My name is Frederick and this is my story.

“I look up to the people others look down on.” Chinese proverb. I am incredibly grateful that at a young age I was instilled with values that I fully embrace and continue to develop and put into practice today. I was raised by a single mother who worked in a stressful job as a social worker, and this left me under the care, my retired grandfather. Essentially, he was the person who most influenced my identity. My first volunteer job was cleaning the local Baptist church I attended with my grandfather on Saturday mornings. He would check behind me after every task and incorporated Bible stories to teach me life lessons along the way. The day was structured as a typical workday with a one-hour lunch break and eight-hour shift. I realize this had a significant impact on my choices and my identity. As I have gone through life’s changes, positive and negative, I always find myself referring back to this identity of a hard-working Christian man who helps out others in the community.
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The ethics I treasure most in those close to me are loyalty, honesty, and free thinking. These values exhibit the exact foundation on which my identity began. During those cleaning sessions, so many life lessons and wisdom were passed down to me that truly started the foundation of my identity. Throughout life’s travels, many people have explained that their identity did not begin to surface until they got older. My identity, however, was fully formed as a young child and throughout the years developed into a beautiful soul. Meaning, the experiences of harsh life lessons have taught me to use that for growth and motivation. I have learned how to make lemonade out of lemons.
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I have had some monumental life experiences that have had a major impact on the molding of my identity. I genuinely believe that if I am not changing each decade, then I am not growing as a person. I want to be well rounded and consistently nurturing my identity. For years, I battled a drinking addiction that completely went against my identity. I went from being able to identify as a homeless, dumpster diving, non-hygienic man to a person who is asked to teach Sunday school, sponsor a child in Africa, co-parent, motivational speaker, and college student. After being so fortunate to receive the proper medical and psychological help I needed. I now make it a life’s mission to help others who struggle with the same illness. I feed the homeless, and on holidays I speak at treatment centers. I now live with the mindset that I am blessed to give not have. I currently sponsor a family in Africa. I realized if I have money for Starbucks, NFL pay per view, and Green Bay Packers apparel then I have the finances to help a child have adequate drinking water. My identity has grown from a church attendee to a motto of being blessed to give not have. I think people who go through identity crisis do not know their reason for being for me it, could not be any clearer; however, having the great fortune of being taught at such a young age indeed had a profound impact on my fundamental identity. There is no greater feeling than to know I can make an impact on others which in turn affects the world, and I can begin impacting others especially on a collegiate level. Through The Message LLC, I will inspire, educate, and create healthy lifestyles for all.