My Aunt Marcia is my inspiration. She is my inspiration because growing up she told me to be a leader not a follower. When she was in high school she played basketball for Orangeburg-Wilkinson High School and she was the first woman there to score over 1,000 points. She got a scholarship to USC-Aiken to play basketball and after graduating, coached at Midland- Valley High School for 5 years.

My aunt loved kids and that is why she works as Executive Director of Aiken County First Steps, a program that supports getting children ready for school. She also wants to start her own daycare center for unwealthy children in the community.

I have learned a lot of things from my aunt, for example, wanting to become a basketball player and a police officer so I can help the community by taking out all the bad influences that are in the world today. She ahs taught me about being honest and responsible and now I am treasurer of my student council. Being Executive Director means my aunt has a lot of meetings and gives a bunch of speeches. She has taught me how to speak in public, and I have been invited three times this year to recite poetry for my school. My aunt comes home from working all day and still has time to help me and my sister with our homework.

When she was little, her dad did not take any slack on her about her education or her discipline and that's why she is hard on us. My aunt is an in inspiration to me because she has so much confidence in herself and what she does for a living. She agreed to coach two youth church basketball teams because of the teams did not have a coach and even though she really didn't have the time, she did it anyway. That definitely takes a special person. My auntie is my inspiration.