My Beginning

I realized today that instead of jotting lots of my ideas for the improvement of Danville, VA in a "To Do" notebook for myself that I would make them accessible to the entire world -- hoping that someone like myself would join the initiative.  I've never been a blogger, nor have followed any blogs, but will make an honest attempt to do so.

So to begin, I should explain the title of my blog.  I have been told time and time again that I am the walking example of what Danville (as a whole) is trying to accomplish -- a poster child, if you will.  I was born and raised in Danville, VA to a low-income (now middle-income) family, am the product of the Danville Public School system, and would love nothing more than to see my beloved hometown thrive again.  After being the guinea pig for Galileo Magnet High School, and successfully being among the first class to complete the International Baccalaureate program there, I went on to attend James Madison University where I studied Biotechnology.  I returned to Danville after my graduation in May 2010 to take on a research position at the ISRR lab at the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research in September 2010.  I should mention that I am also the poster child for the success of the Graduate of Distinction honor I was awarded upon graduation of Galileo.  As part of the Graduate of Distinction scholarship, I also received a summer internship in the ISRR lab at IALR (where I am now employed).

I am not only a success in my education and career, but have been a very active member of the Danville community, even when away at college.  The President/CEO of United Way for Danville-Pittsylvania county, Patrick Jinks, commonly refers to me as a "volunteer extraordinaire ".  From high school onward, I have committed countless hours to the non-profit organizations of Danville and Pittsylvania county (plenty more than required for the IB program I participated in during high school).  Some of those activities include (but are definitely not limited to): U5 soccer coach for SSC, many events for the Danville Humane Society, Habitat for Humanity, Parks and Recreation, the Little Theatre of Danville, Big Brothers Big Sisters, and of course, United Way.  I also was recently elected as the youngest board member for the Danville Historical Society. Oh! and not to mention the huge annual fundraiser I put together for the Muscular Dystrophy Association -- I'm sure you are all familiar with the well-known LEGO Build-off held at IALR every summer.   Through the discourse of this blog, I'm sure I will elaborate further on each of these experiences and how they contributed to my life and success. 

At any rate, I am certain that Danville is responsible for my success.  Danville has fallen on hard times, and I feel partially responsible for fostering it back to health.  I am not up to date on every little quarrel in politics, nor do I wish to be, so when leaving comments keep that in mind.  I am not a politician -- ordinarily I talk little and do much.  This is my first attempt at talking to the rest of the world without actually having done anything about it yet.  I have recently realized I cannot run as a one-man team and need YOUR help.  I firmly believe that every person in the world has a valuable contribution to make -- whether it be time, skills, money, or your personal/professional network of people.  So my challenge to you: join me in the uphill battle to revitalize Danville!