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Why I do

I serve as a College Advisor and Seminar teacher within a comprehensive charter high school. I have 15+ years of experience in college access and youth development. Though the titles are nice there is much deeper meaning in what I do on a daily basis.

Why I do the work I do:
I want to change mindsets
I want to help reverse generational poverty
I want to prevent senseless violence
I want to overcome despair
I want to help a parent realize a dream for their child that they don't know how to attain
I want to end the school to prison pipeline
I want to show my Black and Brown kids endless possibilities
I want college to save their lives
I want a career to save their lives
I want a goal to save their lives
I want a sport to soothe their minds
I want a career to sustain their lifestyle and provide for themselves and their families
I want the military to provide discipline to move in various surroundings
Exposure
Opportunity
Enlightenment
Giving a damn about our kids
My kids
I teach
I counsel
I advise like my kids lives depend on it
You know why?
Often times it does.
The same college experience, pathways choice, lifestyle choice you frown upon could have saved that young person's life
I care about the burden of debt on our Black families.
I care about the Black tax once they "make it"
I worry about the kids I help send to predominantly white institutions that are confronted with racism everyday
I worry about the kids I send to HBCUs that can't afford to eat or have excessive loan debt
This is life and death for my kids.
I have kids in foster care, two parent homes, incarcerated parents, teenage parents themselves that all want better for themselves.
My kids are real people, with real problems in this real life.
Not statistics.
Not a set of data points.
Not GPAs and test scores.
Real people.
I am people centered. I advise based on the person, their wants, needs, circumstances and abilities.
We all need to win as a people and I'm doing my part every single day.
You want to know why I do what I do?
My kids lives depend on it.
My life depends on it.
So I'll continue to advise them in hopes of changing their trajectory in some way.

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