BLESSINGS!!!!!

I haven’t written in a really long time! It’s been a chaotic last few months. With graduation and then getting myself ready for my return back to england, I haven’t really had an opportunity to just reflect on the last 6 months.

I finally finished college! All glory to God and so thankful for the opportunity to actually come back and finish up my final semester  at UNC. To be honest, it still hasn’t really hit me yet. I actually just finished up my final course, which in turn ended up being one of, if not, my most favorite class that i have taken at UNC. It was an education class, more specifically focusing on teaching in middle school. My class went to various schools around the Chapel Hill, Cary, and Durham areas and just observed various  middle school classrooms. We went to private, charter, and public schools. I honestly learned so much about young adolescents, and to be honest I don’t think middle school has changed all that much from when i was in it. the only main difference was that these kids had a lot more control over technology than i did when i was that age. But, nonetheless they were still awkward young adolescents that were trying to find themselves within the middle school. i loved getting a chance to go around and meet some of these kids, it was so cool. as someone that wants to be a motivational speaker, taking this class really allowed me to understand 11-14 year olds a lot more, and really understand how to address them if i ever come across an audience full of them.

i also got a chance to be introduced to this program that is actually offered through UNC called First Look Program. It’s a program that was introduced to UNC in 2008 and it really is a pipeline for higher education from college students to middle school students. the really cool and interesting thing about First Look is that 75% of the middle schools that they accept in the program are from Title 1 schools, so schools with students coming from low income family households. What First Look emphasizes is the importance of college. They relay 3 main messages when the students come to UNC to visit: college is a possibility, college can open up new opportunities, and don’t let the cost of college impact whether you go or not because there are ways around affording college. In talking with the people of First Look, we discussed the students when asked what they wanna do when they grow up they claim they want to be professional athletes.  A lot of these kids believe that you don’t need a college education to be a pro athlete. Some NBA players can vouch for this, no doubt about it. But the majority of other pro athletes can’t. And this got me thinking: there are not enough pro athletes out there that are stressing the importance of a college education. These athletes flaunt their millions of dollars without thinking who they are influencing by doing so. A lot of these kids see dollar signs and they think, “hey, they don’t have a college degree and they turned out just fine, so i’m gonna do the same.” Nope. Absolutely not. Do you know what a college degree could have done for some of these players had they gotten one? A whole hell of lot more than just money. Sometimes, it’s not about the money, but it’s about knowing that you have that piece of paper and no one, and i mean literally no one can take it away from you. Sports on the other hand, now that can be taken away from you as quickly as it was given to you, and you wouldn’t know what to do. it’s not to say get a college education so you have a back up just in case you don’t make it pro, or if you do make it pro your career comes to an end. but get a college education, because it will set you up for opportunities that you couldn’t even begin to dream of.

as a pro athlete that decided to take some time off of my sport and go back and get my degree, i hope it can open the eyes for both boys and girls to understand that, you can definitely do both. you don’t have to let one have an impact on the other. you don’t have to let one deter you from the other. Most importantly, do not let sports deter you from obtaining a college education. the percentage of athletes turning pro in their sports is so small that it might as well not even exist. but the percentage of people who obtain college degrees and then go off to do something amazing in the world is so much more likely. YOU CAN DO BOTH! it isn’t a do or die situation.

with that being said, i would like to start a foundation to help young kids get to college. i want to team up with other pro athletes and begin a foundation that emphasizes the importance of college to young aspiring athletes and i would also like to financially help send these young student athletes go to college and go live out their dreams. No one said anything would be easy, they just said it would be worth it. I want to help this next generation because they are the future, and they are the next leaders of tomorrow, we gotta start somewhere.

LET’S GO!