Major David L. Carter Scholarship Recipient

“My family calls me ‘Chunky Monkey.’ I like to eat.

I don’t know all my siblings. But, I’m trying to get there.

I met Major David Carter. I think I was the best candidate for the Major David Carter scholarship because the quote that he had was, ‘Maximum emphasis is on everything.’ I am always in the community. He said that, ‘You are always in the community. You never not doin’ anything.’ My mama gets onto me, ‘You always got somethin’ to do. Why you can’t just go home after school?’ And, that’s me. I’ve got to get involved and bring opportunity to myself. I’m always serving in the community.

My church is really important. I love my church…United House of Prayer for All People. I’m a president of an auxiliary and youth secretary.

My mother, being sick with lupus, it was just a push, ‘You gotta get her the right people to see.’ Her diagnosis was just a motivation for me to keep going. ‘Stay in school; get your grades up. You better do good. Keep striving.’

When I go to a party…my grandma and my mama, they click in my head. I’m like, ‘No, no, no, no, no.’ Sometimes I just have to leave the party early. My friends say, ‘You’re a party pooper.”  But all that stuff…it’s not worth it.

My band teacher always says, ‘Whatever you do, give 100% in everything you do. No excuses.’ That’s just my mindset. I’m like the Energizer Bunny. I know if I don’t, something ain’t gonna go right. I’m not gonna get my family out of here. I can’t get what I need for my mom, my grandma, my brother. He’s…gonna need some college funds, something. And, I gotta be there to give it to him.

When I have my days, I just put some Bruno Mars on and just keep it pushing.

My sergeants, Mr. Frazier, and my band teacher. They saw something in me that I didn’t see. When I got here, I wasn’t bad, but I was with the wrong people. My mama. She recognized it in me.

I will be attending Valdosta State to major in Sports Medicine. I’m tryin’ to be the best athletic trainer in the United States. I told my friends, ‘Write this down, I’m gon’ have LeBron James number in my phone.’

My goal for Central…I bleed orange and blue. I tell freshmen, ‘You don’t have to be this or that just to be recognized. If you want it, you’ll get it. If you don’t want it, you don’t get it.’

My friends would describe me as the leader or ‘She’s goofy.’ Mostly, I’m the leader.”

Story written by Susannah Maddux. Photo by Maryann Bates.