The Power of Dreams: How Virginia State University’s Upward Bound Planted the Seed and Honda’s Battle of the Bands Proved It Bloomed
From a wide-eyed student with big dreams to a storyteller living them—proof that the seeds we plant in faith will always find their way to bloom.
One of the things I appreciate most about my journey through life is that it has been filled with so many full-circle moments.
Firstly, taking a massive leap of faith to leave my hometown of Dinwiddie County, Virginia, snowballed my life, especially my journalism career. Before I left home, with quite literally a dollar and a dream, I worked in social media at T-Mobile.
My journalism dreams were put on the back burner after I walked away from my first post-graduation gig in the business at NBC 12, a local news station in Richmond, Virginia.
I graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) in the same city in May 2015, but it wasn’t until 2019 that I began to visualize my dream of becoming a journalist. It’s been a whirlwind since then, but I wouldn’t have it any other way—all the highs, lows, setbacks, you name it.
You’re probably wondering, "Girl, why are you telling us this?"
Here’s why: I just cannot keep quiet about seeing the seeds planted in my life as a child bloom into beautiful flowers as an adult. It’s proof that God’s favor is confirmed and a reminder that I can co-create the life of my dreams with Him by my side.
This particular story starts with Virginia State University’s (VSU) Upward Bound program. If you’re unfamiliar, this is a federally funded organization that provides underserved youth with college resources and materials needed to not only equip them for what to expect in a world beyond secondary education but also show them that despite the cost and limited access to kids who look like them, college is attainable.
As a first-generation college student, Upward Bound changed my life and helped mold me into the woman I am today. Thanks to this program, I pinpointed my love for public speaking, playing an integral role in my decision to study mass communications with a concentration in broadcast journalism.
Along with the academic component, Upward Bound was filled with fun activities that I otherwise wouldn’t have been able to experience as the eldest daughter of a blue-collar father and mother working within the education system, working their hardest to provide their three children (myself included) with opportunities they never had.
From spending summers in a dorm at VSU to prepare for college life to the fun trips and HBCU college tours, Upward Bound planted a seed in me that college was attainable and that soon, I could put my dreams of becoming a journalist into motion.
One of the highlights of my four years in the program, throughout my high school years, was our annual winter trip to Honda’s Battle of the Bands (HBOB) in Atlanta, Georgia, where I ironically moved to pursue my dreams — it seems like it was destined, right?
As a millennial born in the early ‘90s but came of age in the 2000s, Drumline is one of my favorite movies. The film stars Nick Cannon, Zoe Saldana, and Orlando Jones, with appearances by Jason Weaver, whom I’ve also previously had the pleasure of interviewing, and a host of familiar faces.
The film is centered around Devon Miles, a high school graduate who goes to an HBCU to pursue his musical dreams of making the drumline as a freshman.
At the time, the Battle of the Bands wasn’t a thing, but Honda’s interest in HBCU marching band culture was piqued thanks to the film. A year after its release, the invitational showcase that would soon become Honda’s Battle of the Bands was created. The rest is, as they say, history.
This year, I attended HBOB as a journalist and guest of Honda. This is the second time in my career that I’ve been able to cover the event. Still, this time hit so much differently since we witnessed a Drumline reunion in the flesh when this year’s host, Nick Cannon, and Dr. Lee, aka Orlando Jones met on the field to kick off the event which featured marching bands from Alabama A&M University, Alabama State University, Hampton University, North Carolina A&T University, Southern University, and the University of Arkansas Pine Bluff who secured its first-ever HBOB spot thanks to online voting.
Living out moments like these always feels so surreal because it seems like just yesterday, I was a kid preparing to go to Battle of the Bands with my Upward Bound family, and now, just like that, a part of living out my dreams includes covering events that are almost directly aligned with my childhood.
Whether it's amplifying HBCU students through events like HBOB, programs like the Honda Campus All-Star Challenge, or hosting media like myself, Honda continues to live up to its “power of dream” tagline by helping to make the aspirations of folks like myself a reality.
Check out my additional HBOB coverage on MadameNoire and aspireTV here and here.