About Me
Who I Am
I'm a kid from Atlanta who bounced around the country until I ended up on the New Jersey side of the Hudson River. Between Atlanta, Phoenix, and New York City, I've been exposed to many different people and perspectives. One of the most important things that I've learned is how much people can achieve when someone cares enough to advocate for them. In Arizona, the schools I attended refused to acknowledge my disability, and prevented me from getting accommodations. Despite this, my mother fought to get me treatment and accommodations. Eventually she succeeded, which has had an enormous impact on my life. Today, I'm a very self-reliant person, having taught myself everything from graphic design to music production. However, I'm aware that all my achievements were ultimately made possible by my mother caring enough to advocate for me. Because of this knowledge, I have made it a priority to become that person for other people. I want to enable others to succeed and advocate for people who might not be fortunate enough to have someone in their corner.
What I Do
Service
Service is the most direct way I can go about helping people, and it takes many forms. One of the major ways that I've found to apply myself towards service is through tutoring. Where I live, tutors can cost upwards of 100 dollars per hour. The kids who can't afford that still have to compete with the GPAs and test scores of the kids who can. After I got my SAT score back, I started my own SAT tutoring service. It's completely free and designed to be as accessible as possible. I've done both online and in-person sessions with students across several states, because I believe they can benefit from my service. I've studied both the way the test is constructed and how to create a personal practice regime. I make sure the students I work with know how to approach both the test and their own practice. If you are interested in SAT tutoring, please contact me.
However, tutoring is far from all that I do in terms of service. From graphic design to programming, I make sure I apply the skills I teach myself towards helping others. One project that I'm very proud to be currently working on is designing both a website and a logo for AccuDots. This company is a Braille transcription service that works with various schools to provide Braille textbooks to disabled students. Its owner learned Braille while serving 27 years in prison. He shares my passion for accessibility, and I'm proud to serve both him and the students that he is helping.
Art
Many of the skills I try to apply towards the service of others were initially learned for artistic purposes. For example, my interest in graphic design and photo editing began as a hobby in the sixth grade. I enjoyed taking photos and giving them new meanings through editing. Game development, 3D modeling, music production, and drawing are all examples of skills I've learned simply because I was genuinely interested in them. I think it's important to follow your genuine interests because they can often lead to unexpected outcomes. For example, when I was in the seventh grade, I decided to take my singular year of graphic design experience into the world of freelance job websites. Later that year, I had learned how to write an invoice and had gotten paid for designs that I had made. To this day, I still have that invoice as well as the entrepreneurial spirit that lead to its creation. I also continue to pursue new interests of mine as well as work on sharpening the skills that I've already developed.
Advocacy
Even though direct service is extremely important to me, I often don't have the ability to be the change I want to see in the world. Whenever this happens, I feel my best option is general advocacy. I think a lot of things don't get changed because they aren't known about in detail. I can always try to use my writing and design skills to communicate information about these issues to a wider audience. Take police reform for an example. It's something that almost everyone I know feels very strongly about accomplishing. I, like many, noticed that there was an incredible will for change in this area, especially among people my age. I also noticed that these people tended to have very general goals, as opposed to wanting to see specific policies implemented. This got me wondering about what police reform would and should look like in terms of the details. After lots of research, I began "Limiting Police Violence in the United States: An Individual's Guide." This ongoing project looks at specific policy solutions and how to advocate for them. It also breaks down the general goal of police reform into a framework with three steps: limiting police encounters, reducing encounter violence, and increasing police accountability. This is what I believe I can do as an individual to make the world a better place when it comes to the big issues.