When I was young I was often told to make the right decisions, but as I grew older that message started to fade away from my mind. I’ve faced problems in my life that I am still facing to this day, but if there is one thing I know; nothing will ever last forever. At first when I saw this scholarship I didn’t want to even acknowledge my addiction let alone open up to a random person about my problems. I was sitting outside talking about school with my OG, and a conversation about scholarships started. I mentioned this scholarship to him and told him how hesitant I was because of how personal this essay is. He told me something I will never forget, he told me "to use every opportunity I get to my advantage no matter how troublesome it may be for me, and to take the positive route". After talking to my OG, I came to my senses, pushing aside my ego and thinking about how I will end up in the long run. Statistically, I was never diagnosed with depression. Whenever I would go to the doctors office, they would give me a pamphlet to fill out based off my mental health, I always feared if I answered truly they would prescribe me with a heavy amount of medicine or send me to a mental center. I’ve always been quiet about my depression, the only person to ever realize my condition was my father. We never spoke about it, I would just know that whenever he hugged me, it was a sign of “I’ve been there kid, you’ll get through it, I’m there for you.”. I started abusing promethazine often when my best friend's dad died when I was in 10th grade. My 11th grade year was the worst for me where I started using it everyday before school and after often trying to make my heart stop because I was so numb inside. My brain was so manipulated by the media that I actually thought it was curing my grief, but it just made things worst for me in the end. My 12th grade year I made a complete turn around with my life, I haven't picked up that cup for a complete year and a half now. I still have small anxiety and I've come to the conclusion that I am just an antisocial person at heart which isn't rare. I always tell myself you’re going to do big things in this world and that quitting is never an option. “No matter what, be better than those before, be better than grandad.”, my dad’s dad committed suicide when my father was just 6 years old. I can’t imagine the pain my dad felt, but for him to prosper and not give up on his life, unlike his dad, gives me immense motivation to go forward in life and do great things. Whenever I start to feel down I start listening to music, work on projects, or just start working out. Recently I started reading a book about botany because I though it was intriguing and important in bettering the world. I was accepted to an aviation trade school, where I now attend and learn how to assemble aircraft components and maintain general aircrafts. After I graduate from there, I want to continue my grandfather’s legacy and enlist in the Air Force where I can put my skills to use. Depending or not if I stay in the Air Force, I want to build a company that fixes on planes for a living and maybe eventually I can own my own airport. I have big things for this world and I refuse to die before I achieve them. As Dr. Mae Jemison, the first African American female astronaut said, "Never be limited by other people's limited imaginations.".

It first started when I was young, my love for the sky. I had to be 5 at the time, I don’t know how I got it, but I built a rocket ship with my Pops from a cardboard box. I cut open the top so I could fit through, and constructed the nose of the ship to look as what I believed a rocket ship looked like. I drew controls on the exterior of the rocket (cardboard) with color markers, I used color-coordinated markings for missiles, launch, and landing controls. Man it was fun to be a kid, but those days are coming to an end, time to apply my dreams to reality. When I was about 14 years old, my Pops bought me a telescope and for about a month every day in the summertime, we looked at the stars, moon, and a planet or comet if we were looking at the right time. Growing up however, I wasn’t your average saint, often I would break the law with my friends. Basically, I was your average juvenile delinquent for a minute, but all that ended when I was 17 and my best friend’s dad died. What hurt most was the bond we had, we were always close, so when he died that really stirred something inside me. Whenever I would want to do a car project I would go over to his house and work on the car with him. Before he died he told his son and I, to always be different and whenever you can be outside because this generation now is soft and don’t know how to appreciate good weather. However his words verbatim at the time were, “ Stop sitting on your ass and go outside.”. Ever since then, I’ve never been bound by boredom and always find something to do. In the essay question, it says “How do you feel that you exemplify leadership qualities”. All my life, I’ve been in charge of my future, my family, and my school work. Since I was 9 years old I had to be the man of the house while my father worked double overtime every week. Early on I had to take that leadership role on and learn responsibility, rights and wrongs all on my own, so as humble as possible I believe that I am highly qualified when talking about embracing leadership qualities in any situation.

Early in my childhood, I was taught only two things when I lived in the hood, “Don’t get caught and if you do, don’t fold.”. Often I kept myself busy as a youth doing bad stuff in the streets with my friends, but all I knew, being a 12 year old, was that if I ever get caught, the time won’t be too much because I was under 18. And at the time, Juvenile Detention was just a playground for more bad kids like me, so it wasn’t anything to be afraid of. But a switch clicked in my head when my best friend’s dad died when I was 17. He would always show us his cool projects he would be working on with the cars he had in his garage. I remember one time, the jack almost broke under the car, and I was under it. That was definitely a memory to keep, but my best friend's dad saved my life by pulling me out from under the car as soon as he saw it happen. Not a day goes by that I’m not working hard in school, on my car, or in athletics, and I thank the mentality I have to allow me to do so. I remember one thing he told us both, was that if we ever decide to be an engineer, that we should be our own vision of an engineer and have our own method. He said, if you become and stay an oddball you’ll have the better chance of standing out in front of big companies, and if you work there you have the better chance of making real changes and leaving your mark in history. With that said, I told myself after I graduate high school that I’ll learn a trade. I was never keen for a behind the desk job anyway so it was either a trade or the military, so I chose a trade. The first school I applied to was Williamson College of Trades, there were a lot of people who decided to apply the year I did, sadly I didn’t get in, but I didn’t let that faze me. I started researching the Air Force and the different jobs that they offered. I noticed applying to PIA, an aviation technical trade school, that if I were to get my degree from there and then apply to the Air Force then I would automatically become an officer or even have a higher rank because I’m already FAA certified. There are many social issues in the world, but I feel that the lack of proper education in Inner-city schools comes unfairly unspoken about it. I’ve noticed firsthand the difference between Inner-city and Suburban schools. Inner-city institutions fail to care about the evolution of their students and the importance of having teachers that care and teach for students to retain and learn, rather than just showing slideshows, collecting their paycheck and calling it a day. In order to have the proper teachers, schools have to have the proper funding to be able to hire teachers with more experience, and in order to do that they have to be given more money from either city funding, sponsors or government agencies.