"If you don't know where you come from, it's difficult to determine where you are. It's even more difficult to plan where you are going." - Joseph Lowery Being from a town based in agriculture, I originally thought that most of my career options as someone with an interest in STEM involved me being some sort of farmer or field worker, but understanding where you come from and the opportunities it holds is one of the most important lessons I've learned over the last year throughout my time in my hometown of Sylvester, Georgia's community garden. My involvement within our garden started during my junior year of high school, when I was displaced as a McKinney-Vento student due to financial issues at home, which led me to live with my grandmother. During this time, she would often take me to the classes taught at our community garden that aimed to teach the elders of our community about how they could live healthier and more fulfilling lives while also focusing on the importance of art and agriculture within rural communities. Through this, I began helping with the cleanup of the garden, which consisted of picking up plastic and food after classes were over, and I'd help in taking care of the plants we'd grow, which consisted of collards, squash, peppers, and many more varieties of fruits and vegetables. As I became more involved in the processes of our garden, the owner, Sam X, notified me of an opportunity with one of the assistant extension administrators of 4-H for Fort Valley in Georgia, where I could become a member and share my experiences while also working with other 4-Hers from other parts of Georgia. I ended up taking the opportunity, which led me to being chosen as one of several students who were to represent Fort Valley at different 1890s land-grant universities in the South. These schools consisted of Prairie View A&M University and North Carolina A&T, where I would participate in different workshops that allowed me to learn about a variety of careers in STEM that had some relation to the agriculture field like chemical engineering, agricultural engineering, food marketing, and agribusiness. These experiences ultimately helped broaden my scope of view for how I could be involved in bringing new opportunities to my community without being confined to a singular career path. After my time out-of-state with 4-H, I returned home with a new perspective on the ways in which I can use my interests to benefit everyone within my community, but I also realized that within all of the work I had done up until that point, I had not been alone. The connections I made with the elders of my community garden and my peers and mentors in 4-H made me truly understand the value of investing in both the future of myself and what I bring to those I'm connected to. This led to me applying to QuestBridge and using the experiences, struggles, and connections I've made to paint a picture of conviction and drive for all who look, leading me to be selected as the only QuestBridge scholar from my town's graduating class, and I owe my success to the community that fostered it.