Never one to shy away from a challenge, Bradley looks at each of his life’s obstacles as an opportunity to better himself. With each passing day he works to grow more as a leader, using the gifts God gave him to bring people together and point them to a brighter future. Throughout his life he has been blessed with family, friends, and a community to support him in almost every endeavor. Now, as he prepares to embark on the next chapter of his life, his hope is that he can learn to give back to those who have given so much to him.
Born and raised in New York, Bradley fell in love with learning at an early age. Even before he could read his interest in the world around him pushed him to consider the impossible. When it wasn’t cool for a young black boy to have his head in a book, Bradley fought to break the mold as he stepped above and beyond each challenge that came his way. With his family’s help he quickly learned that there was little he couldn’t accomplish. His ideas, visions, and dreams never fell on deaf ears as his mother’s constant encouragement pushed him past the barriers society created for him. He was exceptional, and he wouldn’t let anyone tell him otherwise.
As a high school student, Bradley learned that he too had the ability to affect change in the lives of others, just as his mother had for him. A constant advocate for social change, Bradley’s work with Florida YMCA Youth in Government provided him with a means to reach out and touch the lives of countless students all across his state. As his county’s Youth Chapter President and his state’s Youth Lt. Governor, he strived each day to embody the tenets of servant leadership that define the Youth in Government program. Through food drives and summer leadership conferences Bradley helped expand this organization beyond the realm of mere civic education. He took the youth-run youth-led aspect of Youth in Government to heart as he worked each day to provide future members with a legacy of opportunity.
An IB Diploma Candidate, National Achievement Scholar, and National Merit Commended Scholar, Bradley takes his academics seriously. With a 4.45 GPA he ranked in the top 2% of his senior class and was the highest-ranking African American in his school. But academics alone were never enough to satisfy him. Throughout his high school career, Bradley sought out opportunities to better serve his school and community. As the senior class president, Bradley worked closely with his peers as a source of motivation and encouragement. Their concerns became his, and with each day his classmates grew to become more like his extended family. Fighting for their needs was never a job for him, but instead was one of the most rewarding experiences of his young life.
With graduation on the horizon and college right around the corner, Bradley now looks to the future as a source of inspiration. Though he was born in New York, Florida will always be the place he calls home. He hopes to one day serve in his state legislature where he can give back to the place that gave so much to him. The prospect of a better tomorrow for Florida pushes him to go above and beyond the call of duty each day. His state is both unique and exceptional – sort of like Bradley.
