Going to college represents more than just earning a degree. It represents a legacy of resilience, ambition, and purpose. It is a chance to transform not only my future but also the future of my family and my community. My journey to college has been shaped by my passion for entrepreneurship, my faith, and the sacrifices of those who came before me, especially my mother, whose unfulfilled goal of attending her dream college fuels my determination to succeed. My academic interests are driven by a deep passion for entrepreneurship. I have always been fascinated by how people take small ideas and turn them into something impactful. To me, entrepreneurship is about more than starting a business, including problem-solving, creativity, and community empowerment. When I was thirteen, I started my own clothing business designing affordable and stylish apparel. What began as a small summer project turned into a real venture that allowed me and my younger sister to earn money and gain valuable experience. She helped promote our designs on social media, and together we learned the importance of teamwork, discipline, and innovation. This early experience taught me that entrepreneurship can be a tool for change and a reflection of identity and culture. That understanding continues to guide my vision for the future. I want to use my education to help others from marginalized communities build their own paths to success. Financial literacy and entrepreneurship are powerful tools that can break cycles of poverty and inspire independence. At Morehouse College, I am developing the skills and mindset to one day create programs that teach young people how to invest in themselves and their communities. My dream is to become not just a successful entrepreneur but also a mentor who helps others realize their potential to lead, innovate, and give back. Attending Morehouse College carries a profound meaning for me. Since middle school, I have dreamed of attending a Historically Black College or University (HBCU). Morehouse represents more than education, it symbolizes excellence, pride, and the continuation of a legacy built by generations of strong Black leaders. For me, attending an HBCU is an act of honoring my heritage and taking up the torch of progress. It provides a space where I can grow academically, spiritually, and socially among peers and mentors who understand my experiences and aspirations. My mother’s story is a constant reminder of why this opportunity matters. She faced hardship and sacrifice when her dream of attending college was denied due to family circumstances beyond her control. Her perseverance and unwavering belief in my potential have driven me to make the most of every opportunity I receive. However, financing my education has been a struggle. Despite earning admission to my dream school, I have received limited financial aid, leaving me with the heavy burden of finding ways to afford my education. That challenge has only strengthened my resolve to work harder and to use every resource available to stay in school and graduate. Ultimately, going to college means carrying forward my mother’s dreams, my community’s hopes, and my own determination to create lasting impact. It’s about building something that matters like an education, a business, and a legacy. Through my studies and future career, I aim to open doors for others who, like me, come from humble beginnings but dare to dream big.

In the future, I want to use my career to help people find their dream homes in communities that are safe, supportive, and opportunistic for the next generation. Owning a home is more than just having a place to live, but also building stability, legacy, and community. I want to be part of that process, helping families not only find homes but also feel secure and proud of where they live because I haven't always been able to feel that way about my own living situation. My goal is to contribute to neighborhoods that nurture growth and create spaces where children can thrive. To me, being Black means living under the spotlight even when you’re not on stage. It means carrying the weight of representation in every room while still standing confidently in your identity. As a Black person, you have to perform at peak ability just to be even considered close to white counterparts. Being Black means being the lexicon of culture and trend while not receiving credit for it. Being Black means being persistent, even through centuries of hardship. I chose to attend an HBCU because, throughout my entire education, I was always surrounded by people of other cultures. While I appreciate the experiences, I want to be in a space where my culture is common, celebrated, and understood. At Morehouse, I am in a community that reflects who I am, uplifts me, and reminds me daily of the power and beauty of being a Black man.

If given the opportunity, I would change my community beginning with two major components; substance abuse and education. My name is Jaden Gothe. I am a sophomore business administration and marketing major at Morehouse College from Los Angeles California. Coming from Los Angeles to Atlanta draws many similarities between the two cities to my attention. Both areas have high populations of drug affected citizens, and if you were to ask many of the elderly population in both areas, they will tell you that they didn’t attend college; lack of resources and support being the primary cause. Knowing this information leads me to make my immediate priority the urgent public health crisis plaguing communities across the nation. That crisis is substance use disorder. Addiction shatters lives, decimates families, and strains local resources through increased emergency calls and judicial involvement. While resources exist, they are often difficult to access, involve lengthy waitlists, or require one to travel outside of the immediate area, which acts as a major barrier to seeking help. To improve my community, I would fund and establish easily accessible, local rehabilitation and long-term recovery centers. These facilities would offer immediate intake, comprehensive counseling, medically assisted treatment, and job placement services, making sure that their recovery allows them to be more than just sober, but functioning members of society. It is important to me because I have family members who have been directly affected by substance abuse, and being in an environment with that present makes me want to ensure that no child has to grow up witnessing the things that I have. I believe that every human life has value, and shining light on the darkness of addiction is the most direct way to restore dignity, reduce crime, and bring stability back to troubled households. My second concentration would be on long-term prosperity, generational wealth, and financial freedom through education with a large emphasis on HBCUs. Many talented students in my community face systemic barriers like a lack of financial aid, negligible knowledge of how to get financial aid, and few college-educated mentors which are preventative factors from pursuing higher education. My sights are set on creating a center or foundation focused on providing comprehensive application workshops, free standardized test preparation, and one-on-one mentorship that demystifies the clouded admissions and financial aid processes. In the future, I plan to establish a scholarship fund to aid students in paying their tuition, fees, textbooks, dorms, and all things of that nature. My hope is that when that scholarship is established, I am able to get local businesses and sponsors to match, or add funds and supplies to the pool. Influencing students to attend college is vital because it breaks cycles of intergenerational poverty. By equipping our youth with the knowledge and resources to access higher education, we are creating informed, engaged citizens who will return to their roots, start new businesses, and drive the future economic and cultural vitality of the community itself. Some of the world’s most influential people come from institutions like Morehouse College. Imagine how many more could come from the thousands of other institutions if we encourage the next generation of our communities to attend college and decrease exposure to substance abuse.

Economic empowerment and business innovation have the potential to make a lasting change in minority communities that are underrepresented. New jobs could be created, opening up more opportunities and building wealth. These two factors have a critical role in decreasing poverty and addressing the systemic barriers that many underrepresented groups face. When a community is economically empowered, it can thrive and be independent. One of the most significant ways business innovation helps underrepresented communities is through job creation. When people start businesses, they create employment opportunities for others, directly benefiting the local community. One of my career goals is to own and operate my own business. My business will stimulate the local community and economy by increasing employment in my community, as well as fulfilling the needs of my community. This creates a circle of job growth because when more people are employed, more people are earning money, which increases purchasing power and the demand for a business. On top of creating jobs, new businesses give people the opportunity to learn new skills. Businesses need employees with various abilities in fields such as customer service, technology, or conflict management. By offering professional training and development, businesses help to provide their employees with valuable skills that will eventually help them in their future careers. I worked at Chuck E. Cheese’s for 2 years. There, I learned many beneficial skills, such as conflict resolution, multitasking, and communication. Opportunities like this can be extremely helpful for young people, especially ones who come from communities with limited access to job training and high-quality education. One of the biggest problems people who plan to start businesses face in marginalized communities is access to funding. Much like college, without funding like loans, grants, or investors, many prospective businesses simply will not come into fruition. Part of economic empowerment is creating easier access to these resources. Business owners with access to these resources have the potential to reinvest the money in their community, improving infrastructure, supporting schools, and combating local issues. Successful business innovations open up a path for the building of generational wealth, and successful business owners can serve as role models. They can create assets like property or investments that will eventually grow in value over time. These assets can be passed down to future generations, which allows families to build financial security and freedom. When young people see successful business owners that they relate to, whether in race, background, or gender, it can inspire them to pursue their own goals and show them that success is possible for people like themselves. It shows that success is not limited to one particular group of people. Many successful business owners from marginalized communities often become advocates for policy changes that positively affect the community they come from. The success they earned gives them the ability to have a platform and a louder voice to speak out for changes for the benefit of their community. Economic empowerment and business innovation are extremely critical components to the uprising of underrepresented communities. They allow people to build wealth and improve the quality of these communities. Successful entrepreneurs give younger people a relatable model to look up to, which in turn helps economic empowerment and business innovations to break down barriers associated with starting a successful business and create a lasting effect on future generations.

I was homeless. Looking around, I’m surrounded by brick walls and bullet holes, Crackheads and gangs. The same old faces selling the same old stuff to the same old people. This is not my home. What I saw as the regular was in actuality a place in which I did not belong. As I see it, it was just the place where I happened to live. I sit and wait for my dad to pack my bag and take me to the Greyhound station downtown. The sky is grim and the clouds are billowing. “Jaden, get ready to go.” On the way downtown I see the regular. The ladies who get money the only way they know how. Derelict buildings lining the sides of roads. McDonald’s bags and liquor bottles bestrewed the road leading to nowhere. Potholes. There are so many potholes. I wonder if I could fall through one to a new world. Blue skies, one big family instead of the broken branches of mine, a room unoccupied by 3 others, a neighborhood that wasn’t low-income or listed on a top 10 list of the most dangerous parts of my city. The streets get wider. The iconic Los Angeles skyline moves closer and closer, as my surroundings become more and more industrial. My uncle waits patiently in the desolate station, then we board the nearly 40-foot-long brimming bus. Hours pass and I’m wide awake. Looking around, I’m surrounded by cars whizzing past, mountains and valleys, canyons cut into the dry land. More time passes and for miles, there is nothing. We’re inching closer and closer to the state line, and as we cross, I begin to doze off. When I open my eyes I look around to see a sign that reads “Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas Nevada.” The clouds start to disperse. I spy my mother waiting at the station for our arrival. There was not a cloud to be seen. I’ve fallen into a pothole. I have my own room. This neighborhood is safe. Somehow, I still don’t feel at home. The sun went down and I understood the meaning of the words ‘home’ and ‘impermanence’ more intensely. Home is a place where someone feels comfortable living. Impermanence is the feeling I had as I realized that as long as I’d be going back and forth I would have no home. No one place felt like it was the place for me. My mother, being a former foster youth, felt the same way as I did around this age, except she physically experienced homelessness.These feelings led her on a path towards real estate. Spectating this growth have in result sparked my interest in the fields of real estate and industries surrounding business. I have decided that I would make a home for myself and others sharing the same perspective. My prospective career interests would give me the chance to do what I can to make sure no one would feel the way we did.