When I made my surprise entrance into the world in 2006, three months ahead of schedule, I could fit into the palm of my mother’s hand. Born a trimester early at just 2 lbs, 7 oz, I faced severe medical battles, including sepsis at a young age, nearly dying, and undergoing over a dozen surgeries and medical procedures before the age of four. Medical professionals warned my mother that I would not survive long, or that I would likely face cerebral palsy, cognitive and developmental delays, and a list of health conditions requiring numerous medications. By the grace of God, I overcame all those odds. My preterm birth, sepsis, and early brush with death did not derail me or my mother; instead, we found ways to turn our pain into purpose. My life is a testament to Isaiah 43:2 and the resilience made possible through faith in Jesus. This resilience mirrors the biblical legacy of the Tribe of Benjamin. Though Benjamin was the youngest son of Jacob and brother of Joseph, known as the “son of thy right hand”, carrying special favor and a fierce warrior reputation, the tribe was once brought to the brink of near-extinction, almost wiped out entirely. Yet from that fragile remnant, God preserved them to produce profound leaders, including the Apostle Paul, whose letters make up over half of the New Testament. In the very same way, having sepsis as a frail infant nearly wiped out my future before it began, yet God preserved my life to raise up purpose from adversity. I learned early that no obstacle is unique; it is all about perspective and how you respond. Growing up with a pastor father and a mother heavily involved in church, my faith began by simply following their footsteps; things such as saying grace, reading devotions, and serving as an acolyte. It was not until my junior year, when I joined NJROTC and met strong Christian peers, that my calling solidified. In ROTC, I learned that people with a higher calling must be set apart. When you wear that uniform, everyone knows what you represent; you do not have to force a high standard every day; you live it out naturally. Eerily similar to being saved, having Jesus in your heart sets you apart, moving faith away from performance or an empty routine into an authentic walk of discipleship. In my current studies at Clemson, with a major in Psychology and a minor in Religious Studies, I’ve learned the importance of staying grounded in humility and empathy. Just as sepsis is an overwhelming battle that cannot be healed with superficial care, walking with people through mental health and spiritual struggles demands patience and depth. As I prepare for my calling toward pastoring, pastoral counseling, mental health work, and serving in secularized environments, I prioritize being the hands and feet of Jesus, presenting God’s truth in a way that is approachable, rooted in love, and free of a forced, rules-based mindset. Surviving sepsis at a young age was my first crossing through the deep waters of Isaiah 43:2, proving early on that God preserves us through the fiercest trials to fulfill His plan. Like the Tribe of Benjamin rising from near-destruction to produce great champions of the faith like Paul, my survival is a testament to God’s grace and purpose. As I move forward into pastoral counseling and community ministry, the reality of overcoming sepsis fuels my dedication to serve youth, advocate for mental health, and point everyone away from performance and insecurity toward the unwavering, life-giving love of Jesus Christ.

As someone who is studying Psychology with a minor in Religious Studies, I've come to find joy in studying the relationship between human behavior and human belief systems, and how the two connect to provide a sense of identity, purpose, and meaning to us as humans. Through my personal faith in Jesus Christ, I've come to enjoy helping others find an identity that eliminates insecurity, especially in a culture that pulls from human drive for purpose and meaning and highlights things like comparison, social media, relationships, money, appearance, status, achievement, and other things to help define worth. However, these things don't provide a stable identity, because they can be removed, taken away, lost, or have varying meanings based on the setting and life's circumstances. My experiences with mental health have shaped my understanding of the world by showing me how deeply people desire identity, purpose, meaning, and connection. In a culture filled with comparison and insecurity, many people are searching for worth in things that constantly change. Technology, for example, has created incredible opportunities for communication, learning, and innovation, but it has also contributed to a culture where people can easily base their worth on social media, comparison, appearance, status, relationships, or achievement. These things may provide temporary confidence, but they cannot provide lasting identity because they constantly change. In some ways, people are becoming more digitally connected while simultaneously feeling more personally isolated and alone. Because of this, I have come to value authentic human connection. I believe authentic human connection comes from bonding with others over our differences. I believe authentic human connection is strengthened when we create spaces where people feel safe being fully known rather than merely perceived. Through my experiences working and living alongside students with intellectual disabilities through the ClemsonLIFE program, friends and family, and other mentorship settings, I have learned that every individual experiences the world differently and requires intentional care, empathy, and understanding. Those relationships taught me that meaningful connections are not built through generalized solutions or surface-level interaction, but through listening, patience, humility, and simple presence. Valuing depth and personal connections versus offering something that may seem to help everyone allows us to understand each person's background and what may influence their behavior and struggles. Through ClemsonLIFE, I learned that someone with Down syndrome, autism, or Fragile X may behave differently and have different struggles, so each person requires special care. When I started working with ClemsonLIFE, I had never worked with students with intellectual disabilities before. Through serving as an ILA, I've gotten to help and serve a different community of people, but this required me to adapt, be more patient, and really lean on God for help rather than my own knowledge from the past in order to lead well. These experiences have also shaped my relationships. One of the most meaningful lessons I've learned is that leading well first comes with serving well. I believe this comes from first listening. A great fruit of the Spirit for this is patience, something I've grown in tremendously from working with ClemsonLIFE. Instead of assuming what people need, I have learned the importance of understanding their background, struggles, and experiences. I have seen in my life that the strongest areas of growth I've had, outside of personal time with Jesus, have been from personal interactions in small groups, mentors, and community. This understanding was shaped by people who invested in me. Someone who really helped me blossom as a Christian is one of my best friends, Ezra, who helped me grow in levels of understanding and living out being a disciple of Christ. My mom has been a great source of wisdom for me throughout my life, teaching me things like manners, basic etiquette, and putting me in mentorship programs to help sharpen my skillset. Through these relationships, I learned that wisdom comes from others and is passed down to others. The same wisdom I've learned, I would love to pass on to others. My experiences with mental health have also shaped my goals. As I've grown from a desire to help people generally to a deeper idea of impacting people on an individual level, I have become passionate about serving others through both ministry and mental health. Pursuing a degree in Psychology with a minor in Religious Studies has allowed me to study human behavior, identity, purpose, and meaning while also incorporating my faith into my work and service. Through studying Psychology and tying it in with my faith in Jesus, I've been able to put this into practice through working and living with students with intellectual disabilities, friends and family, and anywhere I can on my journey to become a counselor, pastor, and mental health advisor. As I've grown from reading the verse of the day to spending time with God, taking classes, reading the Bible with other students, and serving others, I've learned the true importance of serving and loving like Jesus. This requires putting aside our differences and viewing everyone as simply human and in need of care, understanding, and love. I believe having empathy to connect with humans and celebrate differences rather than attacking them allows for a safer space for people to not only be themselves and be open, but share this same empathy, love, humility, and understanding with others. Ultimately, my experiences with mental health have shaped my understanding that people need more than information, achievement, status, or performance. They need identity, purpose, meaning, empathy, community, and genuine human connection. They need people who are willing to listen, serve, understand, and care. Through serving others, studying Psychology, growing in my faith, and working with students through ClemsonLIFE, I have developed a passion for helping people find these things in their own lives. This is why I hope to continue serving others through ministry, mental health, and working with youth, helping people feel seen, understood, and cared for while building meaningful connections that can positively impact their lives.

(Prompt 2) As someone who is studying Psychology with a minor in Religious Studies, I've come to find joy in studying the relationship between human behavior and human belief systems, and how the two connect to provide a sense of identity, purpose, and meaning to us as humans. Through my personal faith in Jesus Christ, I've come to enjoy helping others find an identity that eliminates insecurity, especially in a world driven by technology, where one can find their worth based on comparison and social media. I believe authentic human connection comes from bonding with others over our differences, something a fast-paced world, not only technology, goes against. In a world that never seems to end, with deadlines, exams, bills, and all things of the sort, it's easy to forego authentic human connection, especially when it may come with a risk of feeling bad or judged for being yourself/being slightly different than someone. Technology has created incredible opportunities for communication, learning, and innovation, but it has also contributed to a culture where people can easily base their worth on social media, comparison, appearance, status, relationships, or achievement. These things may provide temporary confidence, but they cannot provide lasting identity because they constantly change. In a fast-paced world filled with deadlines, expectations, and constant digital interaction, authentic connection can begin to feel secondary or even uncomfortable because vulnerability always carries the risk of rejection or judgment. As a result, many people choose curated versions of themselves online rather than genuine relationships in real life. I believe authentic human connection is strengthened when we create spaces where people feel safe being fully known rather than merely perceived. One of the most meaningful parts of human connection comes from learning to understand and appreciate differences in others rather than viewing them as barriers or annoyances. Through my experiences working and living alongside students with intellectual disabilities in the ClemsonLIFE program, I have learned that every individual experiences the world differently and requires intentional care, empathy, and understanding. Those relationships taught me that meaningful connections are not built through generalized solutions or surface-level interaction, but through listening, patience, humility, and simple presence. This is also why I believe we must be careful about how technology, especially artificial intelligence, shapes youth mental health and relationships. While AI, something many of us as humans use in today's day and age, for example, can be helpful for information, productivity, and accessibility, it cannot replace genuine human empathy. Technology may provide immediate responses, but it cannot fully understand emotional pain, build trust through lived experience, or replicate the healing that comes from feeling truly seen and cared for by another person. In some ways, the rise of technology, particularly AI and social media, suggests that people are becoming more digitally connected while simultaneously feeling more personally isolated and alone. To preserve authentic human connection in the future, I believe humans must become more intentional about slowing down and valuing relationships that require vulnerability, sacrifice, and presence, rather than simply basing it off of likes and dislikes. I believe this starts with promoting empathy over comparison, listening over assumption or casting aspersions, and a community that reflects these values over performing to earn the approval of someone, and accepting people for who they are first to build meaningful connections, especially for the people who are conscious about the lack of genuine connection. I believe my faith in Jesus Christ has deeply shaped this perspective because it teaches sacrificial love, humility, and the value of every person beyond what they achieve or present to others. In a world increasingly shaped by technology, I believe the future of human connection will depend not on how advanced our tools become, but on whether we continue choosing to genuinely see, understand, and care for one another.

Are leaders born, or are they made? I believe we all lead in one way or another. From being born a full trimester premature, to surviving over a dozen surgeries, to pivoting during the pandemic to recently mourning the loss of my only uncle so close to his 43rd birthday, I have learned that I can bounce back and learn from difficult circumstances. That’s what being a leader is all about, committing to the process when everyone else gives up. When I was born, I could fit into the palm of my mother's hand. At 2lbs, 7oz, most doctors didn't think I would survive long or have a detrimental disability or disease. After surviving a dozen surgeries before the age of four, I'm now a senior Honors Dual-Enrollment student at Dreher High School in Columbia, SC. I grew up in Orangeburg, SC for the majority of my life, a place where students aren't encouraged to become the best version of themselves. I know this to be true based on the students I attended school with while I was in Orangeburg and the high-school dropout gang we lived next to for 6 years. I try to wake up every day and be optimistic about the opportunities that could come. My mom tells me I was born a leader. Whether it’s helping and organizing fundraisers for babies in the NICU where I was born or directing Cadets in NJROTC, I’m being a champion for change by tapping into my gifts. I believe that supporting equality means knowing we all have something different to offer and that makes a stronger world. I, along with millions of people, stand against discrimination and I support equality for others in my life by standing up for the oppressed, whether it be on the street or in school. These simple beliefs have helped shape me into the person I am today, and who I strive to continue to be throughout college and the remainder of my life. To me, inspiration means taking the ideals and values of either an organization or person and incorporating them into your life and character. Recently, I’ve been inspired by Black innovators who have made a significant impact in STEM, such as Katherine Johnson and George Washington Carver. Books like Hidden Figures and Black Pioneers of Science and Invention gave me inspiration to pursue my goal of becoming a licensed anesthesiologist. The COVID-19 pandemic also highlighted striking inequity in preventable deaths from persistent disparities in access to affordable health care in Black communities. More students of color need support and guidance to not only apply and complete medical school training but also allow for a more diverse physician pool when people are in need or want to receive healthcare from someone who looks like them. I'd use my platform as an anesthesiologist to serve as a beacon of light to other young, black males who aspire to have a healthcare career. This is important because blacks are underrepresented in many high-level careers, especially in the healthcare field where Blacks make up less than 5% of those in the medical profession. Not only do I want to help change those statistics, but I’ve also seen how those in the medical profession were stretched, stressed, and pushed beyond their limits during the pandemic. With strong efforts, the younger generation can find inspiration from myself and other black doctors through our community acts and profile to pursue their dreams, and not to let racial barriers and stereotypes prevent them from doing so.