When I was younger I wanted to be a doctor and lawyer and I was set on that plan. One day, I began watching ESPN and one day turned into another day and another day and another day until ESPN was a thing I watched everyday. Sports drew me in, but the thing that kept me watching was the few African-American male broadcasters I had seen. My grandmother would watch CNN and ABC and all I saw was white faces, but when I watched ESPN, I saw people that looked like me.
I was gifted at writing at an early age, I was a decent speaker and as I grew older I began to use it to my advantage. The only issue is, I didn't know how to begin. Thanks to my Step-dad, I was put into contact with Slam Magazine and began writing for them at age 17. My first article was published in a prestigious basketball magazine and that moment seemed unreal. I began writing for A.R.T.S.Y magazine months later, and by the end of my senior year in high school, I was a member of the Hot Guy Panel for Seventeen Magazine.
As soon as I entered college, I joined WSJU Radio and by the end of my freshmen year, I had become music director. I started by own show, Apple Juice Break, which is arguably the most popular show. I break out all different types of music from Electronic, to Indie Rock, to Rap. It's an amazing experience to enlighten others with a great new underground music. While at St. John's I started a fairly popular mixing series on Soundcloud. They've grown fairly popular, having collectively 155,000 plays over the course of a year. It's been a great experience and I've even been able to work with Teen Vogue because of it.
During this time, I began receiving some form of notoriety on Tumblr. I started out as most Tumblr kids, focused on followers and "internet fame", but after a few months, I noticed it was pointless. I wanted to help people, I wanted to be a voice for people. Today, I post about how I feel, things I'm going through from anxiety, to self doubt, to depression, to bits of suicidal thoughts and all. My goal now is to let people know they aren't alone. I currently have 32,000+ followers and If I've positively effected one, then I can sleep well at night.
The main challenge was that I wasn't old enough. I never let that stop me. I never let my age define what I could accomplish. I've been able to do so much, so early on in my life and I'm truly thankful.. Life is amazing, through everything, good and bad and I'm happy to be able to grow and see where my talent and dedication can take me.