On May 30, 2018, I will start my job as being an Orientation Leader for The University of Tennessee, Knoxville. I have the honor of welcoming 5,000 "New Vols" onto campus as well as their parents and guests. With this experience, I have the honor of waking up at 5:00 a.m. at least four days a week, singing "Rocky Top" and dancing on the stage of Alumni Memorial, and two weeks of training.

When I voiced my interest to my friends about becoming an OL, the most common remark was "Why would you want to spend your summer at UT?" In these moments I had to remember my "why." Moreover, why I chose to embark on this journey. Everyone did not understand my explanation, but I had to realize that it was okay. Blessings and journeys are not always meant to be understood by everyone, in fact, I honestly think that they become more special for that reason.

During Orientation Leader Training, we have been constantly encouraged to remember our "why." This caused me to reflect deeply, back to the time I decided that I wanted to be an orientation leader. When I decided to come to UT, I chose it knowing that I would be the only student from my high school attending (I am originally from Mississippi).

Experience as an out-of-state student definitely had its ups and downs. From hours crying home to trying to compromise with my mother to let me transfer back in-state it is safe to say that my transition was not exactly seamless. What made this transition harder was that I was still grieving over the loss of my grandmother, who played an integral part in my educational and personal growth.

During one of my routine phone calls home, I remembered telling my mother that the homesickness was too much to bear and that I wanted to transfer at the end of the fall semester. In between listening to my sobs, my mother told me that the reason that my grandmother was in Heaven was so she could watch me and protect me on my journey. She also told me that the reason that I was on this journey was that God wanted me to be able to share my experience with others. Moreover, God wanted to use me as a vessel to help someone who would become a similar experience.

Therefore, I knew that I would not be the only student going through what I went through and that I could use my triumphs (and failures) to be an inspiration to someone else. So that is why I chose to become an orientation leader, to be an example to someone else that you ARE meant to succeed, and that bumpy roads produce champions.