I aspire to attend a 4-year university that will provide me with unique and eccentric educational opportunities to facilitate my learning processes. At my respective university, I wish to double major in Business Administration and Broadcast Journalism. During my time in college, I intend to obtain several internships to expose me to the professional world of my anticipated career as a political correspondent. The opportunity to intern at companies such as CBS or CNN excites me for my future that awaits me. Additionally, I have hopes of pursuing law school and earning a JD degree which will allow me to be consulted as an expert on cases as a correspondent. By using my voice as a political correspondent, I will be able to communicate significant issues in our society to millions of individuals who turn to the media for their information. Ultimately, I believe that I am capable of achieving each and every goal outlined because I am determined to reach my fullest potential as a student and professional.

One thousand seven hundred and three days. Two hundred and forty-three weeks. Fifty-six months. These words quantify the amount of time that one of the most influential people in my life was absent—my dad. In the beginning, I had no notion of what was happening and to this day, I am still not able to fully comprehend the entirety of the situation. My dad served 5 years in U.S. Federal Prison. I was 2 years old when he went away to prison. Following his departure, my dad missed various milestones in my childhood: First Day of Kindergarten, First Soccer Game, and First Playdate. I didn’t know what I was missing until I started seeing other kids with their dads after these events and I asked my mom, “Where’s Daddy?”. I vividly remember looking at photo albums of my dad and just bursting into tears and never comprehending the magnitude of the circumstances. As a child, I just wanted to understand why he was not with me. Was it something I had done wrong? Was he ever coming back? Was he just going to be gone a little while longer? My five-year-old mind obsessed over these questions. To this day, I consider this the hardest obstacle I have faced in my life. Now, after about 10 years of my dad’s re-entry into my life and society, he has become one of my biggest role models. While there are generational cycles of incarceration that occur in families, it was essential to my mom that a cycle was not created with me. My mom provided me with every opportunity necessary to succeed with enrollment in foreign language immersion programs, educational learning centers such as Kumon and various diverse school environments. However, it was up to me to maximize these opportunities to avoid the pitfalls that defined my father’s early years. As a result, I developed a disciplined work ethic that created a foundation for me to obtain success in all my endeavors. Endless nights of studying, countless early mornings with teachers and innumerable hours of student government meetings all in the pursuit of bettering myself, improving my school community and, overcoming the possibility of becoming a statistic. From being named a Tennessee 2020 Governor’s Scholar to serving as Senior Class President, I have pushed myself to take advantage of opportunities that come my way. From years of observing my dad, I realized that he refused to allow past mistakes to define the rest of his life. I have learned from him that in spite of my mistakes, I am capable of working towards being my best self and positively contributing to society. In today’s culture, being an African American teenage male can be frustrating as people have a preconceived notion of who I am before I even have the chance to speak. Statistically, African American males age 18 and over make up only 5.5% of all college students. In addition, of the young black males who attend college, only 1 in 6 earn their respective degrees. These figures discourage, dishearten, and intimidate black male youth from pursuing higher education. However, it is statistics like these that encourage me to forge this path of furthering my education and continuing to help change figures and narratives like these. Looking back on my 17 years of living, my experience with my dad and learning how to grow and mature from hardships of this nature reassure me that I am capable of overcoming obstacles whether it be as simple as an IB Math HL problem or as complex as my dad’s situation. While I am almost confident that this will not be the last obstacle I face, I know that I am prepared to take on whatever challenges that come my way in college and life beyond school. And for this lesson, I am forever grateful for my dad.

One thousand seven hundred and three days. Two hundred and forty-three weeks. Fifty-six months. These words quantify the amount of time that one of the most influential people in my life was absent—my dad. In the beginning, I had no notion of what was happening and to this day, I am still not able to fully comprehend the entirety of the situation. My dad served 5 years in U.S. Federal Prison. I was 2 years old when he went away to prison. Following his departure, my dad missed various milestones in my childhood: First Day of Kindergarten, First Soccer Game, and First Playdate. I didn’t know what I was missing until I started seeing other kids with their dads after these events and I asked my mom, “Where’s Daddy?”. I vividly remember looking at photo albums of my dad and just bursting into tears and never comprehending the magnitude of the circumstances. As a child, I just wanted to understand why he was not with me. Was it something I had done wrong? Was he ever coming back? Was he just going to be gone a little while longer? My five-year-old mind obsessed over these questions. To this day, I consider this the hardest obstacle I have faced in my life. Now, after about 10 years of my dad’s re-entry into my life and society, he has become one of my biggest role models. While there are generational cycles of incarceration that occur in families, it was essential to my mom that a cycle was not created with me. My mom provided me with every opportunity necessary to succeed with enrollment in foreign language immersion programs, educational learning centers such as Kumon and various diverse school environments. However, it was up to me to maximize these opportunities to avoid the pitfalls that defined my father’s early years. As a result, I developed a disciplined work ethic that created a foundation for me to obtain success in all my endeavors. Endless nights of studying, countless early mornings with teachers and innumerable hours of student government meetings all in the pursuit of bettering myself, improving my school community and, overcoming the possibility of becoming a statistic. From being named a Tennessee 2020 Governor’s Scholar to serving as Senior Class President, I have pushed myself to take advantage of opportunities that come my way. From years of observing my dad, I realized that he refused to allow past mistakes to define the rest of his life. I have learned from him that in spite of my mistakes, I am capable of working towards being my best self and positively contributing to society. In today’s culture, being an African American teenage male can be frustrating as people have a preconceived notion of who I am before I even have the chance to speak. Statistically, African American males age 18 and over make up only 5.5% of all college students. In addition, of the young black males who attend college, only 1 in 6 earn their respective degrees. These figures discourage, dishearten, and intimidate black male youth from pursuing higher education. However, it is statistics like these that encourage me to forge this path of furthering my education and continuing to help change figures and narratives like these. Looking back on my 17 years of living, my experience with my dad and learning how to grow and mature from hardships of this nature reassure me that I am capable of overcoming obstacles whether it be as simple as an IB Math HL problem or as complex as my dad’s situation. While I am almost confident that this will not be the last obstacle I face, I know that I am prepared to take on whatever challenges that come my way in college and life beyond school. And for this lesson, I am forever grateful for my dad.

As a catalyst for social change and freedom during the abolitionist movement, Frederick Douglass never strayed from utilizing his voice to fight for those who felt unheard in society, especially African Americans and women. With expertly employing his platform to voice his opinions and help those in need, Douglass was able to help change the world for the better. While the acts of his fight for freedom occurred centuries ago, Douglass’s legacy continues to perpetuate our society and influence my beliefs and ideals for my future. From a young age, my goal in life has always been to evoke change for the better in any community that I am involved in. Throughout my time in high school, I was able to be involved with meaningful organizations that allowed me to be exposed to the future that I see for myself-- a future that involves creating an inclusive environment and serving individuals that feel overlooked in society. One of the many things that I have learned from my experiences is the power that expressing my ideas through voicing my opinions can have on changing the world around me, just as Frederick Douglass did during his lifetime. During my time in college, I hope to continue engaging with meaningful social dialogue that will help prepare me to advocate for the pressing issues, such as the presence of systemic racism, that continue to plague our modern society. By starting on a small scale with igniting change within the American University community, I will be prepared to take my skills to aid in the betterment of our world by speaking on important issues and topics in our world as a political correspondent. My aspirations of being involved in the political realm stem from my desire to create systemic change in the world. With having a platform to communicate my ideas and solutions for the world’s ailing problems, similar to the original social reformer himself, Frederick Douglass, I will be able to continue to use my voice to convey impactful knowledge that will help millions of people. My aims for the future share the ideals of social change, freedom for all, and serving others in need with the principles that Frederick Douglass lived and fought for. As I continue to work towards these achievements in my future, I will continuously reflect on the example set by the namesake of this scholarship program, Frederick Douglass.

One thousand seven hundred and three days. Two hundred and forty-three weeks. Fifty-six months. These words quantify the amount of time that one of the most influential people in my life was absent—my dad. In the beginning, I had no notion of what was happening and to this day, I am still not able to fully comprehend the entirety of the situation. My dad served 5 years in U.S. Federal Prison. I was 2 years old when he went away to prison. Following his departure, my dad missed various milestones in my childhood: First Day of Kindergarten, First Soccer Game, and First Playdate. I didn’t know what I was missing until I started seeing other kids with their dads after these events and I asked my mom, “Where’s Daddy?”. I vividly remember looking at photo albums of my dad and just bursting into tears and never comprehending the magnitude of the circumstances. As a child, I just wanted to understand why he was not with me. Was it something I had done wrong? Was he ever coming back? Was he just going to be gone a little while longer? My five-year-old mind obsessed over these questions. To this day, I consider this the hardest obstacle I have faced in my life. Now, after about 10 years of my dad’s re-entry into my life and society, he has become one of my biggest role models. While there are generational cycles of incarceration that occur in families, it was essential to my mom that a cycle was not created with me. My mom provided me with every opportunity necessary to succeed with enrollment in foreign language immersion programs, educational learning centers such as Kumon and various diverse school environments. However, it was up to me to maximize these opportunities to avoid the pitfalls that defined my father’s early years. As a result, I developed a disciplined work ethic that created a foundation for me to obtain success in all my endeavors. Endless nights of studying, countless early mornings with teachers and innumerable hours of student government meetings all in the pursuit of bettering myself, improving my school community and, overcoming the possibility of becoming a statistic. From being named a Tennessee 2020 Governor’s Scholar to serving as Senior Class President, I have pushed myself to take advantage of opportunities that come my way. From years of observing my dad, I realized that he refused to allow past mistakes to define the rest of his life. I have learned from him that in spite of my mistakes, I am capable of working towards being my best self and positively contributing to society. In today’s culture, being an African American teenage male can be frustrating as people have a preconceived notion of who I am before I even have the chance to speak. Statistically, African American males age 18 and over make up only 5.5% of all college students. In addition, of the young black males who attend college, only 1 in 6 earn their respective degrees. These figures discourage, dishearten, and intimidate black male youth from pursuing higher education. However, it is statistics like these that encourage me to forge this path of furthering my education and continuing to help change figures and narratives like these. Looking back on my 17 years of living, my experience with my dad and learning how to grow and mature from hardships of this nature reassure me that I am capable of overcoming obstacles whether it be as simple as an IB Math HL problem or as complex as my dad’s situation. While I am almost confident that this will not be the last obstacle I face, I know that I am prepared to take on whatever challenges that come my way in college and life beyond school. And for this lesson, I am forever grateful for my dad.