Purpose: Growing up in the urban areas of New York City, I faced many challenges and obstacles.

I was born to teen parents who were unable to afford to provide me with an adequate education. I transferred schools three times in elementary school as my parents tried to provide my sister and me with educational opportunities that they did not receive. By the time I was ready to enter into middle school, my parents bused me one hour away from home to attend private school. It was then that I realized that an achievement gap existed. I saw students who did not look like me, homes that were three times the size of my home, luxury cars; a completely different way of life. Though eye opening, my two years in this school were daunting. I did not fit in. I was one of three African-American students in the entire school, and it was difficult to develop a sense of identity and purpose in this environment. I left middle school and returned back to a low-performing public high school that was still approximately one-hour outside of my zoned school district. This school, once again, exposed me to what it meant to receive a mediocre education. I felt as though everyday was survival of the fittest. My education was what I made it. Attending class was overrated, passing class was a clich, and taking the New York State Regents Exam was a dream deferred. I pushed myself to be above average, but very few truly pushed and believed in me. At this point, my parents were ready to leave New York City and relocate to North Carolina to provide my sister and me with new opportunities. During my years in college, I participated heavily in community service and was disturbed by the educational injustices of society. I assumed that in 2007, an exceptional education was a given - that at this point, we should not still be fighting issues around civil rights, race, and class. I found myself looking into the eyes of students who looked like me and thought, just as I did, that they did not have a chance in life and were limited by statistics that classified them as unlikely to succeed. I received word that I would be eligible to graduate from college early and finished in the top 5% of my class. I pondered on what I would do with my career. I no longer was as certain as I thought I was six-months prior. I researched organizations that were established to address educational inequity, and came across Teach For America - An organization, which if accepted, would provide me with the opportunity to make a difference. Though I majored in Journalism and Mass Communication in undergraduate school, I could not see myself ignoring these truths, those about the disparities in education. I applied and was accepted. During my two-year commitment to teach high school in Charlotte, NC, I watched as my students were affected by decisions made by school and district leaders that were very difficult to understand. Everyday, I asked myself Why is providing students with a transformative education so challenging? and Why cant every student have access to great schools with great teachers and leaders? I decided to join staff with Teach For America in our Eastern North Carolina region and coach our 1st and 2 year teachers placed in low-performing schools throughout the region; teachers who desired to lead their students to significant academic gains by focusing on achievement, community, leadership, and excellence for all kids. Throughout my time on staff, I have been able to truly understand the stakes of students in rural North Carolina and the disparities between them and higher-performing students in neighboring cities. Since August, I have never been so sure that the ability to lead a school and live each moment of my career ensuring equity in education is being provided was something I was called to do.
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Coach Vince Lombardi said, "Contrary to the opinion of many people, leaders are not born. Leaders are made, and they are made by effort and hard work." Through my experience as a graduate student at North Carolina State University, I desire to be put on a pathway to becoming a transformational leader; one who can walk into the lowest performing schools in the state of North Carolina and with hard work and dedication, turn them around. I believe that it is possible for all students to learn and that it is the responsibility of schools to put students on a pathway to college. And I believe that great leaders lead great schools.

Through the Northeast Leadership Academy (NELA), I aspire to learn and research more about schools, communities, and students in rural communities. I want to know what my role is in increasing student achievement, and working with individuals across lines of difference to foster genuine and authentic relationships in the context of school leadership. I want to learn about what makes schools successful, and explore systemic approaches to running a school, assembling effective teams, investing key stakeholders and external partners, and organizing Professional Learning Communities. In sum, I want to learn how to successfully turnaround a school. I have a deep hunger to build my knowledge in these areas as well as others that I may not be aware of. I believe that through my work with Teach For America, I have learned a great deal about what key mindsets and actions are necessary to place students on a different life trajectory, but I am unsure of what it takes to do that expansively in rural North Carolina. I know the needs in these towns are very different than what I am used to coming from a metropolitan area, but I am excited to explore them. All in all, this program is not just one that will provide me with knowledge and skills prior to placing me at a school and into a leadership role. It will provide me with context that is tailored specifically to a unique part of this wonderful state of North Carolina that I call home, to the communities that we will serve as a Cohort, to our students who are in dire need of someone to provide them with a chance at life, and with community partnerships that will grow us as leaders and new community members.

Educational Platform: It takes a village to raise a child-Igbo and Yoruba Proverb Imagine a school where the estimated amount spent per pupil for fall enrollment in 2008 was over $10,000. Some may say that this is not much funding; however, when multiplied times the approximate 550 freshman students that were enrolled that fall, the total comes to 5.5 million dollars. Despite this investment, only 63.5 % of those freshmen ended the year proficient in Algebra, and 65.4% were proficient in English. The school received a rating of No Recognition due to the significant number of students who were not at grade level, and the fact that expected growth was not made. Within that year, only 54.5% of the students graduated. It is now 2012, and the number of students proficient in Algebra and English are lower than they were in 2008, the graduation rate is at 54.3%, and the school only met 1 out of 17 targets for Adequate Yearly Growth. The above statistics come from the school where I taught, a school in the largest city and school district in the state of North Carolina - the largest village in the state of North Carolina. This leaves me to ask the question, why are they not raising our children. Educational inequity is truly the civil rights movement of our time. College should not be unattainable, life opportunities should not be narrowed and hourly jobs and minimum wage should not be forced upon the future leaders of our nation. The success of a child should not be determined by their socioeconomic status. All children have a right to receive a just education. It is the responsibility of our schools - administrators, teachers, all faculty, and staff - to put students on a life-changing path that will open the doors of opportunity and leave them with a life full of chances. There are over 15 colleges and universities, plus one law school, within a 20-mile radius of the school described above. Less than half of those high school graduates are eligible to even apply to any of those schools. How is this possible? These students as well as many others throughout the nation are within walking distance from a life-changing experience and yet cannot reach it. When you walk into their schools, the key ingredients necessary for excellence are missing. They lack a leader who has a clear vision for what must be true to attain excellence for all students: a leader with passion, drive, and ambition. They lack someone who believes that it is ultimately their responsibility to lead students to attain their goals, and a culture that demonstrates joy and a passion for learning. There are not enough teachers who are driving instructional learning experiences that are built upon application, analysis, and high expectations for all kids. When searching for family and community partnerships to build accountability and a sense of togetherness in the efforts to raise student achievement, you find too few. You open the doors to these schools and wonder how many people believe that it truly does take a village to raise a child. The village in which our schools dwell must believe in their school leaders, and the vision of the leaders should be driven by the desires of the people. Everyone should be marching to the beat of the same drum. Parents believe in their students, students believe in their teachers, teachers believe in their school leader, and their leader believes in what is possible for kids. Achievement should not just be a number but an attitude. Students should be seen as scholars, which by definition in Merriam-Websters dictionary, means, a person who attends school or studies under a teacher; pupil. By definition, a pupil is a child or young person in school or in the care of a tutor or teacher. The key words here are in the care of. As leaders and teachers of a village, we must care for our kids and they must know that we do. We must hold a high bar for ourselves so that we can also raise the bar of excellence for them. They must trust us and we must trust ourselves and take complete ownership of all outcomes: good, bad, or ugly. It is not enough to teach objectives - we are in this work to change lives. It is not adequate to have a class that is 90% proficient when only 20% have had transformational experiences. Neither is it enough to say that I am a leader of a school; I must be the leader of a movement. As a school leader, it will be my job to open doors so that students can be empowered to move mountains. I want to be that door opener. I want to lead in that village.