In my lifetime, I have played a numerous amount of sports arranging from basketball, football, and track and field. Growing up I had a great amount of love for playing sports, so much so that I thought I could make it pro and worked really hard to do so. I practiced almost every day to try and make that dream come true. I was never the biggest, the strongest, or even the most skilled athlete at any given sport but that never stopped me from doing the things I loved to do. Additionally, I had asthma and didn't have the most stamina to play but that never stopped me from trying my best and giving it my all. I worked so hard that my stamina very little time played a factor in whether I was playing or not because I put my mind over matter and pushed through, and doing so I got in better shape and was able to do more activities that required good fitness. Outside of sports I love painting, listening to music, reading, hanging with friends and family, and travelling. Doing sports and getting fit has influenced my career choices as When I get older, I want to get into law enforcement which requires some sort of fitness as I would rather do something that requires me to move around and be active than to just sit around and do nothing all day because that can get boring really quickly if there is nothing to entertain you. Being a student athlete has also taught me many skills that will be beneficial for me in the real world. Some skills I acquired are: determination, perseverance, discipline, the ability to work with a team, the ability of time management, and the ability to overcome hardship. The ability of determination and perseverance comes from failing many times in my sport and not reaching the expectations I set for myself and not giving but coming back stronger even through adversity. the discipline comes from doing what is asked of me and showing up everyday even on days that I do not feel like being there. The ability to work with a team comes from being able to use different skill sets to their best potential so the team can succeed. Time management comes from having to juggle school, practice/games, work, and personal life all in one and succeed in each and every one. Last but not least the ability to overcome hardship comes from overcoming losses, injuries, and other problems and still pushing through and giving it my all.

Jack Terry's story inspires me a lot. He could have very well given up during the holocaust and just sat there to die but he fought through that adversity and lived on. After the holocaust he came to America with very little knowledge and couldn't even speak English but he fought through that and became a world renown scholar. He faced many different obstacles in his life and had every reason to give up but instead of laying down and giving up, he instead fought to become greater and fought to help and protect the people of the United States even though he is polish and came here with low reading scores, trauma, and couldn't even speak our language. He is a true inspiration and the true definition of through hard work and perseverance, you can achieve anything you put your mind to. I have overcome many different encounters with adversity. I lived through poverty and a broken home at many points in my life. I learned to be grateful for everything that's given to me and every opportunity that I have to become successful and the best person I can be. I learned that even tough I have little money, I can still get an education and better my future. I also had to overcome the many times I have been racially profiled because of the color of my skin. The things I learned from that is to listen to the doubters so I can prove them all wrong. I learned that I will need to work many times harder if I want to achieve my goals because The color of my skin has negative connotations and I will need to prove that black men in America is just as capable of succeeding and is just as intelligent as any other racial and ethnic group in America. I will use my studies to give back by trying to get a high position in law enforcement so I can protect my community and the people in it. I will give knowledge to the youth to help give them the knowledge they can use to succeed. I will try to use the money I gain from my jobs and any other income to try and support the community in places where they need it most so they can have a better experience living in the community. I want to be a symbol in not only my community but to society that lack men in America can achieve their goals and they have every right to any position as every other racial group in America.

Attending university will mean a lot to me and my family as I will be the 1st person in my family to go to college. I come from a broken and poverty ridden home and it has always been my dream to go to college so I can further my education and have a better future than the one I lived through out my childhood. Going to college will open many doors for me and help me advance in trying to achieve my goals. Many people in my family had dreams of going to and graduating from university so me being the 1st to do so will be like them living out the dreams they had through me. My mother had dreams of going to a university but had to choose another path in life after she became a single mother very young and was forced to raise her children alone with very little help. My brother had dreams of going to college but after having to help my mother raise me and my siblings and getting in trouble in school, he was also forced to stay home and give up on his dreams. They made sacrifices for me to be where I am today so I me going to college will show that their sacrifices wasn't for no reason and that them sacrificing their dream so I can have the opportunity to succeed and go to university. I have had this dream of going to and graduating from college ever since I was a little kid and I used to go around telling people I was going to go to college from a very young age after hearing that nobody in my family has ever done that and I'll be the 1st. Going to college will also make that little boy who always had big dreams for himself proud and make the promises that he used to make come true. While my dream colleges have changed, as my interests and what I wanted to be when I got older changed, I have always known and believed that going to college will propel me forward to whatever I wanted to be when I was older. Me going to college will also mean a lot for my family as even though I will be the 1st person to go to college, I'll be able to start a wave for future people in my family so more people can see that people in my family can go to college and be very successful.

I have 2 medical conditions: Asthma and I have allergies. Asthma has been a major setback in my life as I have always gotten tired quicker than my peers. That setback has been hard to push through, but as I have had to live through it while also loving to do athletics, I have learned to have mind over matter and push beyond my limits many times, where I felt I couldn't go on any longer. My inhaler has also been a big part in helping me not pass out when I do push way to far past my limit, but as I have grown older, I have not had to use my inhaler as much as when I was younger. Allergies aren't as major a setback as Asthma because I'm only allergic to pollen, and that is seasonal, meaning during the other seasons when pollen isn't as potent, I am not affected. The seasons when I do have to face my allergies can be pretty hard, as some days I lose sleep from having a stuffy nose and not being able to unstop it. Another challenge that comes with it is constant sneezing and itchy eyes. It makes it hard to enjoy everything constantly when I am constantly uncomfortable from a stuffy nose, itchy eyes, and sneezing constantly. The only way to mitigate the symptoms is with the allergy medicine, but some days, when there aren't any more pills or I have none on me, I just have to deal with the symptoms and hope they stop on their own. My goals for my future are to go to college and become the first person in my family to graduate from college. I also have a goal of being a CIA or an FBI agent and protecting my community. Those 2 setbacks I have are not big enough to get in the way of my dreams, and I know that I can push through those setbacks as I have always done throughout my entire life. While in college, I have a goal of keeping all A's and B's in my classes, joining many clubs, being a part of my community, and getting many internships and jobs throughout college. To achieve my goal of being a CIA or an FBI agent, I plan to graduate with a bachelor's degree in criminal justice to help boost my chances and go into the criminal justice field for a few years before I apply to be a CIA/FBI agent.

Success to me is achieving my dreams having a loving and happy family, and living a happy life with no regrets at the end of the road. Success is taking all the hardships, mistakes, and losses and not dwelling on them but making them building blocks/ stepping stones to achieving a bigger goal and keeping my head on straight on the right path. The path to success isn't a straight line or as simple as 1 2 3, but it has many ups and downs and many more twists and turns, but it is up to you to not get discouraged in your journey when lows are really low and not to get too comfortable when highs are high when you still haven't achieved your goal. Getting this scholarship will help me achieve one of my goals of going to college. but it will also help me on the path of achieving a bigger goal of becoming a FBI/CIA agent. As well as going to college, it will also help me become the first person in my family to go to college and graduate with a degree from a 4 year university. Achieving this goal has always been a dream of mine, because I have always wanted to break out of the norm in my family and strive to set a new standard in my family as people who go to college and graduate to help propel them to reach their goals. My plan is to use this scholarship to make a domino effect for achieving my goals. The first step would be to get accepted for this scholarship, then use it for college, as I use it for college it will help relieve stress for paying for college so I can interact with the community on campus and get internships while I'm in college, after I have graduated for college I plan to enter the criminal justice field as either a criminal investigator or a police officer, I will then climb the ranks in that field and make a name for myself as a good officer and make my way to a high ranking, after climbing the ranks for a few years and making a good transcript I will then apply for the job to be a CIA or FBI agent, and if I am blessed to get the job I will continue to work as I have finally achieved my goal but now I want to succeed and make sure I do my job as best as I can. While I know that the domino effect most likely won't have that straight line success as I described and I'll probably go through a few twists and turns and many more losses before I start to win, I will not steer off course from my goal and make sure I put myself in the best situations possible to achieve my goal. On my way to achieving my I will also keep God in my life, make great connections with people, and keep a positive mindset to keep having the happiest life I can and enjoy every part of my journey.

One major challenge I have faced in life is when I lost one of my father figures to illness. My grandfather was a very special person to me, as he was not only one of my biggest father figures but also a mentor and teacher. He taught me many life lessons and was there whenever I needed a father figure. The time was very hard for me because I felt like I lost a piece of myself, it made me want to lie down and give up, and my grades ultimately started slipping. After a while, I was brought back to the light by my other family members who taught me that in life we are going to experience hardships and loss, but it is the strong and wise are the ones who don't plateau even with these hardships and they keep climbing toward their dreams and aspirations. This experience influenced my outlook on education by having me wanting to give up and not believe I could make my dreams come true, to me trying everything I can to achieve every one of my dreams. It also taught me that a good education is very important in helping you get the knowledge you need to keep climbing toward your dreams and stay on the path, but it is up to the one receiving the information to want to learn and to use the information they have received as a stepping stone to keep advancing in their journey. I plan on using the education that I have retained to positively impact both my community and my country. I aspire to become a CIA/FBI agent and help protect the community in the shadows and show that more people of color can be in an important position in the United states. I plan to give back to my community as well, and one day come back to the schools and give them wisdom that I had learned when I was in their shoes, and hopefully, they can retain that knowledge and use it to propel them forward into anything they want to do in life. I aspire to protect the "dangerous" part of my community and help give them a safe living area; I want to be a mentor as my grandfather was to me, to show that violence and crime aren't the answer and help them see that they can be more in life and they can try and achieve their dreams.

Being a first gen student influences my career goals because it motivates me to achieve something that nobody in my family was able to achieve. By trying to achieve the accomplishment of being the first to get my degree, I work everyday to keep myself on the right track to accomplish the goal. It also influences me by making me want more for myself and have my goals be as big as it can be to set the standard for all the people coming after me in my family. I want to be a role model and someone to people can look up to so I shoot for the stars so the ones behind me know that it is possible to achieve such extravagant goals even if we don’t come from such a well known town and big well known family. My goals of being a CIA/FBI agent as well as being a pilot is no short of shooting for a high goal because those jobs are not easy to accomplish and I’m planning on getting both jobs in my lifetime at the same time. I know that I will be able to achieve the goals I have for myself and as I work to become the first person in my family to get my degree, I hope that those behind me see that they can shoot for the stars as well.

A few years ago, after one of my close family members died, I battle depression and suicidal thoughts. I felt alone for awhile and some days even had weapons ready to hurt myself and end it all. This went on for about a few months. I was not happy about anything and all I wanted to do was give up. It was a hard time in my life and it made me feel alone in this world. One day I found myself with a knife to my chest ready to let everything and everyone go and just end it all. I then saw my little brother and told myself that I cannot let it go because I wouldn’t want to do that to him. I then thought about all my friends and family who loves and supports me in every way possible and that made me realize that I’m not alone in this world and I have a lot of people around me that care and love me and want me to succeed. I prayed to God afterwards and then ive never felt more peace ever in my life until that prayer and I realized that God was watching over me the whole time and he is always with me even if nobody else if physically around me. I put the knife down and just cried thinking of how selfish I was and how I thought about giving up my dreams and this gift of life that I am so blessed to have. For years i kept that suicidal attempt a secret until I finally told my mom that and she felt so much horror and sadness in that moment that one of her sons tried to actually take his own life. I felt so bad for my decision to do that and wish I never put that much stress on her or anyone. She tried to get me a therapist but after much talking and convincing I’m better now she stopped. That event has shaped me into who I am today by giving me the thought that in that moment everything was about to end and that I should pursue my dreams in the best way I can. It opened my eyes to the fact that other people suffer in silence and makes me want the best for all people because you never know what a person is going through so just be kind.