MGP Helps Alexandria Develop as a Leader
By Alexandria Williams
It is hard to believe my Midnight Golf experience has come and gone. I remember when I was in the 9th grade my sister would come home from the program and share all of her stories. Before I was even accepted, I felt as if I was already a part of the family. I anticipated applying for three long years. I signed up for orientation as soon as it was announced. I submitted my information 6 months early. I even submitted it twice to make sure they received it. Finally, my time came. It was even greater than I could have ever imagined. I made the experience my own and now I am a 2018 MGP alumna.
The program is never limited to Marygrove. We take our adventures and lively energy all over the city, and even across the country. We embraced different cultures at the DIA, volunteered at soup kitchens, danced together at our holiday events, traveled on the Road Trip for Success to visit colleges, and expressed the love and support we have for one another every day.
During a very troubling time in my life, MGP has been my home away from home. It has been much more than what is promised in their mission statement. Midnight Golf guarantees a meal every Monday and Wednesday night, teaches a timeless sport, offers opportunities, smiling faces, and support when I can’t get it anywhere else. I’ve found Midnight Golf to be my safe haven to laugh, learn and escape all of my worries for those few short hours. I have absorbed so much and I have been pushed to grow and take my life into my own hands. Each mentor offers a different life lesson tailored to their skills and my specific need. I can go to them for anything and that means the world to me.
In a world full of growing competition, it is important to find the thing that makes us stand out. Before my acceptance to the program, I was a surface layer leader. I was involved and dedicated, but the world is full of students just like me. Without MGP, there wasn’t much distinction between me and the next leader. We learned the tedious tricks needed to catch the eye of any college or employer.
Most students get their heads swollen up about how fun college will be and how amazing it is to be an adult. It most certainly will be, but there is much more we need to work towards before we can enjoy the fruits of our labor. We have mentors that serve us the raw real world, not to discourage us but to prepare us. Which is what sets us ahead. Now I am confident that I can take whatever the world throws at me. I have learned to be on my toes at all times.
When people look at me now they see a confident, lively leader who will never back down to a challenge. I owe my growth to the Midnight Golf Program.
As far as the college application process, I was completely lost. Neither of my parents earned their degree so I felt like I was at a disadvantage when compared to my peers. I was given the necessary tools to face this adversity and I even had most financial burdens taken care of.
In the fall of 2018, I started studying computer engineering and computer science at Alcorn State University. I would have never imagined I would end up anywhere other than a “big name university,” let alone an HBCU in Mississippi. Thanks to my mentors and their connections, I learned about Alcorn and was awarded a full ride. I won’t have to pay out of pocket for school, which is what my family and I have been praying for.
It has been said a thousand times: Midnight Golf is a family. The souls that care for one another and grow together create a bond that can’t be replicated or found anywhere else.
Alexandria is a freshman at Alcorn State University.
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