| What is your most memorable childhood experience? | My most memorable childhood moment has to be when I was a twelve year old, in Jamaica with my family while we were on a cruise. It was my family's first cruise, and it was the first time I was exposed to extreme poverty. We hired a taxi driver to take us around beautiful Montego Bay for an entire day, and it was the most enlightening experience for such a privileged individual, such as myself, to witness. From trying authentic jerk chicken, to eating fresh tropical fruits hand-cut in front of us, to being approached by drug addicts, to perusing local shops... it was the epitome of an adventure. |
| What immediate family member do you closely identify with and why? | I am like my mom, and my sister is like my dad, strangely. On a very basic level, my mom and I are very patient, charismatic, and versatile. My sister and dad also possess those characteristics but they are more secondary. Everybody always tells me that I look like my mom, haha...that also has something to do with it, I surmise. |
| What character traits do you admire in an individual? | Commitment - The act of keeping your word, long after the feeling you felt during the commitment process leaves your body. My professor conveyed his profound beliefs towards human character throughout the semester in one of my Marketing classes, but this one phrase resonated with me exceptionally well. In the highly composite society we live in today, our propensity to rely on instant gratification has proven insidious on our ability to commit. Whether it be friendship, marriage, or a professional relationship, the ability to keep our word has become a rarity, so I hope to inspire as many people as I can to follow suit. |
| What is the funniest thing ever to happen to you? | I've laughed at myself for a plethora of things in my life, but the first thing that comes to mind is when I was caught sitting near floor-side at a pro basketball game on a school outing in high school. We were, of course, in possession of nosebleed seats for the game, but I decided to befriend door security at the lower levels and get an opportunity to at least see what was going on. Well, the individual at the door decided to treat my adolescent self to a memorable experience for my first NBA game, so she sat me a couple of rows behind floor seating in the 3rd quarter...WELL, one of the camera shots happened to capture me enjoying the game, and all of my classmates and teachers saw it, so I was immediately punished when we got back on the bus to go home, and I was given a week's worth of detention. It was worth it. |
| If time and money were not an issue, where would you travel and why? | If time and money weren't an issue, I would be traveling indefinitely. One of my goals is to visit as many countries (if not all "safe" ones) as I can. I love the concept of experiencing different cultures, as we are so sheltered to the rest of the world in America. Food is a huge part of my life, and I feel that enjoying food with others is one of life's best simple pleasures, as well as it allows one to transcend cultures and understand one another better. Plus, the mere concept of being immersed in so many different culinary options is very exciting for me. |
| When and if you ever have children, what would you like to pass on to them? | Something my family has always persevered to instill in me is leadership skill. Leadership has allowed me to take control of many situations, as well as make responsible decisions in my life; the truth is that we can't always be around our children to ensure they make the right decisions, so the "Teach a man to fish" mentality of parenting is what I will leverage when I am responsible for another life(s). A follower can easily be influenced by individuals on potentially negative paths, but a leader IS the "influencer," which makes this dynamic important to acknowledge at a young age. |
