I don't know if I can narrow down one event in my life that has shaped me any more than others. My life--especially recently--has been a massive conglomerative mess of mistakes and disappoints that have all equally shaped me. But if I had to name one thing, it would be my faith. It is because of my faith that I want to go to college. I want to get a degree so I can have the tools and income to work with and rebuild broken communities and gang neighborhoods. It is because of my faith that I have such a heavy burden for these places. But also because of my faith that I have gone to these neighborhoods and learned so much. I interned with Common Ground Montgomery over the summer of 2014 (CgmLife.org), and in many ways that changed my life. It shaped the way I view and approach people, regarding their hurts rather than their actions. I desire to one day intern in Chicago, Camden New Jersey, and eventually intern with BluePrint Church in Atlanta. These three will teach me what the ministry looks like, but also will develop me as a man.
So, what does this have to do with this scholarship? My dreams will be incredibly hard to achieve if I come out of school in debt. So I am fighting with all I am that I will not do that. This next school year I will be living on campus as an RA, which will give me free housing but not free meal plan, which costs around 1,700, on top of tuition and books. I am applying for this scholarship so I can have a bit of ease of mind as I go to school, invest in my classmates, and look forward to how God may use me in the future.