Escaping violence is one of the core dreams for most African American parents who have grown up in dangerous environments, such as my own Philadelphia. Many parents, like my own, worked to move out of the area, even if it is only 10 minutes away, to have a better chance of living. In doing so, we took on financial burdens that make every dollar count and every shift a requirement. I worked to make sure my grades were always high enough to earn my scholarships in high school because I knew I would not be able to afford it otherwise. In the summer, I worked to afford things between semesters and participated in sports to ensure school never became a financial burden on my family. Now, I continue this as a process of not straining my family, who have two other siblings to raise and nurture. In my studies, I hope to not only lift myself away from the dangers of my surroundings, but also change them so that other families don't feel the need to escape from their home to try and hope their children have a better future than the one they see around them. I moved to school out of state so that I could focus on depending on myself and supporting myself because I wanted the parental attention to be on my siblings and their needs. If there was ever a way to solve a problem without ever letting my family know I pursued it, even when it was working and volunteering in local clean-ups to not only pursue my goal of helping my local environment, but also to get gift cards that would cover food and small expenses while I completed my classes. Work like this, giving back to my community and helping myself, has taught me that I don't need to sacrifice my community for myself or vice versa. It taught me that I can uplift not only myself, but the people around me as long as I am willing to do the extra work that some might see as unnecessary. Doing beach clean-ups and convincing friends, who originally thought there was no purpose for picking up dirty trash lying in the streets and sidewalks because everyone else was always going to just throw it back on the ground, to take part in clean-up and volunteer opportunities has shown me I can do so much more than just save myself. I can save myself and show others that the path to better is not through just saving up your checks and focusing only on your own life, but through helping your community and being an active member of the world you walk and live in every day. Scholarships like this one, dedicated to teaching and supporting young black men who are at the core of the change we want to see in our community, would be perfect in assisting people like me who want to free themselves from financial struggles while simultaneously helping the people around them. For me personally, I want to help in direct spaces like volunteering, but also with my degree. In pursuing marine biology, I can help people's health by cleaning our waterways of pollutants like oil, plastics, and pesticides that disproportionately affect people living in lower-income and undersupported environments. My goals, personal, educational, and social, all seek to help myself and, more importantly, the people and spaces around me. At the end of the day, I want to be able to inspire younger men like my brothers to try and do the same.

Microplastic. The term coined by Richard Thomson over 20 years ago has become today's pet sin, just as asbestos and lead were for the previous generations. It is estimated that our waterways contain upwards of 199 million tons of plastic at any given time, with 33 billion tons entering them every year. This is the same water that you wash your hair with, drink from, clean your children with, and swim in every day. Today, it has become so prevalent that it can be found in the bloodstream of most people. This is where I hope to make my impact. In my life, I have seen trash go from people's car windows and into the street, all the way into the water, where I find myself conducting coral research. I've grown up to see people litter simply because "there is already trash on the ground". In this, I've learned not to always argue, but to show that it is ok to not do what everyone else has decided is the easiest path. When in groups, I pick up trash I see just like I do when I'm alone, even if people question why. Simple actions like this, I've found, help other people feel comfortable going against the culture of consuming and discarding. This encouragement, ultimately, is what we need to stop the problem of microplastics at its root. Encouraging people to clean their areas, volunteer at beach clean-ups, or city movements all help benefit not just ones community, but themselves directly. This encouragement through action is my first way I plan to solve the issue of microplastics. The second plan I look to work on is pursuing my degree in marine biology and furthering my connections with different people interested in working to clean our waterways. While I currently attend Old Dominion University, I have met many people who are very interested in working in the field with goals similar to mine. I believe with more structure and proper organizing, we could make greater progress than ever without worrying about how private companies or government politics will affect our ability to publish data and research about how we can better clean our waterways, freeing them from not only plastic, but even oils, pesticides, and a vast list of other pollutants that have accumulated in our seas over the years. The last way I plan to create impact is politically. Currently, I am speaking to community leaders in Philadelphia to see how I can volunteer and work in political environments to both understand how policy is made and how to get support for it. While working with people to not pollute and litter individually, it is more important, in my opinion, to get large companies and organizations to limit or eliminate their waste entirely in ways that do not pollute our waterways. Many companies have broken laws that have not been enforced, or outright lobbied to have the very rules that protect people from harmful pollutants removed. This needs to be stopped, and the best way to do this is to create community-supported policy and laws that makes better restrictions and clear consequences so they are less likely to break them. Overall, the only way to solve the problem as big as getting rid of microplastics is by working both at the community level and at the political level. Only when we can work at all levels will we see change.

Today, I watched Noah Lyles become "the fastest man on the planet" in the 100m dash. I watched every country send their best and most talented athletes from across all sports to france to compete at this years Olympics. I then began to remember what every single one of these athletes must have gone through to get where they are. Through hardships, pains, sickness, and sometimes devastating emotional bouts they all managed to persevere through it all. I know they went through it because I did as a high school athlete and college athlete. I learned early on that sports like track and football are very similar to real life in the sense that you can fall in love with it entirely, however that will not remove or make the hardships of it any easier. In track, I completed and every event from the 100m up into the 800m. There were my events that I knew I was good at from ten years old up into my early teens. I completed at track meets all over the state and made it a habit to qualify for junior olympics yearly. During this, I still competed in football tirelessly trying to hone my craft. So of course, when I got to highschool, I knew I could handle whatever they threw at me. I tried to juggle a club track team, club football team, high school football, high school track, and the high school educational work load all at once. I was confident I could do it all because I had already had success. Contrary to my ambitions, I did not do well in anything during this time. My focus in football started to slip, my times in track stagnated, and more importantly, my grades were falling. This was a time where I felt like I was on top of the world but now I was struggling to do the basics of everything. For the first time in my life I wanted to quit. Before I did, my english teacher pulled me into her office to talk about how I was doing and gave me some words that stuck with me even today. "The reason the olympians never complete in multiple sports is not because they don't want to or physically can't, but because to excel at something you must sacrifice more time to it to become better. A jack of all trades is never a master of any of them." These are the words I hold will me now that I still compete in track and football but have decided to focus on only one team at a time and give the greater part of my time to my education. After talking, I left my club teams and focused on school and school sports. Quickly, my skills, times, and grades returned to my expected standards and I no longer felt like I wasn't good enough. This moment where I very much could have walked away from everything I cared about is not just something I see as pivotal for me, but can show anyone that if you ever find yourself feeling down because you don't see your performance where it should be, slow down and evaluate what you're doing. Chances are, you're stretching yourself too thin. It is always ok to focus on what you really care about.

The late Fred Hampton once said "The people have to have the power: It belongs to the people." Since high school, I have grown to see this quote as the very essence of what america and what the world should be. America often claims to be a melting pot of many cultures, races, ethnicities, and backgrounds but I have seen us more as a salad with multiple ingredients in the same bowl, but none blended together. While there are plenty of areas that need to be addressed, I have found myself paying attention to the role of sex in our community. We live in a nation where many people believe sex to be an important identity for people and in some case use it to change or impact legislation. I see this plainly when I hear of laws that will restrict a person's ability to seek abortion. It is apparent when I see multiple cousins, aunts, and friends talk about how because of the current legal system and social system, they feel more safe around a grizzly bear than a man. While at first this hurt my in my soul to hear I was perceived as more of a threat than a wild animal. I thought on why someone would make this comparison in the first place. A series of long conversations about different women's accounts of being stalked, harassed, and in some cases sexually assaulted coupled with multiple accounts of the failures of legal and social safety nets that were designed to protect people from being taken advantage of has given me enough of an understanding to see clearly why some women feel more ok with the bear. It is not because the bear is cute and curry, but because for many women, the choice of death is better than the opportunity to be subjected to sexual violence and torment that will leave them with trauma and memories they will have to live with while simultaneously being told that their fears and experiences are not valid or not as serious as they make it seem. These are problems that have often been highlighted as men against women or demonizations of men as a whole but I want to change that narrative. I want to make it where men are also apart of the conversation in a way where its not defending ourselves but looking to remove the problem that are sexual predators in our community. By bringing this conversation into male dominated spaces, we can make it to where phrases like "I hate all men" aren't felt because women will also have the feeling that the other half of the population wants to protect them just as they would protect us. As for myself, I try to bring these conversations up when I am around groups of men in sporting environments or any male dominated area and make it known that when they hear these phrases that sound as if women are now condemning all men for the actions of some of them they are actually hearing the fear of many women, not that all men are committing these acts, but that they don't have many men condemning or seeking an end to them. By bringing men into this conversation as a partner against the violence and not a perpetrator we can seek a solution more easily than before. This is not a nation where men live on one side of the bowl and women on the other. We are all here interwoven into our society. The only way for us to grow is together.

Would you rather be stuck in the forest with a man or a bear? This was a question the internet had asked the community and many women and men responded with a resounding "bear". At first, I was mad at these people because as a black man, I felt like I was once again being told that I am a threat to people because of my very existence and that I was less desired to be in a community than a wild animal. At the same time, however, I took this chance to look at what this question, and its answer, are trying to talk about. This hypothetical is designed to begin a much-needed conversation in our society about the relationship women of all ages and backgrounds have with the men in this world. So many daughters, mothers, sisters, cousins, and friends have been put through different instances of sexual harassment, sexual assault, rape, and abuse that have left them traumatized or in many other cases, fearful and resentful of all men. This is not because all men have done them harm but because the majority of men have the ability to. Today, women do not feel safe in their community because of a looming fear of harm that can be caused. I know this needs to change. In America, there's history everywhere you can think of, from government regulations to voting rights, to even who is allowed to own a home. And many of these issues have been separated by gender, often marginalizing women. The feeling of powerlessness is not new to the 21 century but it most certainly should end here. In the same way, we did handle getting people bettering voting rights and government regulations, and yes, even home ownership, we will fix this fear of men and the pervasiveness of gendered abuse. It does start with an uncomfortable conversation such as why some women feel the need to avoid all men or have built up a resentment toward all men. It starts with a conversation about how men can work to make the women in their community feel safe and comfortable around them. Personally, I have taken to having open talks with friends and family, where I allow the people who otherwise feel they can't talk about these topics because they are so taboo to express themselves without fear of being judged or yelled at for their actions or reactions. The reality of this is the problem is not a gender issue, but a trust in society issue. Advocating for better sexual misconduct frameworks for schools and workplaces is one step we can take. I believe as a black college student it is my responsibility to take those steps. I have been the source of people's resentment since before I was born and in some cases even the recipient of hate because of my actions but because of how I was born. I know what it's like to have to argue my experiences are real and that I deserve to be heard even if it is uncomfortable to talk about. Women deserve those same spaces to talk and express and share because if not they are only going to become more isolated. We can't fix sexual misconduct laws and regulations if we can't talk about sexual misconduct. We can't address the tension in the room if we never give people the space to talk about it. So, now that the conversation has begun and we are starting to talk about the problem our community is facing, it is time to feel safe enough to choose man.

I love the phrase "You are weird". Without context, this statement seems not only odd but also crazy, however, I have learned that someone calling you weird often is not because you are actually odd, but it is because you are challenging the normality of their life and trend of the time. If any field of study can be described as a challenge to the status quo, it's STEM. Science is constantly changing and illuminating the world around us. I can not help but be drawn to it like a moth to a flame. Every day we learn something new about ourselves and the world around us. I love the feeling of pursuing a deeper understanding even if it is about something that won't change much because that is now knowledge that we as a community have. STEM is the next step for us as a population. It can solve so many problems that plague our world on a daily basis. Our agricultural problems, climate change, world health, and other issues can all be fixed through human ingenuity and science. Living in a diverse city like Philadelphia I have been able to see many sides of many people's lives as well as learn about people's different struggles and issues they face. People face many issues both medically and financially. I have had friends who themselves have struggled with diseases and illnesses such as chicken pox,pneumonia, cancer, and others that have put their mind and body through hardships. Many a time, you hear how expensive their treatments are, and how dangerous and scary they can be for patients. This is better than not having any treatments at all but the thing that makes STEM so impressive is that it can not only make these treatments safer and more readily available but also considerably less expensive for patients. This goes for medication as well, including over the counter medications used by everyday people who might just be having a rough allergy season. Everyone has a different, personal reason why they live the life they live. I love STEM because it doesn't discriminate based on background, location, gender or color. It is a tool that can help all people in countless ways. There are countless medical problems in today's world that, more often than not, can be solved with improvements in medicines and vaccines as well as improvements to systems of education and daily life that are often outdated and not very effective. The fact that all of this can be loved through STEM is inspiring in itself. I couldn't think of a better field to study to aid our world than STEM.

Everyone always talks about the phrase "the grass isn't always greener on the other size." But sometimes It is. The next question you need to ask is why is that grass different from the one your standing on at that instant. This line of thinking is a indication of how my view of the world changed. As a younger student, I didn't understand why some people detested others simply because of choices that ultimately didn't impact their own lives. I then gained an opportunity to join a new course at my school called , Honors Philsosphy. This felt like the perfect opportunity to get my answers and it was. I learned a little about how people used to think and why they thought those things which helped me understand the people around me today. It opened my eyes to viewpoints that I wouldn't have been able to see. I learned that the reason people aways find themselves at odds with other peoples world view or way of life is because of the human inclination to assume and fear of the misunderstood. Everyone makes assumptions, largely because it is more simple to connect the dots between two ideas than ponder Ideas separately. When you do this however, you run the risk of missing the context of what the two dots could really mean. When you let your own mind speak for others, you open the door to letting your own fears take over and it becomes the lense you see that person through. When you stop trying to understand the other side you loose sight of what is really the view of the other person and begin to see a lifestyle that was never that to begin with. This realization not only allowed me to understand others, but myself as well.

Like many people have said, parents do have the most pivotal role in molding children into the people of tomorrow. I can do nothing but agree when I look back on my life as a student-athlete. My mother has without a doubt been the most influential person in my life athletically. From the beginning she made it clear I had two options, I could play sports, or I could join one of the arts. She did this not only to keep me away from possibly dangerous and destructive environments but also to give me a sense of achievement and push me to aspire to do something. Without her constantly pushing me to not just play football, but to excel at it and be the best player I could be. She molded my philosophy to that of someone who expects the most from themselves and when they don't meet the expectations, instead of backing down works twice as hard. My mother herself did sports and knew how they could also help me personally in a way I wouldn't have thought. When I was a kid I was told I had a social block and wouldn't interact with other people and kids normally. I also was diagnosed with Asthma, meaning I struggled to breathe. Some parents might see this as a reason to isolate their children and shield them from the world but my mother chose to let me face my problems head-on. Instead of trying to figure out how I would interact with other people, she put me in football and karate, where communication and listening are key skills a person needs to succeed. She made me focus on not just success but learning from both wins and losses. This didn't just strengthen my ability to interact with people, but it brought a sense of confidence and humility to me that I might not have otherwise gained. Later on, I did track. When I told my mother, instead of saying no because running would put a strain on my lungs, she encouraged me to do it and told me as soon as I continue past a week I was not allowed to quit until after high school. As hard as it was in the beginning, it taught me perseverance, even when I was uncomfortable. It also strengthened my lungs to where I was "clinically cured" of my asthma. She built me up in a way that I can never repay her for, both physically and mentally. I learned things from her that instilled a deep sense of morality that I will always be thankful for. I know I am a better person today because she committed to pushing me to be better than the status quo. She has also pushed me to be a leader, even when I didn't want to be. As the eldest brother of three sons, I am looked to for guidance and information from my parents and my brothers. I had to step into the role of an advisor to my brothers and the role of a manager to my parents. Both of these, I personally believe, have done nothing but prepare me for the field of play and the working world.