Lego are the multicolored bricks we used as children to build creations that were limited only by our imagination. I remember adding to my multi-colored plastic sculptor, each block bringing me closer and closer to the final product. The process would always involve first creating a solid foundation and then creating structural support, always having a plan in mind. The result of which would tower above me; to think that it all started with a single block. In many ways people are similar to Legos. We are the combination of our experiences, each of which adds to our personality and shapes the way we see the world. Furthermore, like Lego, to have a stable and functioning final product it must have a base, a support and a surface. I was able to lay my foundation in high school. In these years my life was an old television with only three channels: home, school and church; each is similar to the other with little distinction. Even though my life seemed boring at times, I learned to focus, pray, and never give up. In hindsight, I believe my parents raised me this way out of fear. I didn't grow up in the best of neighborhoods, and my older brother was incarcerated while I was growing up, so I can understand their apprehension. However, I had a solid moral basis going into the unknown known as college. Attending the University of Rochester was like being dropped in the middle of the desert with only a calculator and a laptop to defend yourself. I was the first person, not only in my family, but in my neighborhood, to attend college; I had no one to turn to for help. I thought that because I liked helping people and did well in science classes, I decided to become a doctor. But I think the… medium of paper… a masterpiece. Now at NCCC I have hit a metaphysical wall. Despite taking nine classes, working, tutoring, serving on student senate, maintaining my 3.94 GPA, and having my own business, I find myself not being challenged. As I finally mastered time management, I realized that to continue growing into the person I want to become, I need to move on to bigger and better things. Winston Churchill said: “All men make mistakes, but only wise men learn from their mistakes." Although I have learned from my past mistakes, all the experiences I have endured have made me the person I am today. Despite being a work in progress, I have a solid foundation, strong internal support and plans of the person I will become And the day I become a complete multi-colored sculptor of experiences and hard work, I will have helped and inspired others to do the same..