I was born with a helper’s spirit in the Mississippi Delta, a land of fried catfish, stifling humidity, and crushing poverty.  From a family of working-class storytellers, I owe my life to the hungry rattlesnake, whose bite paralyzed the index finger – the trigger finger – on the right hand of a 12-year-old boy, my future father. Disqualified from the Vietnam War draft thanks to his rattlesnake finger, he did not return home in a bodybag. Instead, he left home for church to marry my future mother. Decades later, I conceived, created, and produced the Johnny Cash Flower Pickin' Festival, an internationally-acclaimed event with themes of forgiveness and redemption, the first third-party event endorsed by the Johnny Cash Estate after his death. I enrolled in law school with a goal to represent clients lacking resources, a major life-pivot after I was arrested, jailed, and a defendant in a trial for a crime I did not commit. Acquitted by the judge, I left court with a deep conviction to represent people whose life circumstances bear similarities to those with whom I met in jail, people whose case outcomes did not mirror mine due to reasons outside of justice and material facts. The public defender who represented me did not know I existed until the day prior to my scheduled trial and still forgot to show up for court. I vowed to use my experience as motivation to represent clients with the same level of zealous representation as I used to represent myself. I envision my clients praying to Saint Jude for a miracle but instead receiving me, a skilled and driven advocate who will represent their interests. Prior to enrolling in law school, my professional experience included teaching at an alternative school for students with behavioral issues, leading a reading center at an elementary school in the District of Columbia, and focused on the public interest through investigative journalism. Advocacy as a journalist led my effort that resulted in the Mississippi Ethics Commission expanding interpretation of the Mississippi Public Records Act of 1983 to include text messages of public officials. My partnership with a whistleblower also helped produce journalism that led the Department of Labor to investigate a mismanaged rural water association breaking state and federal laws. Currently a 3L law student, I have a master’s degree in Public Policy and Administration from Mississippi State University and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Southern Mississippi. I have completed 8 marathons and love finding adventure on my bicycle.