This pandemic hasn't in fact affected me the most positive way. I broke my toe, pulled my groin, moved to across the country to a different state, and lost all my friends in the process, all while having no friends to rely on here in California. Things however proceeded to get WORSE, the soccer season got canceled, and gained girlfriends who broke my heart every single day, and then proceeded to leave. All her friends went with her as well. This pandemic has shown me one thing and one thing only that people suck, and no one will have your back so one is better off learning how to navigate this world on their own by themselves. Because the people that say they will be there for you always are the ones that hurt you the most when they too decided to leave out your life. I have learned that despite me being likable and enjoying company around me, people simply do not feel the same way. And wow despite me giving all my friends and people the entire world and treating them how men in those romantic comedy movies wish they could treat girls I continue to get spit on in the face time and time again and it's simply not fair. I try my best to give my best to all these people and all I am faced with is this continuation of rejection that cuts deeper with each stab in the back. I almost forgot to mention that, I did in fact make a friend here in California, but that soon too came to an end when they too decided to move states across the country. If there is one way that this pandemic has changed me for the better, it's taught me to only rely on myself, and myself only. People no matter how many times they push against it will always end up leaving.

When I hear that despite all the “advantages” my parents have acquired for me, I still have a one-in-four chance of spending time behind bars, it angers me and symbolizes the hopelessness others might feel. Though my parents both came from nothing to have successful careers—and though, 150 years after ending slavery, we had a Black president—I will, as an African American man, have a much greater statistical likelihood of being incarcerated at least once in my life. Even before the pandemic focused the entire nation’s attention on racial injustice, this fact alone moved me to become involved in civic action. The decision to dedicate my life to tackling these injustices marks a key change for me. Now I feel certain that in university I will study political science and related topics, probably with the eventual goal of attending law school. I aim to effect change from within by being a spokesperson for those whose voices have long been ignored. Boston University provides an ideal academic environment for this pathway through its offering of a major in Political Science and its renown for civic activism. If the mental state of Blacks in America has declined during the pandemic, it only represents a continuation of the rampant disenfranchisement they have faced for centuries. I have seen modern America’s situation from the inside, but also from multiple angles. I’ve lived as a young Black man in towns with different demographics, on both coasts of the US. I believe I have fresh ideas about how to move the needle of progress. They include reallocating funds within the police force and dismantling the prison system business. I feel especially strongly about ending mandatory sentencing policies such as the Three Strikes system, which keeps prisons largely made up of the poor and colored. Courses at Boston University such as CRIM 451: Race, Crime, and Justice and PHIL 105: Introduction To Philosophy Of Law And Legal Ethics would let me build on these thoughts during university and bring about change. The shocking scenes of police brutality we’ve all watched in the past months have brought back into the spotlight issues that have simmered for generations, but also ones that can be solved in the coming generations if we take action now. The decision to focus my energy on dealing with this unfairness has already shifted my outlook, and I know that in college I can shift the outlook of many of those around me. I am committed to moving my community and my country toward a more positive and peaceful situation, where rioting, looting, and racial violence aren’t what you see on television. Because the only way to effect change is from within, I trust that Boston University's Pre-Law advising will permit me, if accepted, to begin working toward becoming a leader in these issues from the day that I begin my undergraduate studies.