This is my story

Ok so I feel I've already talked enough about my story as far as wanting to be a music artist in my other blog posts so I'll just tell you about my life away from the music, at least I'll try. I grew up in a house hold of three. It was me, my brother Jordan, and my mother. We lived in a not so friendly West Cleveland area for about seventeen years. During this time it was extremely hard for us, more so for my mother because she was forced to drop out of college to raise me and my brother. She was a single mother working 2-3 jobs so everything me and my brother wanted weren't always given to us. During middle school I experienced a lot of things not a lot of people really go through. I had several friends lives taken because of gang activity, which was hard on me. Growing up it was hard to have a close friend who wasn't involved in illegal situations. The one friend I did have to guide me in the right direction was my brother. Me being five years younger and not understanding much, he was always there to let me know we're not blessed with a lot of things and to be very appreciative of everything our mother was able to provide for us. So all during middle school me and my brother set out to try and help our mother as much as possible. The one way we knew we could really help her out was first succeeding academically. Since my brother was older he was the guy who had to lead the way. While always tutoring me, he was a straight A student himself. During Jordan's 6th grade year my family caught a break. He was accepted into a scholars program called Y.S.P (Young Scholars Program). This scholars program was a minority scholarship, rewarding students in it with full rides to The Ohio State University if they could meet the requirements. The requirements were maintain a 3.1 gpa all throughout Middle School and High School, as well as make an appearance at all of their workshops and community service projects. For my mother this was a huge relief because she always preached to us that school must always be first priority and to see that paying off was like music to her ears. After my brother was granted admission into Y.S.P that motivated me so much more to follow in his footsteps. In the beginning of my 8th grade school year I finally got my big break as well, I to was granted acceptance into Y.S.P. It wasn't necessarily easy for me to get in this program because during Middle School I had some friends who were bad influences that led me in the opposite direction of where I was trying to go with my life, but my brother was always there to help me get my priorities straighten out.

Once High School came I was right back on track. One of the reasons I felt like I never really got into any trouble in the streets was because I had music, which I was dedicated to, but I also had my Uncle who was like my father figure. My Uncle had an even tougher life than me but still managed to get into Baldwin-Wallace on a basketball scholarship and make something of himself. After my brother graduated and was off to The Ohio State University I needed that male figure there to show me the do's and don'ts in life. My dad wasn't involved in my life during Middle School and High School. While attending a public High School I was already set at a disadvantage. With lack of honor classes and AP courses I wondered how exactly would I stand against students at Ohio State who were way more privileged then me. That thought didn't last too long though I just had to carry on with my academics as best as I could. During freshman-beginning of senior year in High School I had a girlfriend who was always there to keep my head on the right track. She was also the reasons I never took part in any dangerous activities outside of school, which was easily persuaded upon a lot of teens. Sophmore year in High School I met a group of guys who would later on become more like brothers to me. One of the guys was a talented musician who I created my first mixtape with. We were the in between guys in High School because we were cool with all of the "cool kids" but we were also good friends with the nerds, so I was well balanced as a teen. In the beginning of senior year I was well on my way towards graduating with a 4.2 gpa and still a member of Y.S.P. After awhile me and my girlfriend, at the time, broke up, which was heartbreaking for me. My mind wasn't where it needed to be and that distracted me in school. Around the time prom came my mind was back on track, don't mean to brag but I won prom king. Once senior year in High School came to an end I graduated with a 3.9 gpa, I was part of The National Honors Society, and I was one of only two kids who were going to be attending The Ohio State University.

At the end of the day I have to say I never only thought of myself as trying to succeed in school for my own benefit. I did it for my mom and everybody else who was there for me. For my mom she deserved it for all of the obstacles she had to overcome in her life. She not only sent one kid to college, but she sent her only two children to Ohio State on a full ride scholarship. That thought right there was un-heard of in Cleveland. For me it was really a big deal because somebody from my High School going to a college like Ohio State was like a kid being accepted into Harvard. My friends are very supportive and I'm only looking to give back to them what they gave to me, which is love, support, and motivation to be somebody in life.

Throughout the years feedback has always been helpful for me. I've never thought of feedback as being harsh or rude. In my opinion feedback is just a guideline to help you improve in areas your usually blind to. I say this because as an individual in college we're usually too focused on a few things at a  time, which may be school related, that we may be unable to address our social skills and reach out to our friends, or make conversation with others, etc. I've always thought of feedback as constructive criticism with me being a producer and all. One thing I've always told people though is that if your going to critique my work, or give me feedback, don't just give me a simple opinion. I'd like to know all of the areas I'm slacking in and what I can do to improve in those areas. I guess you can say I react very well to feedback, I use it as a resource in a sense.

Last night I asked my best friend to give me feedback on my leadership style. I know this may not count to others because my best friend could possibly just say all of the positive things about my leadership style, but thankfully my best friend is a guy who holds nothing back good or bad. He mentioned to me that while making music I'm very determined and willing to explore new ideas. He also had mentioned that a lot of times though I find myself focusing too hard on what I can possibly add to make a song sound better that I forget to enjoy what I'm doing. I'm really glad he told me that because it's so true. I sometimes take things a little too serious because I feel everything I create has to be the best thing ever but really I just need to let loose and have fun with what I'm doing. After telling me this my friend told me that he likes that I'm willing to listen to suggested ideas people throw out at me but then again I sometimes lack in suggesting ideas to others who can possibly benefit from what I have to offer. Everything my friend told me was really balanced, he really dug deep and kept it real with me, which is why I highly respect this man. After receiving that feedback from my best friend I'm going to just try and enjoy myself. I understand I may be on campus taking stressful courses but if I look outside of campus there are numerous amounts of people who are dealing with much tougher situations so I should just continue doing what I love to do, and enjoy the opportunity I was blessed to be given here at OSU.