Many people don’t know my past.

I was born in Nigeria and then lived in an

impoverished part of Lansing IL for some of my youth. A number of my friends saw no way out
so they defaulted to gangs. There were few good role models any of us could look up to. I
ended up moving and attending a very diverse school, which I stay at to this day, that helped
me grow as a person tremendously. Learned a lot from my humble upbringing. I come from a
culture where giving something your all is expected out of you. My family drilled the notion of not
try your best at what you do is to forsake the talents given to you by God. This greatly influence
how I went about doing things and people respond positively to it. One of the best examples
was the effect it had on the track and field program in my high school. Before my sophomore
year we had never won a relay or placed in the top 5 at the state meet in school history and
wasn’t predicted to do anything then either. That year I put extra hours working with people,
training, helping out the coaches any way I can. Soon after everyone followed suit putting extra
hours to accomplish a common goal. The cause almost a chain reaction of everyone doing a
little extra and help each other out. This in turn strengthened our bond as a family. That year we
had the best season HF ever had at the time. This experience opened my eyes that being a
leader isn't always about being the best it’s about how much you’re willing to do for others as to
benefit the team as a whole. Since then I wanted to do more and help others outside sports. I
started to be more involved in broadcasting events in the community and help making ads for
small business,but what i’m most proud of is being a mentor to the young men of color. The
diversity group I am in is called V.I.C.T.O.R.S. Being seen as a role model is the best feeling i’ve
felt in my life. This group allowed me to share my story with people who were in the same
situation and give them a sense of hope. Also we talk about how to deal with the adversities of
being black and eventually overcome them. That’s is the most important part to me, helping my
community succeed is something i’ll never get tired of doing.