Growing up I just knew I was going to be in the WNBA but as I got older and started telling family and friends my dream, I received a lot of negative feedback and it really discouraged me to the point where I gave up hope about it until my first year in middle school. I became quickly interested in trying out for the basketball team at my old middle school, but I also got quickly discouraged. The first day of tryouts I gave up all hope. Seeing the more in-shape girls doing better than I was really made me feel like I was just embarrassed myself so I quit trying out. But I still love basketball very much to this very day. Also you said that kids would always say “you think you could beat them up” and that wasn’t what you were thinking, that’s what they were thinking. As for me people always tell me I act “boujie” or “stuck up” because I carry myself in a certain type of way and that’s not true at all. I like to make myself look presentable most of the time when it comes to dressing and I also carry myself in a presentable manner but I still don’t see myself as “stuck up”. Lastly how you kept saying “everything doesn’t need a reaction.” I completely agree with that. I use to let any and everything get to me. Like nobody was about to punk me or say anything out the way to me but today you wouldn’t believe how much stuff I put up with. Don’t get me wrong I still stick up for myself when I see it's needed, but I just refuse to let people get me out of character. Overall I found your speech very helpful and inspirational! 

I learned that even when you go through something bad in life, it doesn't define who you are. You can take that negative energy or event and channel it toward something more purposeful. Just because one door got shut doesn’t mean God wont open another. The world is full of opportunity. There are many situations when something doesn’t go the way someone plans it, but there is always an alternative. There are many situations as there are solutions. You can’t let one disappointment determine the rest of your life. One day you might want to play basketball but something happened, like an injury. Just because you are injured physically doesn’t mean you have to be hurt mentally. You can become a coach for many basketball teams. Many people think that when something in life goes wrong it’s OK give up . But, its never OK to walk away. Manhood Mindset helped me understand that people have to push through difficult moments with an open heart and mind. God put us on earth for a purpose, a prestigious reason. It may not be the reason you had thought, though it may be something much greater. I'll never forget this. Thank you.

Whenever I am going through a challenging time and feel hopeless, the Manhood Mindset program takes the time to listen to my problems and provide appropriate feedback. It's not just the generic “everything will get better” or “hang in there” response. Dr. Pugh acknowledges how challenging your struggle is and that you aren’t the only one going through something like it. Whenever I talked about my issues Dr. Pugh would draw from personal and others past experiences. He never tells you what the answer is to your problem. “Every struggle is different despite their similarities, so I don't know what the best way to handle it is, I just know how you can go about handling it.”

Dr. Pugh is by far the wisest person I ever meet. The greatest thing he every taught me was to question everything, because things are happening the way they are because someone benefits from them. Dr. Pugh helped me understand that labels exist to put things in their places and that I could live beyond the labels people place on me.