Robert

“Hey, what’s going on, future me?”

The videos Robert produced as a young boy opened with that line. Feeling isolated as an only child, he found that watching YouTube videos made him “feel seen.” He was inspired to create his own in the hope that he could help other lonely children.

As Robert’s “future me” now prepares to go off to college, he holds onto that hope.  “Videotaping has been the activity that I continue to cherish the most within my life,” he wrote in his essay. “Those videos transitioned into life lessons—reflecting on what’s going on in my life, the changes I hope to make, and even the problems I haven’t figured out how to solve.” He wants to someday “make these videos a resource to anyone who may be encountering the same issues as me, a young man growing up in Harlem.”

Indeed, Robert is a resource to so many others.

Robert has a way of making people “feel comfortable and heard,” his guidance counselor wrote, adding that his “upbeat and positive personality, along with his ability to communicate with people from diverse backgrounds” helped him secure the position of vice president of student government.

Carrying a heavy load of schoolwork and extracurricular activities, Robert nonetheless makes time for the Bridge Golf Foundation and its rigorous golf and education program for young men of color.  He wants to study finance in college, an interest first realized when he would swap the Pokemon cards he earned from doing the dishes.

As he bargained with friends for cards, he says, he imagined himself “in a sleek suit and tie, in an office, discussing finances and investments” that could have an impact on “the societal problems I wish to solve.”

The mentor that has made the greatest difference in my life is Ms. Stephane (Program Director/ Co-Founder of Bridge Golf). Ms. Stephane has taught me the value of writing and the consistency that must come with it! These values have overlapped into other facets of my daily life that I will carry with me into the rest of my life.