Changes Make A Difference, Greater Than You Can Imagine

My days during high school were thorns pricking me every day, just for being able to sit, and it didn't matter whether I enjoyed it or not because the fact was that this isn't comfortable. The goal is it wasn't supposed to be warm and relaxing, but give the pain to realize that the grass isn't greener on the other side. Starting with struggles from not being a part of the crowd as a 9th grader, consisted the majority of time looking at myself through the lens of a loner.?

Get ready, eat, go to school, attend the classes, come home, do homework, and put yourself to sleep.

It never felt like there was any human connection with the people of my age at that time. So I would always seek advice from elders to understand what it meant to move on from the problems for visualizing a grander act of solutions ahead of me and my high school times.

I had wanted to encounter the 50/50 balance between learning from the elders and feeling a part of this journey by understanding my younger generation. Eventually, by the time I knew it, 2015 turned into 2016, then 2017, 2018, and continued from thereon. Each year was a process for me to picture the puzzle, especially during 11th and 12th grade. The amount of negativity surrounding me at that time was quite unbelievable, but luckily I survived.?

Everyone around me telling that it was impossible to get into any university with that mindset. I heard more words in the context of no, not, isn't and not enough positive sentences that promoted the message of it being possible with hard work.

As I was struggling during the last two years of my high school, I got into a STEM academy called Monroe Technology Center with the help of my parents putting in the application without even letting me know. It started with computer integrated engineering design (CIED) in 11th and ended with biotechnology in 12th. You might be thinking, how did you end up going from being the problem solver to experimenting with outcomes. That's a story for another day, not because it isn't interesting. Instead, there are several learning lessons that someone could take away from it, in the form of a storytelling narrative.

The perspective that Monroe Technology Center gave to me about taking risks during the last two years of my high school gave me two fantastic guides towards what I would be experiencing during my time as a university student and a full-time professional. At that time, it was almost time for my summer break transition to VCU. Three weeks before we had to move into Richmond, my life felt like it was moving at the rate of a speed bullet train.

After reaching the VCU Monroe campus in downtown Richmond during the fall of 2018, one of the dorm mates over there offered to inspire me by understanding a true definition of adapting to changes from a different set of eyes.

He told me that as you grow older as a human, the freedom to do anything increases, but at the same time, your responsibility gets thicker. Life comes with a rose to appreciate and thorns to make you bleed endlessly, but it depends on how you would like to see it.

1st semester, I had a sea of blood from constantly falling on my face

2nd semester, I had a river of blood flowing through my veins

3rd semester, I had a pond of blood that I was constantly swimming

4th semester, I had a puddle of blood to jump right into with my boots

5th semester and onwards was me understanding the ropes of how it all works in college, which gave me the confidence to finish a 4-year degree in 3 years. The same goes for when I joined a 300 level course on the human-centered design approach, which was a part of the da Vinci Center's certificate program, during my first semester at VCU.

I call them my beautiful accidents, not because I enjoy getting into one, but they helped create a better me and see a different side of myself that I hadn't explored before.

One of the reasons why finishing my undergraduate degree at VCU came down to 3 years is that I applied to universities with a well-done integrated innovation program for students looking to pursue a master's degree.

By combining all three layers of engineering, design, and business!

You might be thinking, why I didn't go to do my master's degree? Well, unfortunately, not everything is as gold as it seems. Nature had its call to show me that path wasn't for me at this exact moment in my life. So instead of getting into the kinks regarding why I didn't get into the master's program, I took this as a challenge to propel my fuel for finishing up the current degree in information systems that I had in progress currently. Along that way, I found many milestones to have achieved.?

Turning 21 on July 29th, 2021 + Graduated from my undergraduate degree at the VCU School of Business + Receiving a full-time offer from Accenture = A Future That I Didn't Predict To Happen, But Working Hard Created Its Path?

The opportunity only comes when you put in the work, not complaining about what will never happen.

Because complaining can go on for days, but work takes time and effort to get in the hang of achieving that experience!

I am looking forward to experiencing more stories in my life, whether it be at the age of 101. Man on a mission to work hard for achieving the impossible.?

After graduating from the academic career and entering the world of Accenture, I look forward to experiencing the world of technology but eventually getting the chance to use my design skillsets in the workforce. Also, be able to get into one of those universities that have a groundbreaking design program. There are many things that I look forward to achieving in my career, but I think this is a good starting point for me to set the foundation of what I look to do next in the industry.

Fall ten times and get up a thousand or even a million for those high achievers out there!

Keep striving, continue to fall, and walk on the edge of life.

Because you might be surprised to find out what comes next?

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