I finally got the balls and told my dad I quit and then stopped playing sports. That was the first moment I can recall freeing myself. Freeing myself from this restraining mentality of what I thought everyone else wanted me to be. 

During this coming-of-age stage in my life, I realized the importance of self investment. I felt a sense of urgency to decide who I wanted to be and what I wanted to do. My personal yearning to make something of myself was what made me want to get involved. The best way to do that for me was to sign up for summer camps I thought were beneficial to my future.

I became the kid who loved summer camps. Junior year,  my accounting teacher Ms. Ahman emailed me an application for a business camp called the “jEM” program at the U of M.

jEM stands for Junior Entrepreneurs of Minnesota. My cousin was in the same program but she found out about it through Oak Park’s FANS program. The FANS program helped students further their education, and prepared them for college and the real world. Oak Park was a community center that focused on the development and prosperity of the youth. I talked to Ms.Debra, the head director at Oak Park, and she took me in with open arms. I spent my summer not only with jEM members, but also with Oak Park members. From June 16 to July 18 I spent Monday through Friday, 8:30 am to 5:00 pm, in this program.  I was granted the opportunity to hear the beginning, middle, and end. The beauty of hearing the full story is that you get to see where you fit in that story. You hear the part of the story when they are in your seat. How they get from where you are, to where they are. When you are exposed to successful people who came from the same place you are from, success seems more realistic in your eyes. At jEM I learned a lot about business, but the most valuable thing I walked away with was a mindset—a mindset of determination and resilience. This is when it clicked in my head that I truly can do anything I put my mind to. I grabbed on to that belief and hit the ground running.

Namir, a friend of mine who is also a member of FANS, informed me about a program called the Change Fellows. Change Fellows is a program at Youthprise where essentially you develop, formulate, and implement your community-based business idea with the help of Youthprise staff members. Namir and I both applied and got accepted into the fellowship. At first we only joined to get enough money to pay for the FANS college tour, but it immediately became something we loved. There’s just something about being in a room flooded with open minds and creatives that gets me going. At one meeting we were given the challenge of developing a prototype.

Namir and I decided to put together a prototype called “KND,” which was a social artist event. For a month this was just an idea, but having to check in with the Youthprise Change Fellows was a catalyst for bringing it into reality. It was the day of the event and the doors opened at 7 pm. The constant influx of people was abnormal for a first event; the turnout was amazing! Typically the show will start out with a small amount, then slowly increase towards the end. People were pouring in from the jump. We sold out of all the wristbands for the show and still more people were at the door.

My team and I had created the social artist atmosphere we imagined it would. To my surprise, Allan Kingdom showed some love and came to the show. KND was a total success. We brought a large group of artists together and something beautiful happened. We were able to provide the space and opportunity they had been craving. People in the crowd mingled among each other and connections were made that I may never even know about. If only one person walked out of the building knowing someone they did not know before KND, my goal would be achieved. One event down, but I still have a lot of work to do.

As a freelance visual artist, my field may vary, but my desire will remain the same. And that desire is to connect young artists with resources and opportunities to excel in their fields.

I am passionate about this desire to help young artists. One way that I go about helping young artists is organizing social artist events. Social artist events are the most visible thing I am able to do to fulfill my mission. I noticed there is a lack of resources, opportunity, and support for young artists in Minneapolis, so I decided to change that. With these events I am able to create space, a platform for the artist, provide an audience, and help them gain support from others. At the same time, these events are marketed towards artists, so they get the chance to build relationships among each other. But this is just a fraction of what I want to do.

I want to build a collective of skilled and experienced artists who are mentors to younger artist interns. My project will provide a sustainable income for artist professionals while giving younger artists experience and transferable skills. These opportunities and experiences gained will happen through jobs and projects that are found and given to them. In order for me to achieve this goal I would need connections to venue spaces, access to quality equipment, and financial support. There are a lot of young artists in Minnesota who have what it takes to be successful.

We have the dream, we have the skill, and we have the ambition. Now all we need is the opportunity.

I would like to give thanks to programs like jEM, FANS, and the Change Fellowship that do give opportunities to us. After joining those programs, I was not the same person I used to be. In the past, my lack of confidence and low self-esteem was crippling. Having low self-confidence can hold you back from a lot. It stopped me from taking advantage of opportunities because I did not think I could do it. It stopped me from meeting people and building connections. Having low confidence silenced my voice and stunted my growth as an individual.

Once I was able to build enough courage, because I am worth it, I reclaimed my voice.

Finding these programs, like jEM, FANS, and Youthprise, were all a part of that journey of finding myself. These series of fortunate events in retrospect are so divine. The right place, the right people, and the right time. Existing in those moments I had no idea what was going on; now I see the bigger picture. As I continue on this journey, I will remember to remain confident, speak out, and stay true to myself. To follow my heart and trust in God. Have faith that what you are doing is worth it. I would rather spend ten years working hard to live my dream, than work forty years making someone else’s dream come true. You have probably heard this millions of times, but you truly can do whatever you put your mind to. When you pursue your passion it seems like you always end up in the right place at the right time and meet the right people. Sort of like me when I went to all those programs leading up to my concert. You might not know why you end up in a certain place and end up meeting certain people, but it all will make sense later.

So whatever you do, use your voice, get something done, continue doing it, and say hi to everyone.

This story is sponsored by Youthprise and created in partnership with the Pollen Story Team. For more information about Pollen’s storytelling services, contact us at hello@pollenmidwest.org.