I often think about how different my life would have been if North Carolina A&T had looked at my bank account instead of my potential. I was accepted to A&T, but acceptance didn’t mean I could afford to attend.  

The summer before freshman year, I moved in with my brother in Fayetteville, North Carolina, and every week I would wake up before sunrise, put on my only suit and drive to Greensboro, North Carolina, to meet with Dean Alton Thompson in the School of Agriculture. I carried my transcripts, my achievements, and – more importantly – my story. Week after week, I asked for a chance.  

Looking back, I joke that they probably got tired of seeing me. But what they really did was see something in me that I couldn’t yet fully see in myself. Dean Thompson found enough financial support to close the gap and told me, “Now it’s your job to earn the rest.” I took those words personally. I worked relentlessly, earned strong grades, secured additional scholarships and eventually received an Air Force ROTC scholarship. That moment didn’t just help me pay for college; it changed the entire trajectory of my life.  

At A&T, I learned that excellence isn’t simply about individual achievement; it’s about opening doors for others. That lesson stayed with me as I served my country in the Air Force, led teams at companies like Walmart, Verizon, and Intel, became an entrepreneur, authored a book, and built a career helping people create wealth and opportunity. Every milestone traces back to someone at A&T believing in a student who couldn’t quite afford his dream.  

Today, one of the accomplishments I’m most proud of is establishing an endowment at North Carolina A&T to support business students, aspiring entrepreneurs and future leaders. It is my way of honoring the investment that the university made in me decades ago. I was once the student searching for someone to believe in me. Now, I hope another Aggie will receive the opportunity that changed my life. 

Homecoming is more than a football game or a reunion. It’s coming home to the place that refused to let my circumstances define my future. Every time I return to campus, I’m reminded that I didn’t just earn a degree at A&T: I found a family, a purpose and a lifelong responsibility to lift as I climb.  

Aggie Pride isn’t something I wear. It’s something I live. 

Photo by Don Bullock drbvisionz