A college education will positively affect my life by helping me further develop my leadership and organizational skills. I believe that I have a talent for personnel development and skill evaluation, qualities that will help me in my future role as a sports executive. Leadership and organization development combined with my natural talents will help me stand out in a competitive field. Like my namesake Marcus Garvey demonstrated, being a leader involves optimizing my God-given talents then sharing them with others. A large part of my professional aspirations have been shaped by my leadership experience which spans across my roles at home, as a big brother; at school, as an ambassador; with my football team, where I am an accountability leader; at church, where I am lead altar server; and in my community. Each of these roles helped me gain valuable experience interacting with people from different walks of life and have prepared me for the next phase. This is why I am pursuing a degree in Sports Management focusing on player development. Education is important because it can not only shape your trajectory, but it can also have a multigenerational effect. For example, I remember hearing stories from my great-grandmother though abandoned with three small children, describe how she relocated to a new city where she had few resources. She attended classes to develop secretarial skills and from there was able to get decent job. She worked her way out of poverty and was able to move her family from public housing to a single-family home and send my grandmother to college. Seeing how a quality education facilitated our transition out of poverty helps me understand the value of a good education. Sports have been an intimate part of my life since childhood. I have a talent for understanding how data interfaces with performance on and off the field. Through my experience as an Accountability Leader I have able to understand how to contribute to a sports organization’s infrastructure. College will help me hone my raw talents into career-ready skills. Community is built one person at a time. We achieve highly functioning communities when we pay attention to the unique value of every individual. My degree program will teach me to better understand the individual needs and aspirations of athletes, so I will know better how to elevate him or her to a point where they can achieve their most positive self. The very act of pursuing scholarships has taught me the value of hard work, relationships, and setting high expectations for myself. Earning a scholarship not only helps with the financial burden of college, but it also helps me understand the level of excellence that is expected of me. As someone who is transforming from a teenager to an emerging adult, I know what it means to evolve into something greater. If an organization chooses to invest in me, the return on that investment would be me optimizing my talent towards becoming a leader in my community.

For as long as I can remember, I have aspired to become a coach or executive at a sports organization on the college or professional level, so it is only appropriate that I chose my major of sports management. Sports have been an intimate part of my life since childhood. I have a talent for understanding how data interfaces with performance on and off the field. I also wish to positively impact as many people as possible through my work and the resources available, and help people achieve their dreams and aspirations through my care and leadership. I have engaged in many activities throughout high school that have helped develop my leadership skills. That leadership expands across my roles at home, as a big brother, at school, as an ambassador, with my football team, where I am an accountability leader, at church, where I am lead altar server, and in my community where my neighbors and community members rely on me. One of the activities I am proud to contribute to is as the lead Altar Server at church. This role is important to me for so many reasons, most importantly experiencing the joy it brings to parishioners and the impact we have on the growing youth congregation. Another role I cherish is that of an assistant coach with my father, an experience that has brought me a great sense of pride. While coaching baseball is very enjoyable, it could also be disheartening to learn there are often players who lack a father figure at home. Recognizing how many of these players began to look toward me as a big brother, I realized that my role was more than just a coach. I suddenly found my love of sports and desire to make an impact grow with every practice and game day. Freshman year I joined my school’s football team and had to work my way on to the field. Many of the players in my position were bigger and had more experience. I had to work harder to learn routes, build more strength in the weight room, and master two positions. Over time my peers noticed this and started being more disciplined in how they approached their routines. It was not long before the coaches recognized my hard work and appointed me accountability leader. This role was very important to me because of the responsibility that was bestowed upon me by my coaches. Playing varsity football over the has helped me become more resilient and responsible. In addition to the leadership skills, football has helped me become skilled at building and sustaining functional relationships. This skill, which I refer to as team-building, is valuable on and off the field. In addition to team-building, football has taught me how to face life challenges and adversity. Athletics in general, but football in particular, requires the resolve to overcome the disappointment of failure as well as inherent physical and emotional discomfort. Every practice is an opportunity to venture out of my comfort zone and test my limits as a person. Scholarships will allow me to attend a university at a cost affordable to me and my parents. The very act of pursuing scholarships has taught me the value of hard work, relationships, and setting high expectations for myself. Receiving this scholarship not only helps with the financial burden of college, but it also helps me understand the level of excellence that is expected of me. If an organization chooses to invest in me, the return on that investment would be me optimizing my talent and becoming a national leader in my field.

For as long as I can remember, I have aspired to become a coach or executive at a sports organization on the college or professional level, so it is only appropriate that I chose my major of sports management. Sports have been an intimate part of my life since childhood. I have a talent for understanding how data interfaces with performance on and off the field. I also wish to positively impact as many people as possible through my work and the resources available, and help people achieve their dreams and aspirations through my care and leadership. I have engaged in many activities throughout high school that have helped develop my leadership skills. That leadership expands across my roles at home, as a big brother, at school, as an ambassador, with my football team, where I am an accountability leader, at church, where I am lead altar server, and in my community where my neighbors and community members rely on me. One of the activities I am proud to contribute to is as the lead Altar Server at church. This role is important to me for so many reasons, most importantly experiencing the joy it brings to parishioners and the impact we have on the growing youth congregation. Another role I cherish is that of an assistant coach with my father, an experience that has brought me a great sense of pride. While coaching baseball is very enjoyable, it could also be disheartening to learn there are often players who lack a father figure at home. Recognizing how many of these players began to look toward me as a big brother, I realized that my role was more than just a coach. I suddenly found my love of sports and desire to make an impact grow with every practice and game day. Freshman year I joined my school’s football team and had to work my way on to the field. Many of the players in my position were bigger and had more experience. I had to work harder to learn routes, build more strength in the weight room, and master two positions. Over time my peers noticed this and started being more disciplined in how they approached their routines. It was not long before the coaches recognized my hard work and appointed me accountability leader. This role was very important to me because of the responsibility that was bestowed upon me by my coaches. Playing varsity football over the has helped me become more resilient and responsible. In addition to the leadership skills, football has helped me become skilled at building and sustaining functional relationships. This skill, which I refer to as team-building, is valuable on and off the field. In addition to team-building, football has taught me how to face life challenges and adversity. Athletics in general, but football in particular, requires the resolve to overcome the disappointment of failure as well as inherent physical and emotional discomfort. Every practice is an opportunity to venture out of my comfort zone and test my limits as a person. Scholarships will allow me to attend a university at a cost affordable to me and my parents. The very act of pursuing scholarships has taught me the value of hard work, relationships, and setting high expectations for myself. Receiving this scholarship not only helps with the financial burden of college, but it also helps me understand the level of excellence that is expected of me. If an organization chooses to invest in me, the return on that investment would be me optimizing my talent and becoming a national leader in my field.

My capacity for leadership is a product of answered prayers and determined work. As an only child until I was six, my first leadership role was as a big brother to my younger sibling, Robby. Attending a faith-based school, I was able to pray every day for a little brother. From the day I found out that I was blessed to finally have one, my parents instilled in me the importance of leading by example in every way. That advice formed how I made decisions. It did not take long before I realized that Robby was indeed watching. From the activities he is interested in, to the shows he watches; even how he styles his hair, my brother models a lot of his behavior on the example I set. Recognizing this, I made conscious efforts to always exhibit my best self, whether I realized he was watching or not. It was not long before I started noticing that not only did Robeson look to me as a leader, his friends, classmates, and teammates started looking up to me, too. It was not long before my own peers started regarding me as a leader as well. This brought me a great sense of pride. Recognizing how others naturally gravitated to me as a leader, I began to understand the magnitude of leadership. From there, I strived to live up to my role. For one, I always try to be transparent. Also, I always own up to my mistakes. Being in such a position, however, is not easy. My parents remind me that with leadership comes responsibility. The rigor of playing football for four years has as also inspired me to be a strong leader. I joined my school’s football team as a freshman and had to work my way on to the field. Many of the people in my position were bigger and had more experience. I had to work harder to learn routes, build more strength in the weight room, and master two positions. My peers noticed this and started being more disciplined in how they approached their routines. It was not long before the coaches recognized my hard work and appointed me as accountability leader. This role was very important to me because of the responsibility that was bestowed upon me by my coaches. Over the last ten, it has been imperative that I be conscious of how my behavior impacts others. Because of this, I have developed a unique leadership style born from my relationship with my family, teammates, coaches, and teachers. As I have discussed in this essay, this leadership style integrates patience with discipline and focus with resiliency. While I plan to bring these assets to campus organizations that align with my major, I will also continue to lead in an informal capacity by remaining a positive role model to my peers.

For as long as I can remember, I have aspired to become a leader at a high caliber college or professional sports organization, specifically as a coach or executive. I also plan to cultivate and nurture a safe and secure Christian household for my wife and kids. A life experience that has prepared me for my aspirations as an executive and leader in my family has been playing varsity high school football over the last four years. Through football, I have become skilled at building and sustaining functional relationships. This skill, which I refer to as team-building, is valuable on and off the field. It has helped me organize service opportunities at my church, including altar service and youth social activities. In addition to team-building, football has taught me how to be resilient when facing life challenges and adversity. Athletics in general, but football in particular, requires the resolve to overcome the disappointment of failure as well as inherent physical and emotional discomfort. Every practice is an opportunity to venture out of my comfort zone and test my limits as a person. That leads me to my final remarks. Football has taught me how to be more disciplined and focused while helping me develop mental fortitude in all facets of life. Whether it was waking up at 5am for practice or running conditioning sprints, mental strength is just as important as any physical aspect of the game. This discipline and focus have helped me embrace challenges. For example, by adopting a more focused study routine, where I adjusted my screen time in the evening to make room for more study time, I went from being an average student to one who was recognized as high achieving. This was a difficult life adjustment that required discipline and focus, much of which I acquired through my experience playing football. Over the last ten years of my life, it has been imperative that I be conscious of how my behavior impacts others. Because of this, I have developed a unique leadership style born from my relationship with my family, teammates, coaches, and teachers. As I have discussed in this essay, this leadership style integrates patience with discipline and focus with resiliency. While I plan to bring these assets to campus organizations that align with my major, I will also continue to lead in an informal capacity by remaining a positive role model to my peers.