I am Jawanza Iyele Rodgers. Jawanza means “happy one” and Iyele “means boy with a promise of power and nobility”. My name is derived from the African language of Swahili. My name and its meaning are very important because it signifies that I am proud of my people and our heritage. It also speaks to my calling and my purpose, which is to help my people. I was born in Belleville, Illinois to two outgoing Afro Centric parents who love me dearly and instilled in me the power of self-love and the love of my community. I currently attend Belleville Township High School-West, where I maintain a 3.4 grade point average and participate in various clubs such as the Maroon Madness Pep Club and the Mentor/ Mentee Mentoring Program. Another part of my life is working a part-time job at Walgreens…show more content… A Fascination with building and designing has always hovered over me like a cloud ever since I was a child. As a young buck I would collect cardboard boxes from my family and friends. This habit of collecting boxes became overwhelming for my mom because we had boxes everywhere, in the garage, in the basement, in the backyard and even in the backseat of my mom’s car. But, I was not just collecting boxes I was using my creative imagination to build life size car models and homes with the only resource that I had available to me at the time. One day when my grandmother went to go get a new car, she had to clean out her old car. While cleaning out her car the car salesman was perplexed as to why she had so many empty boxes in her car. She proceeded to tell him that they were for her grandson. It was then that my family and I realized that it was a purpose to my fascination with boxes.
