First Grade:
I got up and ready for my first day of the first grade. I walked into class happy as could be and took my seat waiting to make new friends like everyone else I see. The first week went great and I was enjoying school but then it took a turn for the worst, as in result of me hating school. I dreaded school because I would suddenly get picked on for being viewed as the “Slow Kid in Class”. The other kids in class thought I was stupid and dumb, all because I had a learning disability. I had always known that I was special but to others that meant I couldn’t read nor wright.

Second Grade:
2nd grade goes by fine but then God decides to pull the wool over my blind eye on February 13th 2005. On this day I lost my dad and that made me cry witch meant, I lost my best friend, my mentor and my father right before my very eyes. I remember his body lying on the cold hard ground, watching him lay there with no life him terrified the hell out of me. So I started my journey of life no longer as a boy but as a young man. I had to grow up fast and be the man of the house hold. During that time I just really wished someone would have taken that burden off my shoulders.

Third Grade:
It was a struggle trying to figure out how I was going to do well in school when the odds were stacked against me from the very start. I was constantly being teased about my weight, my crooked smile, and who I was as a person. Every day I was in pain from the torture that I was receiving whether it was physically or mentally. So one day I was fed up with the bully’s and for the first time in my life I fought back, even though I put up a good fight I still got my butt handed to me. I got suspended for a fight that I did not start but that day gave me hope… it gave me hope that one day I will no longer have to deal with this pain. That day was the start of a bad path that I chosen for myself.

Fourth and Fifth Grade:
This was the beginning of my dark and troubled journey. I started to get into fights and go looking for trouble, I would get suspend time and time again for things I started, and for things I did not commit. I was both the bully and the victim in a lot of my situations but I remember my principle, and my teachers would tell me that “You’re a bad kid and you’re never going to make it in life, unless you change your act”. In a way it was an act for help, I didn’t know how to express my emotions, and all I wanted for someone to listen to me in my darkest hour of 6 years.

Sixth Grade:
This was a life changing time for me, after my 9th suspension my mom took me home and laid the smack down on me. During this emotional whipping, I saw my mom’s face of agonizing pain and suffering from the damage I have caused. As I looked into my mom’s eyes, I saw all of her thoughts and the two thoughts that stuck out to me the most was 1) “What happened to my little sweet boy, who used to be so happy?” and 2) “What happened to your smile?” In a way she was right I lost my smile and my happiness. Soon after she told me to pack my bags and she said you’re going to live with your uncle until you changed. So I started to change after being at my uncle’s house for two weeks but while I was changing I found my bright/embracing smile, and the happiness of that little boy I used to be. In result of finding myself at a young age, I started to see the light that God had shined on me.

Middle School:
Middle school was a fresh new start for me, it was my chance to prove to my mom, my family, and my doubters that I can make it in this world and that I can be, that something they never thought that I could be. This was a time in my life that I showed my strengths both in academics and athletics. Knowing that I can do these things but do them far beyond better than my own expectations, gave me confidence within myself that I can do great things, but all I really had to do was just put my mind to it.

High School:
My first step onto campus was like an adrenalin rush, it was the excitement of knowing that I was going to grow as a student, athlete, friend, son and as a person. My freshmen year really was a step in the right direction, and I wouldn’t have stepped into the right direction if it wasn’t for me joining Avid! Avid really helped me by screwing my head on a little tighter, it opened up my eyes that I can go to college and make something of myself. They supported me through my academics and through my times of struggle. In my mind at the time I realized that I wasn’t just gaining friends for four years, I was gaining people that I can family. My sophomore year was my year to just branch out to try new things like hangout with my friends, and Avid family. That year allowed me to break away from being that academic student who’s just constantly focused on homework and studying, and it enabled me to stop and smell the roses every once in a while. My sophomore year was also a year of me learning to find balance for everything going on in my life, and I have achieved that. Junior year was the year I truly found myself and what my purpose here in life is. I realized that God put me here to help people and he wanted to change the world. I knew that when God gave me my cape and superpowers he wanted me to change the world. My senior year was the year that I finalized my statement to everyone that “I was bound to make it in this world and to be successful while doing it”. That year was a special year for me because it was the start of a new chapter in my life of going to college and to start my new life.

Flash Forward:
It’s been three years since I graduated from college and in these three years I have accomplished more than I have ever imagined. I have saved countless lives while working during the week as an ultrasound tech but on the weekends I go back to my old high school and college to motivate the future generation of this nation, to reach their goals and aspirations. I also speak to them about how they can strive to be better a person and to have a better life for themselves. While I’m not doing all of that I find time to write a few books and I recently just launched a clothing line for my company of motivation speaking called “Bound for Greatness”. When I find time away from all of those things I still use my time away to spend time with my new wife. We met our junior year of college, and I thank God every day for putting her in my life, she is the absolute definition of what I wife should be. God has also blessed me and my wife with our newly born baby boy, he looks just like his dad. I must say he does get cranky like his mother but hey what can I say that’s my boy and I love him to death. I can’t wait to watch him grow up and be successful just like me and his mom. If you were to ask me “Was everything that you went through in your life absolutely worth it to get, to where you are right now in life?” My response would simply be this I am blessed for God challenging me to overcome the obstacles he had put in front of me at an early stage of my life, it has helped grown into something greater then what I have thought of as young man. I did not only make it in life but I left my mark in it as well, I have become more than just a greater son, friend, husband and farther but I have become God’s perfect image. If you ask me, it was well worth it and I would do it all over again if I had too!