. Thus, he turned to drugs, which led him to homelessness and ultimately taking his life. The change I want to see in my community, the country, and the world is for people to have selfless motives for their actions through gratitude and generosity. What I do locally to act on this change is offer my time to others through volunteering, and community service, give generous gifts at least once a week, such as a $20 tip at Waffle House, lastly, I encourage others to find a cause that they are motivated about that will help the community. I am fortunate to be a part of several organizations that have the same goals, values, and visions as I do. Mentor Upstate is a volunteer mentoring program for children in local primary schools. Our sole duty is to join them for lunch once a week and just listen to them talk about anything going on in their life. I have an 8-year-old named Rayden, who is an intelligent and charismatic 3rd grader. However, he does not receive support from home, as he is fatherless and his mother works three jobs, to ensure he reaches his potential. Often, his stories to me are going home and playing with the stray dog that comes on his front porch because he leaves pop tarts out for the dog to eat, and refers to the dog as his only friend. We have been paired for just over a year and the ongoing pandemic has disrupted our in-person meeting, so we adapted by writing letters to each other. At first, Rayden did not like this because he struggled with spelling and penmanship, but after the first two letters, the quality and length of the messages improved. I am not sure if our mentoring will make a big difference in his life, but if I can influence him positively in the slightest and keep him away from my uncle’s path, I would be grateful. Likewise, too often conflict occurs because of motives that are for self-gain; from white-collar crimes such as Bernie Madoff's fraud to everyday decisions such as not being grateful for what you have. It is human nature to hold your own interest first, however, humans are also relational beings, there is nothing wrong with having personal goals that you would strive to achieve. The issues arise when the goal becomes more important than another person, two of the best things we can do is realize when to recognize gratitude and be generous givers of not just money but time and effort. I currently live in Greenville, SC, which is a small but very fast-growing town in the upstate of South Carolina. We have a culture of workmanship as the town was founded on textile mills to support local families, as the textile industry began to move overseas BMW came in 1994 and has been one of the biggest drivers for our economy. However, being such a manufacturing influence area, it has made a lot of residences not as approachable from the long hours, heavy workload, and high-stress level. Locally, we refer to someone with a demeanor as described before as “Old Greenville”. This effect has started to make the environment not as welcoming to new residences of Greenville. Currently, Greenville is still a manufacturing heavy town as Michelin has a large operation in town as well. But other industries are beginning to show growth such as tech companies, real estate developers such as creative builders, and tourism. Now we are creating a “New Greenville'' mindset of inclusion, respect for all, and equal opportunity. In the past 10 years, the need to support the community has been identified as a priority for local government; this has resulted in several organizations and programs to provide services for not only those in need of monetary support but emotional and moral support.