Betty and Louie Dicks SCSU Scholarship

Moving from Toronto, Canada to Orangeburg, South Carolina has given me experiences that have shaped me into the man I am today. Creating a pathway towards success and helping people has been my lifelong goal. When I was in the tenth grade of high school in Canada I was utilizing my free time to get better at playing basketball, fortunately I was good enough to receive the opportunity to travel to Florida and play for Lake Wales Charter High School in Lake Wales, Florida. This opportunity changed my life drastically, I moved in with the Hayes family and my pathway to success was laid out. Mr. Hayes is the Pastor of Mount Sinai AME Church in Lakeland, Florida and Mrs. Hayes is an elementary school teacher. The Hayes Family has become family to me and are an important factor to me being successful today. Becoming immersed In the church allowed me to stay out of trouble and on track. During my experience at Lake Wales High School I went on many college tours, my favorite tour was to FAMU. I previously had no knowledge of what an HBCU was, after seeing a community of black excellence where a minority becomes the majority I was hooked. It was captivating to see professors that shared the same skin color and could relate to students life experiences. I made the decision I was going to further my education at an HBCU. On the bus ride back to school I started to apply to every HBCU I could find on the internet. In my eleventh grade I helped start an organization at my school named "Brother To Brother" with the goal of bringing the black males population at my school together. When looking for an advisor to ensure the success of this organization I met Mr. Lemon who was a history teacher at the time. He is a graduate of South Carolina State University and is a member of the Xi Psi Chapter of Omega Psi Phi. He agreed to be our advisor and our relationship grew and he became a mentor in my life. We had many conversations about life aspirations in the future, and attending an HBCU to further my education was my upcoming goal to achieve. During our conversations he told me about his experiences at SC State University. His recollection of his time in Orangeburg sparked my interest, which resulted in me submitting an application for admittance. I learned about the Call Me Mister program through research and it has changed my life. This programs goal is to create revolutionary educators who are black males to change the lives of the future generations. This is a goal that I taken on in order to ensure a quality education is available to every child regardless of your economic status. This program inspired me to be a education major and change lives. My experiences in life inspired me to be a education major and to further my education at SC State University. Regardless whether I was in Canada or Florida they have been life lessons installed into me that have had influence on the decisions I've made to get to where I am today. My school choice was influenced by Mr. Lemon, and my major was influenced by the need for black male educators to change lives in the classroom. I believe after my decisions in life to come to SC State University and be an education major will harvest success in my life.

What pursue me to come to South Carolina state was that my uncle came here and allowed me to see how the school was. I also choose Criminal Justice as my major because he was what motivate me to join this field and I can wait what the future holds.

If I told my younger self in high school that I would be attending South Carolina State University, I wouldn’t believe it. I really didn’t know too much about the university and HBCU’s in general. I knew that I wanted to continue my education in college but I just didn’t know where honestly. Sure enough and without a doubt, I can tell you that attending South Carolina State is one of the biggest blessings God bestowed upon me. I’m from a small town located in Fountain Inn, South Carolina and not too many people are blessed to go to college with a free education. I was offered to play football for Coach Buddy Pough and the South Carolina State Bulldogs and being a student athlete took me places one can only dream of. I’ve accomplished a lot and throughout the years being at State, I’ve matured into the man I am today! Being at SC State has taught me to be more time oriented and more responsible. My parents aren’t here at school to make decisions for me and it is on me to make the right choices in college and hold myself accountable. I’m pursuing my degree in Physical Education of Teaching and I chose this field because I want to impact the youth and teach the importance of sports and fitness. Growing up my PE teacher always made class exciting and that was one class I for sure knew would be exhilarating no matter what day it is. Truth be told, we don’t know what kids are going through outside of school but as a future educator, my goal is to have the right energy and the right attitude for students to be themselves and for me to always be encouraging while being at school with them. I just want to be an influence for those who do not have a positive influence. Also, I want to increase the percentage of future African American male educators. One thing I love and respect about my HBCU is that we love to see black excellence. From the front gate, to the professors, classmates, cafeteria assistants, janitors, all of us support each other's culture and we all want each other to be the best versions of ourselves in life. Just like Grandma Betty and Big Lou are being a blessing and a sponge to us, I too hopefully pray that I will be a positive influence and a sponge for someone else in the long road.