How has your upbringing shaped where you are today?

• “So, I think that through most of the struggles my family has faced, growing up, even though we lived in inner cities and not always the best area, my mother never let that mindset get in the household. We were always provided for. My mother had me focused on academics and I knew that school was nonnegotiable. ‘You gonna go to school, you are going to go to college’. But, it didn’t feel forced because I wanted these things too. But I will say my background kinda kept me humble and persistent to what should be important to me now. Not everybody is afforded an opportunity and not everyone is gonna have someone in their corner helping them.”

Do you believe the grey area is temporary or permanent?

• “It gets in to how you define success. I wanna say the grey area is temporary. I’m going to call the grey area hopelessness and say that’s temporary. Something is going to come and give you hope. Hopelessness is feeling like your back is against the wall but sometimes it’s gonna be an outlet. At the end of the day, constant hopelessness is just death. Like if you are alive you are good, you got a way to once again feel like you are on top. You got this. You are good. So, I think the grey area is temporary. “

What did your post-graduation timeline look like?

• “Law school. I applied for law school while in undergrad, I knew I wanted to go straight out. I had friends who took a year or 2 off and stuff but I knew I was the type of person like if I wanted to take a break I knew I would get comfortable. Then the overthinking thing, when exactly would I go back? So, I’m just like a shoot for it type of person. I wanna be done with it as soon as a possible, I wanted more cushion time. I guess it shouldn’t have been that important to me, I thought I would have been married by now and have kids by the age of so and so. I wanted to be done sooner and move fast and get everything out of the way.”

Have they differed from your initial thoughts? If so, why?

• “Yes, because now I do not view college as this magical kingdom anymore. Some people who are trustees and on boards and stuff are shitty people. They don’t really care about you, they are in the picture and in the media to show they care about outreach and giving back to the community. Meanwhile, people are getting sent home when they have been here for 2 or 3 years cause they are missing a 1000 dollars and can’t afford tuition. Seeing that has made me more grateful for obtaining a degree, cause I didn’t take the financial aspect seriously. At any given moment something could have gone down, for instance, I wouldn’t have got approved for a loan or something, like damn this could be it. “

During your post-graduation phase of life, are there any lessons you learned and would like to share?

• “Networking is so important. You can network anywhere. I was working at a daycare in undergrad and one of the parents was a defense attorney for the office of a public offender. He got me my externship. I think you have to take advantage of networking opportunities, don’t be afraid, don’t procrastinate. I’m a procrastinator and it hinders you in the long run. Don’t do it. When you put the work in you feel better you don’t gotta stress. “
• “Don’t chase the money. Invest. “