My grandfather and I had a very close bond. From birth he and my grandmother helped raised me, and since then I have always have been attached to my grandparents. My mother was only about 20 when she had me and my father was about 22, so my grandparents would keep me to allow my parents to make something of themselves. Meanwhile, the same week I was born my maternal grandmother had gotten into a bad car accident that paralyzed nearly her entire body, so that is why I would be with my paternal grandparents more. Furthermore, my mother wanted to go back to college as she prepared to open her own hair shop. My father went to work with a family member. With me spending all this time with my grandparents my love for them continuously grew. I loved being around them, and they loved me to. I learned so many things while being out in the country with my grandparents. I remember my grandfather teaching me how to drive and showing me how to tend to farm animals. My grandparents also showed up to every school award event I had, and my grandfather would always bring his small picture camera to take pictures of some. I still have some of the pictures today. However, on Monday of January 20, 2020 I lost my grandfather in the middle of night. We all know that death happens, but I did not expect for it to happen so soon. A few weeks before my grandfather passed, he had a doctors appointment, in which when he came home he did not tell us what was said. But he would say things to the family as if he was warning us that he wouldn’t be here with us much longer. I think the doctor may have told him that has cancer came back and gave him an estimate time of how much longer he would be with us. Losing my grandfather was not easy, but I know how much he was talked to me about making something of myself and not settling. With his motivation instilled in me I will be great and become the version of myself. I will not conform to the patterns of this world, but I will stand out and be different. I will focus on getting a higher education, becoming a dental hygienist, and staring a business. I will break generational cycles and leave a legacy behind for my family.

My dream goal is to become a dental hygienist to help educate people about the importance of oral health. I also would link to potentially own my own dental clinic, and provide great service to visitors. However my biggest dream of goal is to be financially free and have multiple streams of income and to break generationally cycles.

I am Jakaiya Sojourner; a loving and positive person. I enjoy being creative, worshiping God, and reaching my goals. I see myself as an over achiever as I always set standards for myself, and challenge myself to go above them. Being successful in all areas of my life is important to me because I want to break generational cycles within my family and community. Dedicating myself to better a life is keen, because I want to open doors and create paths for people just like me and from all other walks of life. My desired career is optometry. I plan to make an impact through this career by first empowering my community. The rates for black optometrist is not as high as it could be. I want be an influencer for other younger African American generations and show them that anything is possible. Next I want to open my own clinic and offer resources to help those in need. With opening my a practice, I hope to be able to give back into and support my community. I also plan to create my own collection and line of lenses and frames with the best quality of eyewear. I am interested in optometry because I love anything that deals with science. I also like the environment of an optometrist workspace. Giving eye exams and saving a person’s vision is a heroic memory that will stick with me and the clinic forever. That is why I know I will enjoy working in this field of career. I have read many books and even wrote one of my own; all ranging from children’s to motivational. My favorite books are ones that teaches the reader a lesson and gives valuable life long information. A particular book I remember my parents made me read back in elementary school was “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” by Stephen Covey. It encourages its readers to be proactive, begin with the end in mind, put first things first, think win-win, seek first to understand then to be understood, synergize, and to sharpen the saw. These habits helped shape my goals by providing me with an effective method to being successful in all areas of my life. Detailing on how to minimize procrastination and maximize potential. This book taught me how to prioritize the important things in life and to think to think about the outcome before taking action.

My relationship with my mother has influenced my decision to attend college in multiple ways. From watching my mother attend college as she raised me to her believing in me with any goal I set for myself. Her constant love and guidance gives me extra motivation. My mother is full of wisdom which nurtures my thoughts and foot steps. My mother has always told me that, going to college would be a decision she would allow me to choose, because she wanted me to be happy and pleased with my own decisions. I always asked for her opinions on whether I should just be an entrepreneur or go to college. However, her response was always the same: that I should pray about it and choose a career that I know I would enjoy doing everyday. Moreover, she often explained to me that she wanted me to be great at whatever I do and give my best effort. Her support assures me that, she is with me every step of the way. A mother’s support means the world to a child. Furthermore, she constantly reminds me that with God all things are possible, and that if something doesn’t work out then God has something better in store. More importantly, she teaches me to have confidence in myself and to know who I am and what I want out of life. Sometimes, I think my mother sees my potential better than I can. She continuously push and encourage me to be the best version of myself that I can be. She often motivates me to better than she ever was, and although when I was younger I never understood why she would tell me that. As I got older, I comprehended that she wants to see me succeed. There were many times where I assumed that she was just being too hard on me, however I now know that she was only doing her job as mother who wanted the best for her child. In fact, whenever I told her that I was interested in a career or field she would have me to do research on it and find a way to expose me to that career. She disciplines me while showering me with love and hope. I chose to go to college, because my mom has taught me to believe in myself. I know that I am capable of accomplishing many of my goals, because I am not limited to anything. As a little child, I watched my mom attend college, take care of our home, and accomplish her entrepreneurship goals. Her hard work first -hand proved to me that a person could have more than one career. She never gave up on herself despite the obstacles she encountered. Which is why I will not give up on myself nor my dreams. My mother is my teacher, inspiration, and role model. She is one of the main reasons I believe that I could attend college to become an optometrist and entrepreneur.

I am passionate about helping and inspiring others, the eye care field, creating financial stability for my family and I, and entrepreneurship. Many people may not think that it is possible to be passionate about so many things, however, my mother has taught me not to limit myself. With motivation, God, and dedication I know all these passions are possible. The steps I can take towards a career I am passionate about are limitless. In fact I have already started taking some steps by enrolling in dual credit classes during my junior year of high school. To become an optometrist I must be a dedicated student to my school work. It is important to show schools that I am ready for whatever college brings my way. Nevertheless, I have recently volunteered to shadow a leading optometry in my home state. This further shows my passion and dedication to the eye care field. While I’m college, I plan to have a mentor or tutor who will help me with certain subject areas if needed. Furthermore, I will dedicate two to three hours per day to studying, because I want to know all the subject areas well and pass with excellent grades. I will also be interested in creating study groups for those taking the same classes as me. The study group would be a contribution to my passion for helping and inspiring others. It will also help me and those involved in the study group to acquire new methods of learning the curriculum. Likewise, I plan to have educational game nights instead of attending parties. College is meant to be a great accomplishment for those who dedicate themselves and really are passionate about their career choice. I recently overcame tremendous adversity to excel despite the odds being against during COVID-19. Being a virtual high school junior during COVID-19 was not as easy as I suspected it to be. I was once homeschooled, therefore I expected being an online student during COVID-19 to be simple. However, I was wrong and at some points I became discouraged. The work load was immense, and understanding the assignments was a challenge. My grades are very important to me, so I had to be sure that I received excelling grades. I scheduled zoom calls, sent emails, and watched YouTube videos on the subjects I needed help with. My mental health, was also important to me during this time. I often overthink about things that I feel are out of my control. I had to learn that overthinking will not solve the problem and stress will not help me to succeed on my work. Therefore, I started going outside for fresh air, talking walks, and clearing my mind. I felt refreshed and more calm afterwards. Reducing the use of technology and social media also helped me to overcome this situation. Meanwhile, this challenge was no match for me, I overcome it and became motivated after completion. To overcome challenges, one has to know who they are and what they want out of life. Confidence, self love, self motivation were keen to my accomplishment. I know that I want to graduate high school and college, and that alone was enough motivation to never quit. Life will constantly through us unexpected challenges, but the choice is ours on if we overcome them. I was brought to a realization that sometimes challenges are needed to show us that we are stronger and more capable than what we give ourselves credit for. We never really know what we are capable of until we are faced with situations that reflect those possibilities.