 I'm from the city, y'all. I'm from the city. I'm from Philadelphia. And it's just funny how people in Vermont were called Burlington like a big city. Burlington is a big city to me. My town is so small like there's not a stoplight in my town. Like there's one store. Coming here is really small. We have five burrows and each burrow is kind of considered a city. So when people say that this is a city, I kind of just like you don't know what a city is. There wasn't a whole lot of things going on in rural Ohio. So I came to the mountains. Advice I'd give to myself if I was starting at UBM. Again, don't be afraid to take risks. I want to be an investigative reporter. I want to be a writer. I want to be a multimedia journalist and my professor. It's like, yeah, you can do that. No problem. UBM is definitely a place that fosters that learning and growth. I love that I can take classes from so many different disciplines. I'm a social worker major. I'm a double major in psychology and anthropology. I want to be a minister. I'm going to apply to medical school in June. My mom's had breast cancer twice. I think that's what really draws me to genetics. I've transferred and switched majors. And I thought going into school, I wasn't going to do that because I was like, oh, I'm going to stick with my plan. If something needs to be changed, don't be afraid to change it. I actually ended up having a crisis about this. And I was like, oh, I don't want to do neuroscience with my life. I want to go into a religious field. It's really easy, especially freshman year, to get overwhelmed. So how do I have a social life, but then also stay really engaged in academics and club activities? Going to my advisor became the most reassuring thing. They put their all into everything, make sure that I'm okay, they have really supported me. The Student Life Office pushes you to think about things. It's fun to have that support system because I know if I needed them for a professional reference or to help me with a resume, they would do that. The classes I've taken at UVM definitely have pushed me to challenge myself. Introduction of human development. I thought I had a C. It was worth it. I learned so much in that class. The professors really want to help you succeed. You don't have to be afraid to go ask them, like, that's their job. I can't speak highly enough of service learning classes. I get very frustrated if I don't have the ability to go and apply what I'm learning. We've been working with a small bakery in Richmond, Vermont, called Andy's Dandies. They make homemade dog treats. And it's run by a boy who has a Down syndrome and they're using it as a way to advocate for people with disabilities. Since I was in a project planning class, I was about how to plan a garden. I got to go out and apply it and grow a garden. UVM is so much more than just the curriculum. The people you meet, experiences you say yes to, join the crew team on a whim because I wanted some sort of structure. Finding for racial justice on campus has allowed me to grow because I learned how to talk to, like, 200 people in a whole group. One of my favorite experiences is alternative spring break. I got in a van with 10 random UVM students that I didn't know and I came back to UVM with a whole brand new family. Being involved just opens up so many doors for you. My work at the newspaper, the cynic, is absolutely going to get me to where I want to be. I'm going to be great at reporting because I've practiced it so much. I led Rally Thon, which is our dance marathon for two years. That's raising money for the UVM Children's Hospital. It gave me everything I would ever want in a college experience. Getting the most out of my college experience has been being intentional about showing up with my identities, being a black man on campus, being a bisexual man on campus. Coming here, you see a lot of new opportunities that you may want to say no to but always go into the opportunity with open mind. I knew I was challenging myself when I was like, am I qualified to do this? Should I do this? It was those decisions that ended up being where I would learn about myself, develop new skills and open doors for new opportunities in the future. If you're uncomfortable, it's probably a good thing. When you're a freshman, everybody's just as scared as you are. If you took that one step, it's just saying, hi, we'll be surprised how people will open up to you. Being involved really pushes you to meet all these other people besides the people in your residence hall so it makes your college experience so much more than just the classroom. Get involved earlier. Being surrounded by a lot of passionate and caring human beings is what really helped me here at UVM. Enter school with passion and keeping your own dreams and learning goals in mind. Here's what I want to focus on. Here's how I'm going to get here. I'm going to move towards what my dreams are.