I’ve always been passionate about starting a business one day and being an entrepreneur. I did various research on service based businesses that's in demand and can be convenient for people. I then came across auto detailing for vehicles. I knew this would be a great thing to set up because cars can always get dirty inside and out. At first, I was a bit hesitant about it because it can be physically demanding, but you can always get repeat business. So, I had collected all the chemicals and materials that were needed for this business. I practiced on my family cars initially for a low price to gain experience and also get great content from it. And I will say, I've gotten pretty good at cleaning a car. But, I realized to succeed in this business, It didn’t just matter how great you can clean a vehicle. I had skills but not clients. Throughout the month of me jumpstarting this business, I had to learn how to actually deal with working with people. I then decided to run a couple of ads for my auto detailing business. It failed at first and it didn't really get any traction with people in my area. For my second try, I had a form attached to the ad and a system set in place for people who were interested in this investment. This form was set up in a way that told me what the customers' problems were with the vehicle. From there, I contacted them asking them to explain specifically something that they wanted fixed and then I explained what I could do. I have to say, I have gained a lot of respect and satisfied clients not because I can clean a car great, but because of customer care and listening. I've prioritized explaining my process with detailing to customers and it has made them feel more comfortable with trusting me with their vehicle. Then, I began to gain more positive reviews, and also word of mouth to other people. That's what made a lot of people choose IJ’s Auto Detailing. I plan to keep expanding my business transitioning into college and into the future overall. Learning how to listen and communicate well has opened up many doors for me and it will benefit me going into tech sales. I will know how to solve problems for people when selling them a product that's suitable for their problem.

There is a version of me that stays silent, waits to be told what to do, and calls that patience. My mother raised me, in many ways she also raised that version of me, until I decided not to be that person. Our relationship has never been simple. She is very skeptical of things she cannot yet see, and for a long time, it felt like a wall. I eventually came to a different understanding that she wasn’t doubting me, but she was showing me that vision without proof means nothing in life. That realization changed how I pursue every goal I have. My father lives in Louisiana and we don’t see each other very often. Having that distance taught me a lesson that most people learn too late in life. That lesson was that a relationship only stays alive if both people choose to maintain it. Nobody drifts into closeness. You have to build towards it deliberately like you want to build anything worth keeping. That lesson lives in how I move with everything now, from the customers I serve through my detailing business to the academic path I’m building towards a degree in Management Information Systems. For 2 years, I served as a section leader for my high school's band. My job was invisible by design. There were minimal awards for doing it right, but only consequences for doing it wrong. That dynamic taught me what real professional relationships are and not recognition, but reliability. The people who trust you most are the ones who’ve watched you show up when there was nothing to gain from it. These three relationships are the foundation behind my dreams and aspirations. I'm not pursuing a career in technology because I want to work with systems. I’m pursuing it because I want to build systems that connect people to see what they need. Whether that’s a client who needs their vehicle detailed before a job interview or a business that needs better infrastructure to serve its community. I am also someone who is building something from nothing, at eighteen, without a roadmap. My mobile detailing business exists because I refused to wait for the perfect moment to start it up. I sourced my own equipment, mapped my own target markets, and figured out my own systems, not because somebody guided me through it, but because the relationships in my life taught me that waiting for permission is the same as not moving at all. My mother showed me urgency and my father showed me that distance doesn't have to mean connection. My band showed me that the most important work mostly goes unnoticed.  Everyone of those lessons is embedded in how I run my business, plan for college, and how I intend to show up for the people I eventually lead. Relationships didn’t just shape my goals, but they are the reason I have any. The relationships that shaped me didn’t make the path easier. They made me someone who doesn’t need it to be.

My lessons did not come from from the school. They came from music. I spent 4 years with my high school band learning important lessons. I learned timing, discipline, structure, and mostly how to perform under pressure. At the end of junior year, I was mentally checked out and decided to step back from the band program. Although I did not speak much on it, others around me were making a big deal out of it. The head band director kept pulling me to the side, asking me if I was sure that I wanted to quit. I had already had my mind made up. The more he asked, the more a began to more understand how much I mattered to the program. He held a special spot for me in case I wanted to come back to be with the group. Down the road, I began to realize how much of an asset I was to the program and that they needed me to hold the band together with my actions and musical abilities. So, I stayed. One more year. Even after my leadership title was removed. That made the decision even harder, not easier. But I made it anyway, because I realized that it was never about the title. It was about the people I genuinely enjoyed helping and lifting up. Showing up for them was worth it more than walking away clean. This is the lesson that I carry now. Real impact doesn’t always come with a label. Sometimes it means giving yourself and staying when leaving would have been simpler, because you know someone is depending on you in the room. That standard I hold for myself now and going into the future. In my business, in my relationship, and in the goal, I’m working towards at Houston City College this fall. I’m supposed to show up, stay committed, and put others up even when no one’s keeping score. The East Harris County community helped shape who I am. This scholarship would help me carry that forward.