Welcome to my personal webpage. The purpose of this page is to share recent (as of July 2008) information about myself. This is one of many projects I must complete in the Shodor Education Foundation S.U.C.C.E.E.D. Apprenticeship Program; in this program, I am an Advenced Apprentice. I have worked with the apprenticeship program for two years, but this is my first summer working. Last summer, I was excused from my duties because I was chosen to attend the 2008 Summer Ventures in Science and Mathematics at Appalachian State University; there I earned the Catalyst Award or my research in Field Biology under Dr. Robert Wayne Van Devender.
I am a recent graduate of Middle College High School at Durham Technical Community College. I attended that institution for my 11th and 12th grades and graduated number one in my class. I spoke at graduation along with another member of our chapter's National Honor Society.
I currently serve as president of the City of Durham Youth Council and have for the past two terms. Exactly three and one half years ago, I moved here to Durham from Central Florida. I had lived there my entire life. Durham has opened many doors for me. While here, some activities that I have been involved with include: track and field with the Triangle Champions Track Club, modeling and dance as a member of the Eclipse Productions traveling team, Junior Leadership Durham, Service under the Durham Youth Council, and Youth Bible Study Teacher of the Breath of God Living and Teaching Ministries. One of my more time demanding activities were that I served as hostess of Durham Teen Scene, a local teen television news/talkshow segment, that airs on Time Warner Cable Channel 8.
I have worked in the S.U.C.C.E.E.D. Program at Shodor as an Advanced Apprentice since October 2006. This program requires an intense level of dedication which may be most difficult for students who have not previously held a job. The main Shodor website can be accessed here.
The Shodor experience can benefit any student willing to learn. Once the effort is put forth to learn and keep up by a student, he/she will realize that this atmosphere is a preview of things to come in the workforce. We are taught to keep a calender of when we will be in the office and also log our hours. Weekly, we are required to document the work done on projects and homework from class. We must keep a semi-professional apprearance, except on special occasion, and treat our fellow students and co-workers with respect.
One special reward I have witnessed of being a member of the Shodor community is the pleasure and experience gained by the process of the production of a successfully completed project. In the process of completing any project, I have had to seek help from interns and staff and am usualy able to help my peers with work I have already done. This process builds people skills and reinforces skills learned - one has not truly learned until he is able to teach. The Shodor experience builds a better person.
As of August 2008, I will be a second-semester freshman at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC). I am going in straight from high school but have more than enough credits to fulfill a semester at UNC. As a Tarheel, I plan to get involved in some key organizations on campus and volunteer through the Multicultural Affairs Office while maintaining good grades. In addition to realizing those goals, I will be a cadet in the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps (AFROTC) of the UNC detachment.
I am excied and quite ready for my college experience. My heartfelt desire in attending college is to cause minimal (preferably no) cost to my parents. I am still in search of scholarships to flfill my desire. If unable to turn this dream into a reailty anytime soon, I will pay them back as soon as I am able.