Honestly, it was because I wanted to coach football. I was also on a journey of studying history from an African American perspective, and I was already a history buff and a political science graduate. I was inspired by my great high school history teachers. I noticed how black history inspired me and thought it could inspire others in the same way. I knew being a coach would help me as a teacher and vice versa.

Everytime a students shares how they learned from me. Seeing my shy students present at research conferences in front of large crowds. When I taught my first lesson that I developed on my own, and getting that “I can do this” feeling. Producing Black history month programs, one in particular stands out(it was Soul Train themed). As a coach, winning my first game as a head coach, and seeing how the kids faces looked afterward was priceless because they had lost every game the previous season.

At least 10,000 would go to pay off some debt. The rest, split between savings, travel expenses for upcoming summer with my family. Put some away for Christmas this year because to make sure that’s always a special time for my family. Possibly, think about a few business ventures that my wife and I can invest in to create more income for us and our 3 kiddos. That said, 25,000 would be a huge help for my family in a lot of ways. I’ve also pledged to donate $1000 a piece to my high school/college.