Jordan Tafari is a junior, sociology major, education studies minor from Cincinnati, Ohio here at Morehouse.
As a Bonner, Jordan has had the opportunity to serve at the Atlanta Community Food Bank and have involvement with some of Bonners most renowned service initiatives, serving as the Education Coordinator for Sandwich Run A.U.C., to say the least.
This past summer of 2015, between his freshman and sophomore year, Jordan had the honor of interning with District of Columbia Public Schools’ Central Office. Here, he assisted in their Urban Education Leadership Internship Program, working on a project to improve the school system’s special education summer program. With the intensive work that he completed over the summer, his project was able to affect thousands of the district’s students who were in need of assistive technology- tools in which are used to help students with special needs communicate in class.
This summer, he has had the opportunity to intern with our federal government at the United States Department of Education, where he is working on youth engagement support for kids throughout the country who face different socioeconomic disadvantages.
Question: Every man and woman who is born into this world is born with a purpose. How will you use your purpose to give back to your community and be a service to others? If you do not know your purpose yet, how will you continue to serve your community within a specific issue that you strongly are passionate about?
My name is Izrah Hurd and I am a Chicago native. So far, I feel that my purpose has been to help youth who have had the same experiences in their life that have been not so pleasant. I wish to speak on behalf of this group of youth not only because I feel I can better relate through shared backgrounds but because I feel that their voice has less of an influence even in their own communities. Also, there tends to be a cycle in which majority of these youth fall in and that must come to an end. There are a few that break out of the cycle that is perpetuated through broken institutions that no longer rehabilitate but merely sustain these youth. That is how I will give back. I intend to increase the percentage of the youth who have had difficulties growing up in urban settings that end up becoming success stories and hopefully put a end to the narrative of the "struggling teen from the hood".
ReplyDeleteI plan to serve the community through mentoring youth with a specific focus on succeeding in education. In my case, I had a village growing me to be the best student I could be. I realize many other kids do not have that opportunity. I want to provide that motivation factor for them. Many students do not know that opportunity can be created. Scholarships can be created. The doorway of a university or a college can be created. Instead, many students sit back and squander their potential, and get woken up by the harsh reality of life. Since my eyes have been opened to where education can actually take you, I want to provide this same perspective for current students.
ReplyDeleteLife can throw new interest or passions at you everyday, but so far i am very passionate in making a change in the homeless community. There should be no reason why people can hit the lottery for millions of dollars, and there are people starving with nowhere to stay. America has a a lot of growing to do, so i plan to serve my community be bringing awareness and giving back to the homeless in whatever area i am in. Rather its a food drive or simply giving someone less fortunate some money for a bus ride, giving something is better then nothing.
ReplyDeleteRight now, it is hard to say exactly what my purpose is when I have so many backgrounds and interest to myself. I'm majoring in engineering and physics at Morehouse as of now. Who knows, once school starts that could change, but as of now I am assumed to be a engineer ready to create the worlds top innovations of today. One day in the future, I will like to get my civil law degree and hopefully pursue activism. I am currently a business man also, desiring to grow my company along with a nonprofit organization which mentors young entrepreneurs as well. On top of all of that, I have a passion for music. Hard to see my purpose right? That's my dilemma, until I realized I have more than one purpose in life, as I assume we all do. From what I can see now in my future, to answer the question, is relatable to a tale that I've heard over and over again. We all know about the man and the fisherman; the man was hungry so the fisherman said I can get you a fish everyday or I can teach you how to fish. Well I believe I am the fisherman but with a broader mindset. I am going to be the person who is great at what I do, if I'm not the best, whether that is being an engineer, a businessman, maybe a lawyer, or from the tale, a fisherman. With that I would contribute all I can with what I have done. The fisherman could contribute fish of course, but in my life it most likely would be money for my beloved community or innovative inventions to better the world. At the same time, just as the fisherman did, I would teach and mentor others to do the same. My nonprofit is used to mentor the youth in business so I would probably continue to do that; lord knows we could use more jobs in this economy. I would invest time and money to see other engineers with their ideas. I would motivate and inspire people to fight for equal rights in this world because if they don't fight for themselves, no one will. I would even buy school instruments for every kid interested in learning music, and then teach them how to play it if I can. If my purpose in life is anywhere close to where my dreams are, then that is how I will serve my community along with making change.
ReplyDeleteCurrently, I am not exactly sure of my specific purpose in life. I genuinely have a heart for people and their wellbeing. I also strongly believe that everyone, no matter what type of background, has the ability to prosper. As a small child, I decided that I wanted to go into the medical field to help others. I watched multiple close family members suffer with different illnesses, ultimately dying, and I wanted to make a difference in others' lives. I am now adamant about nutrition and the prevention of premature death in the human race. I believe that there is so much that we can do to prevent sickness, disease, and so much more by just making simple lifestyle changes. I plan to go out in the community to not only inform others about positive lifestyle changes that they can make, but to help them make those changes.
ReplyDeleteAt this point in my life, I feel like my purpose in life is to be a voice for the voiceless. My ultimate goal is to be a state attorney which means that I have to be able to fight for the rights of others who are falsely accused and need to receive justice. Even though I hate to say it, but the Black community has been treated unjust for centuries and it has to stop. So I will be giving back to my community by fighting for their justice and rights every single day.
ReplyDeleteI will use my purpose in life as an outlier to create a pathway for the youth after me. For example, I have a niece and a nephew that are among many other children that already look up to me as their role model. I will use my purpose to show them the right way. I'm going to be the person in my community showing the kids that staying in school is more cool than being on the streets. I'm going to show my neighborhood how knowledge definitely converts into power. Right now the trend in my community is dropping out of school and joining gangs and selling drugs to make money. I'm going to be the person to begin a new era.
ReplyDeleteI am Charles Porch III, although I am unsure on what God's plan is for me, I am very aware of what I am passionate about. I am very passionate about inspiring black youth to show them positive ways to become successful. I also am passionate about teaching black youth the importance of being a leader and not trying to fit in a crowd to be considered cool. In this day and age as a black child we have no time to waste, we have to work 100x times harder, we have to know the difference between wrong and right, and see the importance of staying focused and getting an education, and staying away from anything negative that could affect our future. Going back and reaching out to kids while they are still young and showing them positive things to do in life can prevent them from becoming another statistic and throwing their life away to the streets. Although I do not know my specific purpose on this earth, I am clearly aware that reaching back to the younger generation and being a positive role model is what I am passionate about.
ReplyDeleteLike some of the other Scholars, I am not fully sure of my purpose in life, but I am sure that whatever it may be I will use it to help better my community and the peers around me. One thing I am certain of, is that I absolutely love working with the younger youth in my community. I hate seeing wasted potential, and I want to work towards getting more students involved in school and resume-building activities. For the past nine years, I have been involved in my county's 4-H club. Through the club, I have been able to see what the older 4-H'ers have done for me in the past, and I have learned what I can do for younger 4-H'ers in the future. I plan to inspire these kids by striving to become a 4-H camp counselor. After being a Teen Leader at 4-H camp, I can see what an impact the counselors had made on the children, and by being a counselor I can continue making changes in these kids lives and inspiring them to stay active in 4-H. Being a positive force in the lives of hundreds of kids is what I am working towards, and hopefully that will lead me to further discovering what my true purpose is.
ReplyDeleteI can't say that I'm positive that I know my purpose, but in the direction I'm headed I plan on using my passion to educate the children of the next generation. I want to become an elementary school teacher so that I can guide the new generation to the best possible path they can be on. As for community service I would like to focus my time and resources in to helping the impoverished in every aspects of their life.
ReplyDeleteI plan to give back to community the most healing mechanism that I could think of. This medicine keeps our families together, our relationships stronger, and our generations going and that is love. I know that purpose on this Earth is to give this world a change. How? Well that is a question I get have the answer to. However, what I do know is that I can take what I do in every moment of my life starting now and make it make sense and make it worth my wild. My profession as pediatric physician will merely give me the physical aspects of how to heal my community. My relationship with God will keep me long enough to fulfill my purpose; and with strengthening my relationship with God I'm strengthening my ability to spiritually heal myself and others in my community. However, the change that I make will make create an everlasting effect on my community and will do nothing but continue to elevate, grow, expand and heal the community. That's how I plan to give back with my purpose.
ReplyDeleteAs I've begun to grow older I've noticed I have a way with words. I'm a very motivational individual. As I continue to uplift and motivate, I plan to bring that same attitude and talent to Morehouse and the Bonner program. While engaging in community service projects I will wholeheartedly give a 100% effort in furthering my purpose by serving as a inspiration to those seeking guidance or positivity. The God given talent to be able to speaking with so much positivity is a characteristic I'm thrilled to bring to Morehouse.
ReplyDeleteThis question directly corresponded with my purpose primarily because I truly feel my purpose is to change the world, I do not know how but I put that in the higher powers hands. I have always been driven by the people, and always tried to maintain being humble when recognized for my success but also keeping in mind that I am doing it for a bigger purpose rather than recognition, that I am doing it to make a change for the next generation. I have always been hopeful in a better tomorrow always looking at our current position as only temporary and that we can change the direction this world is going. So my purpose is to have the mind of a king and a heart of a servant.
ReplyDeleteThis question directly corresponded with my purpose primarily because I truly feel my purpose is to change the world, I do not know how but I put that in the higher powers hands. I have always been driven by the people, and always tried to maintain being humble when recognized for my success but also keeping in mind that I am doing it for a bigger purpose rather than recognition, that I am doing it to make a change for the next generation. I have always been hopeful in a better tomorrow always looking at our current position as only temporary and that we can change the direction this world is going. So my purpose is to have the mind of a king and a heart of a servant.
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ReplyDeleteAs get older and older, I realize that my purpose is to keep being the person I am and who I simply want to become. I feel like God has created me to be an openminded individual who embraces culture, enhances curiosity, and someone who loves everyone. I am a renaissance man that wants to continue to look at things from a different perspective academically and socially, but also staying humble in the process. As I continue the quest too finding my purpose, I am hoping to build relationships with all of my Morehouse brothers and carry on the Bonner legacy to dedicating my life to service.
ReplyDeleteFirst let me say, I believe in the thought process that God creates each of us for a specific purpose in this world. I think many of our life challenges are founded in our inability to embrace our purpose in that we spend a considerable amount of time running from our purpose. It is my sincere belief that my purpose is to help those in need who are not in a position to assist themselves as I may have the human capital to assist. I believe that my purpose stems from a foundation of having gifts that would allow me to help people in need. I hope that my life thus far reflects God's purpose for my life and I look forward to continuing to have opportunities in the Bonners program to expand my purpose.
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