Selected quotes from Chadwick Bosemen’s commencement speech at Howard University in 2018:

Sometimes you need to feel the pain and sting of defeat to activate the real passion and purpose that God predestined inside of you. God says in Jeremiah, “I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

When God has something for you, it doesn’t matter who stands against it. God will move someone that’s holding you back away from the door and put someone there who will open it for you if it’s meant for you. I don’t know what your future is, but if you are willing to take the harder way, the more complicated one, the one with more failures at first than successes, the one that has ultimately proven to have more meaning, more victory, more glory then you will not regret it. Now, this is your time. The light of new realizations shines on you today. 

The pain points in my life are as much of a part of me as the good ones. Any number of them can be recalled — job loss, injuries, a failed relationship, a broken dream, etc. It is not what you experience that ultimately determines success, but how you embrace each experience and the opportunities that arise.

A pivotal time period that I had to go through was job loss in 2014 and 2015 due to injuries. That arduous time shaped my views on rest, finances, health, and work ethic. At that point, I could not see the trajectory ahead of me or how that time period would propel me towards prosperity, hope and a future. Nor could I foretell that I would meet supervisors who would open doors to better positions and income that would then provide opportunities to grow in my professional and personal life.

These days, my income is higher, my work-life balance is healthy, I enjoy the comfort of my home and dogs, and I get to pursue hobbies, volunteering, and other enriching activities. My health is far from perfect, and continues to send me to expensive specialists, but I could not be more thankful for the plans that the Lord has for me.