The change I want to see happen in my community, country, and the world is increasing energy and environmental consciousness. Fortunately for me, when I was younger, since I didn’t have a phone or tablet, I had the privilege of appreciating the outside world whenever I went on car drives. Seeing what was happening outside was always fascinating, viewing the beautiful homes, parks, and buildings I’d observed. As I got older, I observed the staunch difference between how more suburban communities looked contrasted to how my community looked, which was a very urban community. Usually, these suburban communities were very clean, and lawns were kept in shape. However, the same couldn’t be said for my community. There would usually be trash on curbs and street corners, while lawns seemed like they were trying to be as tall as the houses. I knew something was wrong with this, but I didn’t know if an issue like this could be fixed; I thought to myself, maybe that’s just the way things were, and you couldn’t change anything about it. However, once I completed my freshmen year of high school, I had the opportunity to join the University Impact Team. Along with my fellow impact team members and under the leadership of my Councilmen, Rasheed Wyatt, we were tasked with traveling to different areas around the council district, cleaning up areas that needed to be cleaned, and also going the extra step to clean and transform residents' properties. One of the most critical areas in our district that we cleaned up was the street corners of Bailey and Kensington Ave. This is where many cars drive through, and we have many commercial buildings, so this area needed to be well-kept and maintained. I went to work, got a trash picker, and started picking up trash I saw. I raked up the debris from the small patches of grass on the corners, sweeping and bagging it up. I even got a chance to learn how to work cleaning equipment, in particular, a weave eater. When we weren’t cleaning street corners, we went to the residents' homes in our districts and cleaned up their properties if needed. I mentioned before that I always wondered why my community’s people don’t maintain their lawns. Being a part of this effort made me realize that the people who have these unmaintained lawns most of the time are either elderly or disabled people who can’t maintain their yards and the overall quality of their property. That is why I feel like my work as a part of the Impact Team was very important because we provided service to these people that they may never have gotten. I mowed lawns, cut down weaves, picked out weaves, and cleaned up any trash or debris on their property. The most satisfying part about this work is that when it was done, the relief and the gratitude that the people had were heartwarming. Works like this bettered my community in Buffalo, and it is the work I continue to do here at the University at Albany. I joined the NAACP this semester because I knew this organization valued serving the community. The first service event I did along NAACP was clean the area around our pond here on campus. The pond area is beautiful and a great place for people to go on walks. That is why it is essential to ensure the site is maintained and environmentally friendly. Though I could’ve slept in on a Saturday morning, I could never pass up on a service opportunity, especially if it meant protecting our environment. As I did in Buffalo, I grabbed a trash picker and circled the pond three times, ensuring there was no trash on the ground and the environment was clean. My work doesn’t just stop there. I’m also a part of a training to learn how to weatherize people's homes to ensure they are energy efficient and warm for the upcoming winter months. I’m learning how to caulk certain areas of a house, insulate outlets and light switches, and inspecting water pipes, etc. I’m also being taught how to engage with people, which is very important because it teaches people how to ensure they will always maintain energy-efficient homes. I do this work because I have a genuine passion for serving my community. My primary goal is to become an elected official, with dreams of becoming the President of the United States, because I want to be in a position of power to create fundamental change that impacts not only my community and the country but the entire world. The biggest issue we face in the world is not having this energy and environmentally conscience mindset, not only on the individual level but the systemic level as well. Though it’s a long and challenging task to create a sustainable world, I believe the work I do now in cleaning my street, fixing up properties, and weatherizing homes is the first step in creating the change needed for a sustainable world.

If given the opportunity, I would influence the idea of legalizing, taxing, and regulating marijuana. A few years ago, I went on a trip to the State Capitol of New York(Albany) and had the opportunity to ask my Assemblywomen about the efforts that New York State is taking to legalize tax and regulate marijuana. Fortunately, my Assemblywomen took the issue as seriously as I did and put forth strong efforts to get Marijuana legalized, and ultimately the State of New York would see Marijuana legalized. While New York and many other states have legalized Marijuana, the goal of the issue of Marijuana is to have it legalized in the entire country. If I had the opportunity, to influence elected leaders on this issue, I would present all the benefits that legalizing marijuana has and the damages that it has caused to society. I would first mention the economic benefits of Legalizing Marijuana. Legalizing Marijuana would see net gains in the US economy. Marijuana is already becoming an economic driver in the US. It is important to realize that states that have already legalized, taxed, and regulated Marijuana have seen nothing but economic successes from their policies. In California, the state has generated millions of dollars due to the legalization of marijuana, according to the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration. California is not the only state that saw economic successes over Marijuana, Colorado also saw good economic growth as well. In 2019, Colorado collected more than $302 million in taxes and fees on medical and recreational marijuana, according to Investopedia. With such a large financial gain to be made from the legalization of marijuana, the argument to spend millions of dollars enforcing laws is counterproductive, and the country would reap great benefits from the taxation of marijuana. Then, I would mention the racist history of the push to decriminalize Marijuana. Marijuana was criminalized by the Nixon administration. In response to the dramatic rise of drug usage in the sixties. However, the true driving force of Marijuana’s criminalization was racially motivated as disclosed by a former aide to Nixon in an interview with Harper, “You understand what I am saying? We knew we could not make it illegal to be either against the war or black, but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and Black people with heroin. And then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities.” The infrastructure of the war on drugs was built on the fact that Black people and hippies were considered a threat to the political establishment at the time. The Nixon White House sought to handle the threat by taking marijuana and making it illegal, which essentially meant that the war on drugs was a war on Black people and hippies. To have someone who was a part of the Nixon administration openly admitting to the racial motivation for the launch of the war on drugs is evidence of how unjust and discriminatory the current legislation and enforcement practices are. Having the opportunity to present these reasons for why the United States should legalize Marijuana I believe will move the needle in the right direction on this prominent social issue.

The spring of 2020 was probably one of the most challenging times I faced in high school. Not only did I have to adapt to virtual learning and keep cautious of my travels due to the Covid-19 Pandemic, but I was also living in the center of the civil unrest that was taking place in my community due to the killing of George Floyd. The amount of chaos that was on my street with local businesses being looted, people being gassed, and officers being run over had a mental state that caused me to not perform the absolute best work I could have given during virtual school. However, despite the challenges that I faced during that time, it was also an opportunity to be a part of a movement to create change in my community which I felt was needed at the time. I participated in two peaceful Black lives matter protests, highlighting my disdain towards the way the police have handled peaceful protesters in my community. Not only did I bring the activism to the streets, but I have also brought the activism to meetings with my local elected leaders. I was given the opportunity to create a presentation and present to my council member how we can bridge the gap between the community and the police. My idea was to increase transparency amongst our police department by making it easier to retrieve data on the police which would include creating transparent and easily accessible information on racial disparities in police stops and arrests, a database that includes officers' disciplinary records, and while keeping names and addresses undisclosed, directing the police commissioner to release numbers on the number of officers that live outside of the community they serve. The social justice movement not only brought attention to the injustices within our policing system but also brought attention to the injustices that disadvantaged communities have been experiencing for years. Working alongside Breaking Barriers we have investigated the injustices within our education system and how we can create a better education environment for young people, especially young people of color. We would continue to advance our own fight for educational reforms that promote equity within our school community by fighting for reforms to our suspension policy, increasing teacher diversity, and offering more AP courses. I would have the pleasure of presenting these policies to my school officials and come to find out a year later looking into our school code of conduct and having the opportunity to meet new staff, my school took the steps to adopt the proposals I advocated for. This is an accomplishment I am immensely proud of and goes to show that because of this movement for social justice we were able to create change within our school community.

Over the last few years, I have been serving my community by presenting and fighting for policy proposals that I feel would better the young people in my community. Working alongside Breaking Barriers, we would tackle the bus pass laws in our community. Here in Buffalo, we did not like the laws surrounding bus passes, we felt that they were too restrictive and not giving us young travelers enough travel freedom. So I and my peers had a conversation with a member of the school board surrounding the issue, and we were able to successfully change the bus pass law in our community. Now whereas before we could only take the bus to and from school within a certain time, now we have the freedom to take the bus to school, extracurricular activities, work, and more. We have not just stopped at the bus passes. There are a lot of issues within the young community that needs to be addressed. We decided that the most pressing issues were suspension rates, teacher diversity, and access to AP courses. I had the privilege of presenting these issues to my school board along with my school community, and I would soon come to find out my voice would have an impact as my school already took the steps to adopt these policies themselves.

The state of the country and the entire world is constantly changing. With that fact, I take pleasure in listening to political and social commentary. What I enjoy most about the political and social commentary is listening to the various opinions people are going to have on certain topics. I gained a liking for this pleasure ever since the 2016 presidential election. As we all know it was a remarkably interesting election with two opposite candidates in Trump and Clinton going up against each other. I will never forget waking up at 3 am to the news that Donald Trump will be the next President of the United States. Whether you supported him or not, it was a victory that came out of nowhere that no one was expecting. It was from that point I wanted to know how an outsider candidate in Trump can beat an established candidate in Clinton, which is when I fell down the rabbit hole of listening to various political commentators and getting their takes on the election of Trump, along with their opinions on the issues that we face as a country. I enjoy listening to people talk about the most prominent issues to me which are climate change, our democracy, and the economy because those are the fundamental building blocks of our society. Listening to all these conversations fuels my motivation to get involved in politics one day and be the person who can create change for people myself.

Giving is important to me because it creates a stronger and more positive community. Over the last four years, I have dedicated my time to giving back to my school and community in the form of servitude, delivering policy changes to address the needs of young people. Working alongside Breaking Barriers, we would tackle the bus pass laws in our community. Here in Buffalo, we did not like the laws surrounding bus passes, we felt that they were too restrictive and not giving us young travelers enough travel freedom. So me and my peers had a conversation with a member of the school board surrounding the issue, and we were able to successfully change the bus pass law in our community. Now whereas before we could only take the bus to and from school within a certain time, now we have the freedom to take the bus to school, extracurricular activities, work, and more. We have not just stopped at the bus passes. There are a lot of issues within the young community that need to be addressed and be the voice for young people. We came to the decision that most pressing issues were suspension rates, teacher diversity, and access to AP courses. I had the privilege of presenting these issues to my school board along with my school community, which I would soon come to find out my voice would have an impact as my school already took the steps to adopt these policies themselves. Giving back to my community is a passion that I will continue to carry on, as I move to higher education at the University at Albany.

At the age of fourteen, while other peers my age were spending their time on sports or music, I was phone-banking for State Senator Tim Kennedy’s re-election campaign. Over this past summer, I had the opportunity to present ideas on creating transparent policing policies to my Councilman, Rasheed Wyatt. Recently, I have been canvassing and phone-banking for the Democratic Nominee for Mayor of Buffalo, India Walton. I have a genuine passion for politics and bringing change to my community. With all the work that I have done in the community, I would be lying if I said I was always a mentally strong person. This school year, I have had struggles with trying to balance my schoolwork with me taking three college credit courses in school, applying for scholarships, sports, my community work, and then of course the cherry on top, being in a relationship. Having to cater to all these things made it hard for my mind to properly function. It got to a point where I started having these mental breakdowns, which I usually never had. I found myself wanting to be alone, did not want to speak or interact with anyone and it really affected the type of person whom I spent years trying to build within myself but all the pressures that I was experiencing in my life really fell on me. I’ll never forget coming into school going into the library where I would usually do the morning announcements which I usually do every day and it requires me to have an upbeat attitude to set a positive mood for every high schooler in the building but I couldn’t gain the will power to actually to do the announcements, I had a breakdown and my mind was all over the place. When occurrences like these happen, to cope with myself, I find it crucial to practice self-care. Once I have let out all my emotions, I am blessed to have close friends who I have come to whom I can talk to and express how I feel. Not only that, when I am having these mental hardships one of the best things, I do for myself is turn off the lights, turn off the tv, turn off my phone, and lay down on the couch with my eyes closed contemplating about life. This is my way of resetting my mind, easing the stress in my life. Having people to talk to and taking the time to reset my mind has been a crucial part in how I cope with the mental breakdowns I have had.

For myself to keep a growth mindset requires me to be surrounded by people who are going to build me up and not hold me down. Being someone who has been described as a leader, an important aspect of being a leader is being able to gain knowledge and wisdom from other people because that in turn will build me up as a person. One of my favorite people I like to hang out with is my friend Joe who aspires to be a rapper. It is kind of an ironic friendship because his aspiration in life is to be a rapper and my aspiration in life is to be a politician. You would not think people with completely different aspirations in life can build each other up, but we end up encouraging each other in numerous ways. I love the way he applies himself in getting into the rap game, working two part-time jobs to pay for his equipment to make his music, and taking advantage of network opportunities to connect with local rappers in the community. Joe having that type of passion and motivation for the work he does inspires me to keep the same passion and motivation for my own goals in life. Having him and other people in my life who are highly motivated puts that growth mindset to do better on my path to get to where I want to be in life.

At the age of fourteen, while other peers my age were spending their time on sports or music, I was phone-banking for State Senator Tim Kennedy’s re-election campaign. Over this past summer, I had the opportunity to present ideas on creating transparent policing policies to my Councilman, Rasheed Wyatt. Recently, I have been canvassing and phone-banking for the Democratic Nominee for Mayor of Buffalo, India Walton. I have a genuine passion for politics and bringing change to my community, which has had a significant impact on my life so far. Over the last few years I have had the opportunity to work alongside Breaking Barriers Buffalo to present and fight for educational policies that would improve the lives of young people across the city of Buffalo, particularly young people of color. Since we are an organization made up of Black males ages 12-24, it was in our hands to produce the most pressing issues that we as young people face in our education system. The first issue we would tackle is the bus pass laws in our community. Here in Buffalo, we did not like the laws surrounding bus passes, we felt that they were too restrictive and not giving us young travelers enough travel freedom. So me and my peers had a conversation with a member of the school board surrounding the issue, and we were able to successfully change the bus pass law in our community. Now whereas before we could only take the bus to and from school within a certain time, now we have the freedom to take the bus to school, extracurricular activities, work, and more. We have not just stopped at the bus passes. There are a lot of issues within the young community that need to be addressed and be the voice for young people. We came to the decision that most pressing issues were suspension rates, teacher diversity, and access to AP courses. I had the privilege of presenting these issues to my school board along with my school community, which I would soon come to find out my voice would have an impact as my school with my school who already took the steps to adopt these policies themselves. Addressing these critical issues that impact the young people of my community is something of which I am immensely proud. Community activism has been a true motivation for me in life to continue succeeding. As I journey into my college education, I am going to continue being the voice for young people, fighting to bring real change to the community I serve.

I was born and raised on the east side of Buffalo, despite losing my grandfather at a young age and my parents divorcing, I still felt like I had a very blessed childhood. Growing up I found myself wanting to do many things in the future which include being a teacher, mortician/funeral director, movie director, etc. However, after the 2016 election, my interest in politics would grow substantially. I began researching the policies and the conditions that led to Trump’s victory and it opened my eyes to the many problems we face as a country. Looking into all the problems that we face as a nation; I want to be the person who creates fundamental change for the people of this country. In 2018, I joined an organization called Breaking Barriers Buffalo, a group of young men of color from the ages of 12-24, in which we talk about the issues going on in my community affecting young people. Here in Buffalo, we did not like the laws surrounding bus passes, we felt that they were too restrictive and not giving us young travelers enough travel freedom. So me and my peers had a conversation with a member of the school board surrounding the issue, and we were able to successfully change the bus pass law. Right now, at Breaking Barriers, we are currently working on three policies to improve the education system in our city. This includes reforming suspensions, increasing teacher diversity, and increasing opportunity for AP courses, which we had the opportunity to present these issues to the entire Buffalo School Board. I even had the privilege of presenting these issues to my school board along with my school community, with my school who had already taken the steps to adopt these policies themselves. Having this type of great leadership means the most to me because it prepares for the future career I want to have in politics one day. Being a leader is an important aspect of being a politician because it requires you to speak up and fight for what is right for your community, not serving the top 1%, which unfortunately I feel most politicians today do not have. That is why my goal in my life is to one day lead this country by becoming President. As President, I will support the policies that Americans care most deeply about. I am going to fight to restructure our healthcare system, invest in green technology so we can have a habitable planet, and finally get money out of our political systems so politicians can represent the needs of regular Americans. My legacy will be the representative that fought for change and created a better place to live, learn, and raise a family, leaving a heavy impact on my community, my country, and my world.

Over the last few years I have had the opportunity to work alongside Breaking Barriers Buffalo to present and fight for educational policies that would improve the lives of young people across the city of Buffalo, particularly young people of color. Since we are an organization made up of black males ages 12-24, it was in our hands to come up with the most pressing issues that we as young people face in our education system. The first issue we would tackle is the bus pass laws in our community. Here in Buffalo, we did not like the laws surrounding bus passes, we felt that they were too restrictive and not giving us young travelers enough travel freedom. So me and my peers had a conversation with a member of the school board surrounding the issue, and we were able to successfully change the bus pass law in our community. Now whereas before we could only take the bus to and from school within a certain time, now we have the freedom to take the bus to school, extracurricular activities, work, and more. We haven’t just stopped at the bus passes. There are a lot of issues within the young community that need to be addressed and be the voice for young people. We came to the decision that most pressing issues were suspension rates, teacher diversity, and access to AP courses. I had the privilege of presenting these issues to my school board along with my school community, which I would soon come to find out my voice would have an impact as my school with my school who already took the steps to adopt these policies themselves. When I’m not looking at the local issues plaguing my community, I am always focused on the issues that affect the entire country and the world. Looking at the world today, the most pressing problem that we must face as a humanity is climate change. If I had the money and resources to take on climate change by myself, I would spend trillions of dollars to transition our economy away towards fossil fuels, and towards renewable energy. With it being urgent that we transition away from fossil fuels, I would set up a ten-year transition that would move us away from fossil fuels such as: - Research and Invest in New Green Technology - Build CO2 Removal Machines Across Cities - Modernize Electric Grids - Prepare and Transition Fossil Fuel Workers for Green Jobs - Fully Electrify the Transportation Sector - Build a High-Speed Rail - Support Countries in Fossil Fuel Transition If I were to have the money and resources, I would have no problem carrying out a bold change to tackle climate change.

At the age of fourteen, while other peers my age were spending their time on sports or music, I was phone-banking for State Senator Tim Kennedy’s re-election campaign. Over this past summer, I had the opportunity to present ideas on creating transparent policing policies to my Councilman, Rasheed Wyatt. Recently, I have been canvassing and phone-banking for the Democratic Nominee for Mayor of Buffalo, India Walton. I have a genuine passion for politics and bringing change to my community. In 2018, I joined an organization called Breaking Barriers Buffalo, a group of young men of color from the ages of 12-24, in which we talk about the issues going on in my community affecting young people. Here in Buffalo, we did not like the laws surrounding bus passes, we felt that they were too restrictive and not giving us young travelers enough travel freedom. So I and my peers had a conversation with a member of the school board surrounding the issue, and we were able to successfully change the bus pass law. Right now, at Breaking Barriers, we are currently working on three policies to improve the education system in our city. This includes reforming suspensions, increasing teacher diversity, and increasing opportunity for AP courses, which we had the opportunity to present these issues to the entire Buffalo School Board. I even had the privilege of presenting these issues to my school board along with my school community, with my school who had already taken the steps to adopt these policies themselves. Having this type of great leadership means the most to me because it prepares me for the future career I want to have in politics one day. Being a leader is an important aspect of being a politician because it requires you to speak up and fight for what is right for your community, not serving the top 1%, which unfortunately I feel most politicians today do not have. That is why my goal in my life is to one day lead this country by becoming President. As President, I will support the policies that Americans care most deeply about. I am going to fight to restructure our healthcare system, invest in green technology so we can have a habitable planet, and finally get money out of our political systems so politicians can represent the needs of regular Americans. My legacy will be the representative that fought for change and created a better place to live, learn, and raise a family, truly serving all communities.

I was born and raised on the east side of Buffalo, despite losing my grandfather at a young age and my parents divorcing, I still felt like I had a very blessed childhood. My goal in my life is to one day lead this country by becoming President. As President, I will support the policies that Americans care most deeply about. I am going to fight to restructure our healthcare system, invest in green technology so we can have a habitable planet, and finally get money out of our political systems so politicians can represent the needs of regular Americans. My legacy will be the representative that fought for change and created a better place to live, learn, and raise a family. I plan on attending the University at Albany, majoring in political science, which will help in the long run, achieve my ultimate inspiration in life which is to become President and make that fundamental change. Before reaching the Presidency or becoming a politician, I first must get my college degree at the University at Albany. Now one of the biggest things I genuinely fear in the world, as I become an adult, is debt. The idea of being hindered with educational debt for the rest of my life is something I dread. So, to make sure I can get my degree and avoid college debt is what motivates me to do what I am currently doing now and apply to as many scholarships as possible. One of my mentors put it best and that applying for scholarships must be treated as a job because the more scholarships you apply for, the more likely I am to win these scholarships. I have made a game plan to apply for at least three scholarships in a week from now into summer. I feel by doing this I will be put in a comfortable position where obviously, I probably won’t win all of them, but I could potentially win at least ¼ of those scholarships if not more. I believe with those scholarships; I can graduate college debt-free. I am also very fortunate to be surrounded by mentors who are connected to various organizations that offer scholarships. Anytime a new scholarship drops, they are always sending me information about the scholarship, and with the information they give me, I keep myself accountable making sure I have all the required materials needed for the scholarships. Though applying for multiple scholarships is a long process and requires sacrifices at times, it is worth everything when after four years, I can say I’m graduating from University at Albany debt-free.

I was born and raised on the east side of Buffalo, despite losing my grandfather at a young age and my parents divorcing, I still felt like I had a very blessed childhood. Growing up I found myself wanting to do many things in the future which include being a teacher, mortician/funeral director, movie director, etc. However, after the 2016 election, my interest in politics would grow substantially. I began researching the policies and the conditions that led to Trump’s victory and it opened my eyes to the many problems we face as a country. Looking into all the problems that we face as a nation; I want to be the person who creates fundamental change for the people of this country. Right now, in my senior year of high school, I am taking three college credit courses (AP Bio, Humanities 100, and Calculus), my goal by the end of this year is to be able to pass all these courses, going into my freshman year at University at Albany with a head start in college credits. My goal for college is to attend University at Albany and graduate with a bachelor’s degree in political science. No obstacles in my life were tougher to get through than having a whole school year of virtual learning. I remember most of the teachers telling the class that we might have to go into lockdown, which I expected if it were going to happen, would last for a few weeks, but then weeks would of course turn into the rest of the school year. It was exceedingly difficult for me to virtually finish the rest of the school year. Combined with the civil unrest that took place during that time, I failed to conjure the motivation to finish the school year strong. Now luckily since I had a strong sophomore year before Covid, I did not fail my grade, but being isolated in my room, reduced to daily virtual assignments took a toll on me, while not being surrounded by my peers in person took a toll on me and I could not complete the school year to the best of my abilities. However, the same could not be said about my junior year of high school, as I was fully prepared for virtual learning. I made sure I came to virtual office hours, asking my teachers for help on assignments to fully understand what I had to do. Despite not getting a lot of personal attention, I was able to have my strongest year of high school with a GPA of 93, along with scoring a ninety-four on my ELA Regents Exam. Despite the challenge of having an entire school year taken away from me, I learned that in life you truly must hold yourself accountable. I barely had that school environment, which always held me accountable for making sure my work was done. However, once that environment was taken away from me, it was then up to me to make sure I got my work done and turned all my assignments in on time. Though it was a struggle, in the beginning, I eventually was able to overcome this obstacle and had a successful school year. Having this self-accountability will be a vital asset for me to have when I began my life as a college student.

“Runners on your mark……set……. POW!” When those two phrases are said by the race official, and that gun is fired, it is off to the races. Track and Field have been one of my favorite hobbies ever since middle school. I am so proud of my progression throughout my time in track and field, becoming a stronger and faster runner. Though the track is all about putting in the work multiple times a week to get better, for me what makes track one of my favorite hobbies, is the people with whom I am surrounded. I have built a strong relationship with my track teammates, especially amongst the most experienced runners. Now through the years, I grew to become one of the leaders of my track team and a part of becoming a leader is being able to listen to the people who came before me. One of my good friends who use to be on the track team before he went off to college would always be my challenge in the sense that he was faster than me, so in practice, we would often do practice relays where we would all compete against each other, and anytime I was picked to be a team captain I would always pick him because of course he was the fastest, but there came a point in time where I wanted to challenge myself and not have him on my team to test my abilities. Now unfortunately I would end up losing the race, but despite losing I can say that his presence and mentorship have made me a stronger runner than I am.

I was born and raised on the east side of Buffalo, despite losing my grandfather at a young age and my parents divorcing, I still felt like I had a very blessed childhood. My goal in my life is to one day lead this country by becoming President. As President, I will support the policies that Americans care most deeply about. I am going to fight to restructure our healthcare system, invest in green technology so we can have a habitable planet, and finally get money out of our political systems so politicians can represent the needs of regular Americans. My legacy will be the representative that fought for change and created a better place to live, learn, and raise a family. I plan on attending the University at Albany, majoring in political science, which will help in the long run, achieve my ultimate inspiration in life which is to become President and make that fundamental change. I will never forget my first experience being involved in a car accident as a result of a drunk driver. I and my mom were at a McDonald's drive-through, while we were ordering our food, a car pulled up behind us and hit us from the back. I and my mom were confused, so my mom got out of the car to confront the driver, but he just looked out a deer in headlights, didn’t say anything nor did he move. So, my mom tried to not think too much of it but when she got back into the car and pulled to the window to pay for her order, the car would hit us again with a little more force. After that, my mom had to pull out of the driveway and call the authorities because he now posed a danger to himself and other people on the road. This incident took place around 6 years ago, and even though I knew at the time what the guy did was wrong, it was still tough to see him get arrested. With my aspirations to become a politician, I want to expand access to addiction help to make sure people don’t find the need to resort to constant drinking to get rid of their problems. Now granted I don’t know if the guy had a drinking problem or he decided to party that night, I feel if we as a country were to address alcohol addiction as more of mental health than a criminal issue, that can go a long way in decreasing the number of drunk drivers on the road. Drunk driving is something that has impacted my life, making me be a cautious driver. I, unfortunately, lost an uncle to drunk driving with himself being that drunk driver behind the wheel, which hurts because I never had the opportunity to meet him. With myself becoming a first-time driver, it is a priority to make sure I avoid the consumption of alcohol in the first place, so every time I am getting in the car, I am completely sober, allowing my mind to be clear and focused.

Being a patient person is important to me because I believe that I will get the best outcomes in life when I am patient. I have been put through many situations in life when patience was required to get through those tough times. The most notable time in my life where patience was required, was when I was a part of an afterschool program called Buffalo Prep. I was required to take high school level classes in middle school, and it was very difficult keeping up with all the work, and I would often sit in my chair and think to myself, while I’m doing my work, “Is what I’m doing now really going to help me in the future.” Despite the doubts I had about the program, I still had to find my patience, and push through the work, because if I can get through this program I can be well prepared for high school. And when it was all said and done, I was able to complete the program, being given free tutoring services for high school, networking opportunities, and most importantly being well prepared for the work I was going to receive in high school. Therefore, it is important to have patience. Having the patience to just get the work I needed to be done, granted me these great benefits to have throughout high school. As I said before, when you can be patient, life promises to give you the best outcomes. It may take you a long time to see the fruits of your labor, but when you're willing to have the patience to wait, you will see an overflow of miracles. All it takes is patience.

I have been able to overcome adversity by having the ability to always look at the endgame. A lot of the time we can be so stuck in the moment of our despairs in life, we forget to be optimistic and look at the road ahead of us. It is this type of mindset that allowed me to get through a year of virtually learning. Despite not getting that in person learning that has always been helpful for me, I had to continue to do what I can to push hard and get the grades that I would need to succeed in my Junior year. Though I found the work to be a little more difficult, I was still able to overcome this challenge and was able to have a successful Junior year. Having this type of resilience is what I want to carry into my career, and I want to have a career of serving my community to the best of my abilities. At the age of fourteen, while other peers my age were spending their time on sports or music, I was phone-banking for State Senator Tim Kennedy’s re-election campaign. Over this past summer, I had the opportunity to present ideas on creating transparent policing policies to my Councilman, Rasheed Wyatt. Recently, I have been canvassing and phone-banking for the Democratic Nominee for Mayor of Buffalo, India Walton. I have a genuine passion for politics and bringing change to my community. In 2018, I joined an organization called Breaking Barriers Buffalo, a group of young men of color from the ages of 12-24, in which we talk about the issues going on in my community affecting young people. Here in Buffalo, we did not like the laws surrounding bus passes, we felt that they were too restrictive and not giving us young travelers enough travel freedom. So, me and my peers had a conversation with a member of the school board surrounding the issue, and we were able to successfully change the bus pass law. Right now, at Breaking Barriers, we are currently working on three policies to improve the education system in our city. This includes reforming suspensions, increasing teacher diversity, and increasing opportunity for AP courses. As before, we had the opportunity to present these issues to the entire Buffalo School Board. My ultimate goal in my life is to one day lead this country by becoming President. As President, I will support the policies that Americans care most deeply about. I am going to fight to restructure our healthcare system, invest in green technology so we can have a habitable planet, and finally get money out of our political systems so politicians can represent the needs of regular Americans. My legacy will be the representative that fought for change and created a better place to live, learn, and raise a family. I plan to attend the University at Albany, majoring in political science, which will help me overall achieve my ultimate inspiration in life which is to become President and make that fundamental change.

The community means a whole lot to me because I feel people shouldn’t have to go through struggles in life and as a society that should be our goal. At the age of 14, while other peers my age were spending their time on sports or music, I was phone-banking for State Senator Tim Kennedy’s re-election campaign. Over this past summer, I had the opportunity to present ideas on creating transparent policing policies to my Councilman, Rasheed Wyatt. Recently, I have been canvassing and phone-banking for the Democratic Nominee for Mayor of Buffalo, India Walton. I have a genuine passion for politics and bringing change to my community. In 2018, I joined an organization called Breaking Barriers Buffalo, a group of young men of color from the ages of 12-24, in which we talk about the issues going on in my community affecting young people. Here in Buffalo, we didn’t like the laws surrounding bus passes, we felt that they were too restrictive and not giving us young travelers enough travel freedom. So me and my peers had a conversation with a member of the school board surrounding the issue, and we were able to successfully change the bus pass law. Right now, at Breaking Barriers, we are currently working on three policies to improve the education system in our city. This includes: reforming suspensions, increasing teacher diversity, and increasing opportunity for AP courses, which we actually had the opportunity to present these issues to the entire Buffalo School Board. I was born and raised on the east side of Buffalo, despite losing my grandfather at a young age and my parents divorcing, I still felt like I had a very blessed childhood. Growing up I found myself wanting to be many things in the future which includes being a teacher, mortician/funeral director, movie director etc. However, after the 2016 election, my interest for politics would grow substantially. I began researching the policies and the conditions that led to Trump victory and it really opened my eyes to the many problems we face as a country. Looking into all the problems that we face as a nation, I want to be the person who creates the fundamental change for the people of this country. My ultimate goal in my life is to one day lead this country by becoming President. As President, I will support the policies that Americans care most deeply about. I am going to fight to restructure our healthcare system, invest in green technology so we can have a clean habitable planet, and finally get money out of our political systems so politicians can represent the needs of regular Americans. My legacy will be the representative that fought for change and created a better place to live, learn, and raise a family. I plan on attending the University at Albany, majoring in political science, which will help in the long run, achieve my ultimate inspiration in life which is to become President and make that fundamental change.

One of my best qualities is my ability to be a leader. However, in order to be a good leader, it requires me to listen to people who know more than me, which can help elevate me as a leader. I actively listen to people by making sure they know they aren’t wasting their breath when I'm trying to instill knowledge in me. I make sure I nod my head anytime they are making a point that I agree with and if they are educating me on something that is engaging, I even do my best to chime in and contribute to the conversation or ask questions. Gestures like these let the people who I conversate with know that I’m not just letting what they are saying go into one ear and come out the other, this lets them know I’m actually intrigued and want to be educated by them.

“Runners on your mark……set……. POW!” When those two phrases are said by the race official, and that gun is fired, it is off to the races. Track and Field has been one of my favorite hobbies ever since middle school. I am so proud of my progression throughout my time in track and field, becoming a stronger and faster runner. Though track is all about putting in the work multiple times a week to get better, for me what makes track one of my favorite hobbies, is the people with whom I am surrounded. I have built a strong relationship with my track teammates especially amongst the most experienced runners. Now through the years, I grew to become one of the leaders of my track team and a part of becoming a leader is being able to listen to the people who came before me. One of my good friends who use to be on the track team before he went off to college would always be my personal challenge in the sense that he was faster than me, so in practice we would often do practice relays where we would all compete against each other, and anytime I was picked to be a team captain I would always pick him because of course he was the fastest, but there came a point in time where I wanted to challenge myself and not have him on my team to test my abilities. Now unfortunately I would end up losing the race, but despite losing I can say that his presence and mentorship has made me the stronger runner that I am. Despite this year being my final year of track and field, I will continue to put in the work to be a better runner before this year is out. What makes me enjoy this hobby very much is the potential for me to leave a legacy on the track. One of my stronger races is the four by 2-meter relays and right now I am currently the fastest leg in my relay, but to leave a legacy in that race requires me to be a leader to the rest of my teammates and help them become faster and get better hand offs in. We are a few seconds away from holding the school record in the 4 by 2-meter relay and I believe we could beat the record before the season is out. A lot of people may find track tiring with all the running, but track keeps me motivated and pushes my body to places I did not know I can reach, which is why it is one of my favorite hobbies.

At the age of 14, while other peers my age were spending their time on sports or music, I was phone-banking for State Senator Tim Kennedy’s re-election campaign. Over this past summer, I had the opportunity to present ideas on creating transparent policing policies to my Councilman, Rasheed Wyatt. Recently, I have been canvassing and phone-banking for the Democratic Nominee for Mayor of Buffalo, India Walton. I have a genuine passion for politics and bringing change to my community. When I become of age, I want to be the next president of the United States and deliver fundamental change to my country.