- [Announcer] This original WSRE presentation, is made possible by viewers like you.

Thank you.

(upbeat music) - Hello everyone.

I'm Rameca Vincent Leary, and welcome to this addition of Pensacola State Today.

Life is full of decisions that can prove to be game changers, but we must be willing to take that first step.

Have you ever thought of applying for a PSE scholarship with over 200 options available, the possibilities are endless.

During this special edition of Pensacola State Today, we'll be highlighting two of those scholarships, the African American Memorial Endowment and Dr. Garrett T. Wiggins "Live Your Dream" Scholarship.

So then we'll take you on a journey of significant triumph for past and present awardees and culminate with our special recognition for 2022 recipients.

There's no time like the present.

And these students took that first step.

Who knows?

You could be next.

To get the conversation started I'm happy to welcome Dr. Ed Meadows, president of Pensacola State College.

He's joined by Andrea Krieger, executive director of Institutional Development and Dr. Tonie Anderson-Steele, chair of PSCs Black History Multicultural Committee.

And we'll also find out a little bit more about what you do, but Dr. Meadows, let's start with you.

The importance of applying for scholarships we cannot stressed that enough, right?

- No, we can't.

And the good thing about scholarships at Pensacola State is if you go online and apply for a scholarship, you've applied for all scholarships that you're entitled to receive our software matches up the student and their respective grade point averages, their financial needs, the discipline that they're enrolling in and all the scholarships that our foundation and our institution offer.

- [Rameca] Yes.

- Are aligned with that student for consideration.

- [Rameca] And it's a blanket application, right Andrea?

- It is, and it's one application.

So we're not gonna ask them to fill out 300 different applications.

- No.

- They go online, they can use their phone.

It doesn't take much time, but it does open up a world of possibility for them.

- And there's only two exceptions of that.

One is the president's scholarship.

And the other is a academic excellent scholarship, where there are separate applications, but all the others, the hundreds of other scholarships.

- Yes definitely.

- You apply one time.

- Good to know.

So Andrea let's get into the history of these two scholarships.

I know our audience wants to hear.

- Well, I'll tell you, it's really, it's quite a blessing to have both of these.

And one of 'em, the first one you mentioned the African American Memorial Endowed Scholarship that is actually celebrating its 25th year this year.

So 25 years of helping students succeed.

What's amazing about that is it's endowed.

And so while it 59,000, a little over 59,000 in the endowment, the earnings from that have already been able to award out over $39,000 in scholarships.

So into perpetuity that endowment will enable students to succeed here at Pensacola State College, by giving them that first chance, that opportunity.

The second scholarship, the Garrett T. Wiggins, Dr. Garrett T. Wiggins, "Live Your Dream" Scholarship, it is not currently endowed, but it was started in 2005.

And it has been responsible for $46,000 worth of awards.

Now, the difference is once that's out, it's gone.

- Yes, it's gone.

- It's not anymore, but both serve a very important role.

I mean, we want students to pursue excellence, but we want them to live their dream.

And this, these both just offer unique opportunities.

And the fact that your volunteers have worked on this, this past year just means more are opportunities for students and more scholarship recipients than ever in both of those categories.

- Absolutely and speaking of the years, Dr. Tony Anderson still, you've been at the college for quite some time.

And let's talk about your involvement as chair, as the, of the Black History Multicultural Committee.

- Well I've been to chairs since 2004.

And prior to the pandemic, we were quite active in being able to not only work together here at the college, but to also become friends.

- [Rameca] Yes.

And so it's like networking with people you work for here at the college and with.

And so we generally plan events, multicultural type events and black events at the college.

And we use the students and we use the staff and the faculty to help us coordinate those events and to work those events and to help plan those events.

And so those are the things that we have always enjoyed doing.

As we try to come out of the pandemic, we hope that we're able to successively get our audience back and have everyone start to come back to enjoy the events that we have at the college, and be more aware of how to enhance.

- [Rameca] Yes.

- The multicultural of this community and of the college.

- So very important and speaking of unity, we'd like to take you back to 2020 to our scholarship banquet.

We had a very interesting speaker dynamic guy named Rodney Jones.

He is the founder of New World Believers, and we want you to take a listen to this clip.

- You got mama struggling, daddy's out juggling, trying to get money any way they can.

And even then, ends won't meet.

And it's a fact, every night, hungry kids won't eat hard times is the way of life.

Make a man contemplate killing off his kids and his wife.

And Lord knows that ain't right.

But he in a different mind frame, because his mind changed from the pain that he feels coming from the sound that he hears, it's his kids shedding tears, before they go to sleep.

'Cause now the thing that he have so that they can sit and eat now.

this bit so extreme it brings pain.

He cannot bath.

So he pulls his pistol from his pocket and screams out life, it just ain't fair.

in the ghetto, late at night on the pipe, crack heads up like they're working nine to five, always watching me, watching you, watching him.

Ain't lying.

Waiting on the perfect time so they can creep pull a beer and eat while you in your house sleep now, can you imagine why you drink crack teams kept touring through your home and they don't care 'cause you there, they just trying to get something, go and get they smoke on.

Now that's crazy, man, ain't lying.

But you see they high half the time.

And that makes some blind and distraught and dog thoughts start to cross their mind.

And it's a fact like track.

They stacked in the ghetto by the bundle.

So don't get shook when you look and see the ghetto is a crack head, jungle, bang, bang, bang, gunshots heard every night, loud screens, sirens, and glass breaking from a fight and blue lights, they are familiar sight cause every week somebody laid cold in the streets and every week people gather around, try to peep and somebody son stretched out, put to sleep.

Now that's a shame.

Man found slain said the six o'clock news, but that's life in the ghetto.

Somebody win.

Somebody lose.

- So remarkable.

And Dr. Tonie Anderson- Steele, I know that you were closely with the African American Student Association and what Rodney Jones said, it's so impacting lending credence even more so regarding the importance of having these Black History, Multicultural events.

Talk about that for just a moment.

- Well, again, prior to the pandemic, the African American student dissociation was absolutely off the chart and doing everything that they possibly to be inspired, motivated and to network across the state.

Since the pandemic, we have not done much.

We did, however, have our first very successful Black History celebration on the 16.

We packed the house with the community and with the students and the students actually ran the program and planned the program.

And so we are getting back into activities.

I just thought the other day, that it's time for... We've been zooming.

(indistinct) Our meeting have been via zoom.

And so I just thought to myself the other day, I said, we need to come back face to face.

So I'm thinking about having us join each other face to face, which is indeed inspiring.

Starting fall.

- Sounds good.

Now, Dr. Meadows, back to you, the Dr. Garrett T. Wiggins "Live Your Dream" scholarship.

We have aspiration for that, don't we?

- Certainly, and before we talk about the Wiggins scholarship, I want to commend Dr. Tonie Anderson-Steele.

She was one of the individuals instrumental in establishing the African American Endowed Memorial Scholarship.

- Yes, indeed.

- Many, many years ago.

So Dr. Anderson-steele, thank you.

- [Tonie] Thank you.

- And looking at the person here responsible for the 100 For 100 campaign, I thank you, Dr. Leary as well.

- Yes.

- The alumni association of this fine institution has a matching scholarship program for endowments.

And the two criteria are that they do something noteworthy for the community and or they do something noteworthy for the college.

Dr. Wiggins meets both of those criteria.

I would hate to think that sometime into the future, we would fail to raise money, one year where no student would be awarded the Dr. Garrett T. Wiggins scholarship.

So I think this is a prime time to announce that I would like for us to pursue this matching dollar endowment for Dr. Wiggins in his honor, $12,500 raised will be matched with $12,500 from our alumni association.

I will personally make the requests that the alumni association approve of this scholarship once we get to $12,500.

And we all done a phenomenal job this year, and I know the community will respond to endowing a scholarship that will have a lasting effect on the wellbeing of our minority community in Northwest Florida, that carries Dr. Wiggins legacy in his memory into the future.

- And we are excited about it aren't we Dr. Tonie?

Looking forward.

- Yes, because I'm in that process where we get to award the money.

- Yes.

- And so I have more money to alot.

How about that?

(laughing) - That sounds great.

- Looking forward to.

- Now, Andrea is speaking of awarding money, I know that you have success stories you hear from students, don't you?

- We hear from students all the time.

And I was thinking about the video clip you just showed because I think the, it doesn't take much, to inspire hope in our students and these two scholarships do just that.

And just reading the thank you notes from the students, it is clear that these two scholarships are having the kind of effect that change lives and change communities.

And so it's very exciting to think about continuing the legacy that Dr. Wiggins had by endowing his scholarship to help more students.

- Absolutely.

And we are in such full agreement.

Any parting words, just a few moments left in the segment.

- You don't have to eat the elephant with one bite.

- [Rameca] No?

- So you start in successional steps.

So I feel sure that within the next two to three years, we will certainly be able to raise $12,500 that becomes a $25,000 endowed scholarship in memory of Dr. Wiggins.

And none of our matching scholarships have ended with the $25,000.

We are, we have some that are approaching $200,000 and $100,000 because people continue to give to those alumni scholarships that is named in honor of significant individuals - [Rameca] Yes.

- Representing achievement at Pensacola state and Northwest Florida.

- We are so excited.

Many thanks to all of you for joining me in this segment.

(indistinct) - You're welcome.

Now, folks, as we head to break, we want to remind you of a familiar face, attorney Aaron Watson from the Watson firm, PLLC.

He was last year's AAMES Wiggins physical award sponsor.

And you'll hear he's a man of many talents.

He's a member of Inglewood Baptist church where the Reverend Larry Watson Jr is pastor listen to sing this special rendition of "Lord I Want To Say Thank You."

We'll be back right after this.

♪ Lord I wanna say thank you ♪ - Come on, is that all right?

♪ Lord I wanna say thank you ♪ ♪ Lord I wanna say thank you Jesus ♪ ♪ For all you've done for me me ♪ ♪ Thank you for all you've done for me ♪ - Come on, fellas help me sing.

♪ Say Lord ♪ ♪ Lord ♪ ♪ I wanna say thank you ♪ ♪ I wanna say thank you ♪ (upbeat music) - Hello everyone.

Due to COVID 19 we didn't host a 2022 scholarship banquet, but we were able to recognize our recipients in a special way.

We'll reveal them later in the show.

But first we'd like to welcome a phenomenal person who has assisted us in our efforts.

Darrell Nelson owner of Favor Flavor Seafood Restaurant, which is located at 2005 West Jordan street in Pensacola, Florida.

Guess what?

Favor Flavor is the 2022 AAMES Wiggins physical award sponsor.

We'll delve into that a little bit later, but first I must say you definitely have a heart for Pensacola State College and our students.

- Yes, ma'am.

I'm happy to be a part of it.

- Well, I cannot thank you enough.

And our recipients join me in that as well, but we're going to get straight to the food.

I joined Darrell and his brother Marcus a short time ago at Favor Flavor Seafood Restaurant.

And we cooked up a little something in the kitchen.

Take a look.

Hello folks.

One of the hottest ticket items on my bucket list has been to cook in the kitchen of Favor Flavor Seafood Restaurant.

And now my dream has become a reality.

So I'm joined by the tag team, duo the brothers, the chefs, Darryl and Marcus.

All right.

So how are you doing guys?

- I'm doing wonderful.

- I'm doing great.

- Tell us what we're cooking today.

- We are cooking today, we're almost world fame is lobster big box.

It's a bit of a seafood boil.

We've got lots of moving parts to the seafood.

- Tell us about the moving parts.

- You have no snow crab, big jumbo, snow crab, huge colossal 16, 20 shrimp, lobster tails, corn, potato, and egg today.

And we'll do it all in our almost famous.

We do all of our seasonings in house.

So this is our own seafood boil recipe in here.

We'll be doing that in there.

We've got our own topping seasoning to go on and we have our own in-house seasoned butter that we put on.

So everything is from in Favor Flavor.

We don't use any outside people's stuff, so.

- All right, so let's get this party started.

So what's the first step and tell me what I can do.

- Okay, so the first step would be the longest of everything, is to get this lobster tail in.

That is a beautiful, main lobster tail.

- Sure is.

- We'll get it down.

- Sure is.

- Can I help you with the shrimp?

- You can help with the shrimp.

- Where do I put those?

- We can put the shrimp right here Ms. Leary.

- You want me to pour them in like that?

- Pour 'em on, in, get in there and drop right there.

Go right.

- And now we'll let this catch up for a second.

Just let that catch up. '

Cause these two are gonna take a little longer than this.

- So this sauce, let's talk a little bit about this buttery concoction here.

- So my buttery concoction, actually, this stuff comes from my dad.

My dad is really the man behind the madness with all these recipes.

They were mostly handed down for my great-grandmother down to my grandmother and my dad, and then so forth on to me.

And he showed me one night how to cook these really awesome shrimp.

I took his recipe and I said, I tell you what, dad, I'm gonna do something with this.

And I tweaked it my own way.

And he is a bit different, but this is still his sauce.

So we kudo to dad.

- [Rameca] Kudos to dad.

- [Darrell] Dad is in new Orleans.

He's from he's new Orleans.

Darrell senior we love you.

Thank you, man.

- Yeah.

- I love that stuff.

So we have some lemon here and I noticed that we have, is this a Ru, what exactly.

- Is, this is another butter sauce.

- It's a sauce.

It's a (indistinct) - This is our spicy butter sauce.

So we have, since we come up with that one, a lot of people like spicy.

They say, can I have spicy?

What about me?

I want spicy.

So I said, I tell you what, we'll go in the kitchen and we'll come up with our own sauce.

We don't like to outsource anything.

We like to get everything from scrap.

(indistinct) - On that.

(indistinct) - Original recipes all of these are.

So this is our very own spicy butter sauce.

We're gonna put some on top of the seafood at the end, that way you guys, and you get to taste it.

They get to see it and you can tell how good it is.

- So Marcus, I want to know how the brothers decided to open up the restaurant in the first place.

- Well, thanks to him.

He's the brains.

He really came up the concept.

I was somewhere else working at another local restaurant and he came up with a great idea that I really liked, a plan and we executed it.

And the food he has is delicious.

He gave me the recipe and I execute that recipe for him, especially this right here.

What we were talking about earlier.

- Definitely.

- The spicy sauce, - Spicy sauce.

- It is so awesome.

I'm gonna have miss Leary.

I'm gonna have ate to cut guys off.

I'm gonna have you to get the crab.

- Okay.

- And gonna do drop the crab over on this side.

- Let's do it.

- Yeah.

Get it all down in there.

So the way we came up... - I'll talk to you later.

- The way we come up with this was really my wife pressing me.

This was something instead of backyard barbecues, we always done crab boys.

My family's from New Orleans, my dad, whole side of the family is from New Orleans.

He's stationed out in Jacksonville, in the Navy.

And every time we go, we do a seafood bowl and he cooked the best seafood bowl.

And he taught me and my wife was like, hey, why don't you go and do this on your own?

And I said, no, I wanna work.

I wanna punch the clock.

And she said, no, you don't do that.

And I said, okay, honey, I'll try it.

We started this thing and it just took off - Blew up.

- It blew up.

- So let's talk about this mural that we're all standing in front of because there's a lot of color going on back here.

- So the mural shout out to Carter J. Gatson is who painted this mural.

But this is something that I had in my head.

It was from my trips, from Pensacola to New Orleans.

We would take these trips to go see my dad.

And this was like back and forth.

I would stare out that car window going down the street.

And these were the things that I saw.

So I tried to blend our city with my summertime city, New Orleans.

So we have all of the PI, we got the jazz guy up here, that screams New Orleans and he's blowing out a song of Pensacola.

You got all of our local landmarks, you got the beach, you got the blue angels, you got the fishing pier.

You've got the new bridge.

You've got even the white crossover at Bayview park.

We've got the, and then it starts to go into New Orleans.

Well, don't forget the beach ball.

- [Marcus] We can't forget the ball.

- [Darrell] The big ferry out in the Mississippi river.

You got the backdrop of the city of New Orleans.

You got the, we've got even the super dome down on the end that you guys probably can't see.

But Mr. Gatson really put his all in all into that.

And I hate to get it all up of course, but let's start.

- Well let's get back to Pensacola because we need to start plating this thing up.

- Let's check those.

- Right.

Let's see how we're going.

Oh my goodness.

They look great.

Look at that.

Look at that.

- All right.

- Corn.

- Corn, could you step over some with you?

- Sure.

Sure.

- And we can.

- Let me get another pan for you that might help.

- [Marcus] And it's always good too the time, any foods you put into your spice water, you don't wanna overcook anything.

Everything has to be perfect.

- Go ahead, Marcus, give 'em a little lesson.

- Exactly.

Especially your potatoes.

They can break up.

(indistinct) - So we have the potatoes going in there with everything else and the crab legs will be the last thing crab.

Oh, we, we can't forget about lobster.

- [Marcus] No.

- Oh no.

- And your crab legs, which are precooked.

So your crab legs, you really just heat and serve long as you get 'em up to temp, 165 degrees.

They will be ready to go.

They're soaking in our seasoning.

- I think they need their own pants.

There you go.

- Don't use that one.

Let's use this one.

- Let's use this.

- So they're soaking in all of our seasonings and it's getting up to temp.

And when it gets that season down in there and gets up to temp, we can build a boil.

So that's let's build.

- Over here.

- Let's build this.

- So we'll let chef Marcus, you get over and you start doing the potato work.

- And what we wanna do potatoes.

We're gonna leave them whole.

- We gonna leave them whole.

- You leave whole - So we leave potatoes whole.

- Yes.

- Yes.

- All we wanna do is we want, have these going around.

- There you go.

- That over there.

- I want her to place this over here.

I want her get her hands dirty.

- Okay.

Fine with me.

So let's get the potatoes on here.

What about the corn?

- Yep.

That too.

- Dropping shrimp.

- Dropping some shrimp up here.

Make it look nice and pretty.

All I wanna do is keep your tails up.

- Keep your tails up.

- Always.

Tails up.

- Always keep your tails up.

Alrighty.

On the shrimp.

Learn something new every day.

Don't we grab the tail.

Then we grab the tails.

- And right here, let's get a little bit of seasoning.

This is our own house blend of seasoning.

- There you go.

- This is made by chef Darrell.

Right?

- So what's in there.

Is it a secret recipe?

- It's a blend of our own secret spices and herbs.

- So let's put a little.... - Do that last, do that last.

- Do that a little bit on.

- And we don't wanna say, 'cause we won't want nobody cooking it at home.

Come here and get it.

- Definitely.

- This is a garlic butter sauce and shelf mark.

- And it is beautiful.

Awesome.

- It looks so pretty.

- [Darrell] And you know, we don't have it on the shelves in the store, but you can come inside here and buy it.

- [Marcus] Correct.

- [Rameca] So next lap, but not least just a little bit.

- Just like this.

- Just a tiny bit.

Right?

- You wanna do it just lik this.

- All right just for garnish.

All right.

So now that we have all the ingredients here, the finished product, what next are we missing anything?

- Yes, we are.

Let's add a little bit spicy sauce too.

- Okay.

Let's do it.

And spicy we go.

Woo.

That looks good.

Doesn't it Darrell?

- Seen your life.

- Oh my goodness.

This the spice of life.

So safe to taste.

Is that correct?

- [Both] Yes.

Ma'am - [Rameca] let's do it.

Come on, hands on, all hands on deck.

Let's all taste some.

Come on.

So this is the spicy succulent shrimp.

- Yes.

- I don't mean to pat you on the back that much.

- The aroma folks.

If you could just smell what I'm smelling right now.

Nice spicy buttery.

Bite it all you want.

It's just amazing.

We've got the corn on the cob.

Let's take a little bit of that.

- Yeah.

- I get the.. - It's good.

- I can eat this every day.

So folks here, you have it.

Everything that you need, it is Favor Flavor time.

- [Darrell] Yes it is.

- And I echo those sentiments.

It is Favor, flavor time.

Speaking of which we have some delectable food offering right now on the table.

Why don't you one by one tell us what we have Darrell.

- [Darrell] Okay.

Starting on the fourth side of me is our famous fried chicken.

And that's again seasoned with our own in-house blend of seasonings.

Hopefully we'll get 'em on the store on the shelf in the store near you pretty soon.

And these are our grandma's candy arm.

They are some of the community's favorite.

The collard greens are really good.

I wish you guys were here so that you can taste it.

But if not, you guys come on by 2005 West Jordan, Favor Flavor Seafood, get some about crawfish and our world famous Mac and cheese.

And that cornbread it's buttermilk cornbread.

It is delicious, it's to live for.

- [Rameca] That's the only way to make corn bread with the buttermilk that's what I'm told.

At least that's what I'm told.

Now you have a little bit of history with Pensacola State College.

You earned your GED, right?

- Yes.

Ma'am.

(indistinct) And then you took a few classes.

Why don't you talk about that?

- So I graduated PSC in 2008 with my GED and came over and I started in IT, studying to get my IT degree.

- [Rameca] okay.

- Over at your computer place, but just kinda had a few bumps in the road and, working and going to school.

So I just was hard pressed to take care of my family.

And I ended up, going to work and working full time versus staying in school.

But thank God that he still led my path.

He still though I didn't do everything perfect.

He was still right there with his hand on my life.

And he really, really, really led the way and came away from working on my own to me and my wife sitting out and starting Favor Flavor Seafood food.

- [Rameca] Yes.

- [Darrell] And it's an enjoyment to us.

It's an enjoyment to help people in the community, all the employees that we work, that that is more so our goal - [Rameca] Family.

- [Darrell] Is to hire as many people as possible to give an opportunity to somebody that I didn't have.

So that's the biggest part of favorite Favor Flavor.

We love the food we love to cook.

It's our passion.

But the biggest part of it is reaching back in the community.

- [Rameca] Reaching back - And giving to those people who can't, couldn't give to their selves.

- [Rameca] That's why we're so glad.

We are extremely honored to have you as our physical award sponsor for 2022 and later in the show, you'll see those beautiful awards, but let's go back to Thanksgiving.

You did something phenomenal in the community.

Talk about that.

- So I have a cool friend.

She is so incredible, her name is Sunshine and she works with Magic 106 and she reached out and she said, Darrell, look, man, I like you guys.

I love the food over at Favor Flavor.

Me and her do a lot of media together.

And she says, I just love this place.

And I want to be a part of this place in some kind of way.

And she offered us to do her Magic 106 Thanksgiving giveaway where we fed, I think it was 600 people.

We cooked, she brought all the food.

It was her, Sunshine, Michaels and Booth at (indistinct) - That came together in the community.

- Came together and we put out 600 plates.

And we, I mean, just whoever wanted - That's great - To eat Thanksgiving dinner we put it out.

And that was a great event.

Its gonna of go on again next year, thanks to Sunshine and Michaels and Booth.

See you guys next year at Favor Flavor.

We'll try to double that number of plates that we gave away last year.

- That is phenomenal .

Yet another great reason to support this amazing business.

And we are honored to have them as our 2022 physical award sponsor.

Darrell it's been an extreme pleasure having you on the show.

- Yes ma'am.

Thank you.

It's been a pleasure to (indistinct) - And I can't wait to eat some of this a little bit later.

All right, folks, as we head to break, we're going to take you back to the 2020 scholarship banquet and the smooth sounds of Debora Hutchinson.

Not only is she an exceptional pianist, but her vocal sign in this rendition of Anita Baker's "Sweet Love."

(indistinct) ♪ Sweet love hear me calling out your name ♪ ♪ I feel no shame I'm in love ♪ ♪ Sweet love don't you ever go away ♪ ♪ It'll always be this way ♪ ♪ Your heart has called me closer to you ♪ ♪ I will be all that you need ♪ ♪ Just trust in what we're feeling ♪ ♪ Never leave 'cause baby ♪ ♪ I believe in this love ♪ ♪ Sweet love hear me calling out your name ♪ ♪ I feel no shame I'm in love ♪ ♪ Sweet love ♪ (soft music) (upbeat music) - Hello, everyone.

You just saw the smiling faces of the 2022 African American Memorial Endowment scholarship recipients, including several of the Dr. Garrett T. Wiggins, "Live Your Dreams" scholarship awardee.

We'll highlight the rest later in the show.

And during this segment, we're taking you back a few years to catch up with one of our 2019 scholarship recipients.

I'm excited because I know we're going to be wowed by what we hear.

I'd like to welcome Jonathan Stallworth, a Dr. Garrett T. Wiggins, "Live Your Dream" scholarship recipient.

He's joined by Dr. John Woods, a faithful volunteer who's worked with us throughout the years.

Welcome to both of you.

- Thank you.

- Thank you.

- All right.

You all look so sharp.

Black and gold.

I love it.

Let's talk 100 for 100.

All right.

And as we heard in segment one, Dr. Meadows about our initiative to provide scholarship funds for deserving students, we have some thanks.

Right?

We have several volunteers that have worked so hardly with you.

I'm going to name a few.

So we have Trace Brown, Tom Ford, Kalia Williams.

Why don't you pick up a little bit where I left off?

(indistinct) - [John] Was there.

And we also had, well, Jonathan.

- [Rameca] Exactly what we have here.

- [John] You have here.

And Brian.

- [Rameca] Brian Setton.

Right?

- [John] Yes.

And then Michelle.

- [Rameca] Right Michelle.

(indistinct) - [John] And she was kind of behind the scenes there.

And then we had myself and then - [Rameca] Me.

- [John] And then you, And that was it.

That's it.

- Yeah, exactly.

So many thanks to all of our volunteers.

We love working with this initiative.

So Jonathan back in 2019, we're walking back, right?

- Right.

- So 2019, you received your Wiggins award, but guess what?

Your journey has taken you many places, talk about that.

- Wow.

It's been an amazing journey.

When I look back, I was thinking about it just that other day, how I didn't think I would be at PSC, but I had the opportunity to come here and with the Dr. Garrett T. Wiggins Scholarship, that was such a blessing.

I remember my mom, she went to the mailbox and she said, "Jonathan, I got something to share with you."

And I said, "what is it, mom?"

And she told me that I was gonna be a recipient of the Dr. Garrett T. Wiggins Scholarship.

And I remember feeling so blessed and feeling excited because in high school, I was not the ones who were getting the awards all the time.

I was the one who was struggling through high school, but to come to college and see a turnaround, it was just an amazing, and just being a part of Pensacola state has been, just been incredible.

- So what was your major?

You've already graduated?

SO tell us.

- Yes.

I've already graduated.

My major was bachelors in business and management with the concentration in human resource management.

- That is so amazing.

And speaking of which, we have a lot of people out there that are working so hard.

We're going to take you back again to the 2020 scholarship banquet tour speaker, Rodney Jones, listen to these impacting words.

- 'Cause in there, that's where young girls turning tricks on a dime and young girls having babies.

Ain't lying.

Babies having babies, man this is true.

Now y'all tell me how baby gonna take care of baby, man.

They ain't gonna know what to do.

And what's worse, it's like a curse from one generation to the next, all hooked on food stamps and in a welfare check.

Now they don't know that's an addiction and an addiction is an affliction.

This ain't no fiction.

This is true.

Now y'all tell me what we gonna do.

I don't know Lord, but I'm gonna pray every day that you stay with those in the struggle and who live with hard times is a way of life and every day full of trouble.

'Cause their pain run deep Lord.

They hurting.

So they weak Lord.

It's like hell on earth.

They feel the heat Lord and the ghetto, but life ain't easy, man.

You got mama struggling.

Daddy's out juggling.

Trying to get money any way they can.

And even then ends won't meet.

And it's a fact every night from your kids, the won't eat in the ghetto.

- All right, Dr. Woods, you have a special connection with Rodney Jones.

Why don't you talk about that?

- Yeah, so I met Rodney when I was actually working as a social studies teacher at an alternative school here in Pensacola.

And at that time he had the long dreads and stuff, but he came and spoke to the students there and he was so dynamic.

And then neat thing about Rodney is Rodney has a connection because of his upbringing and because of what he went through and some of his experiences.

So he connects with the young people and he was the perfect, in my opinion, the perfect speaker for this, because he also has made education important in his life.

And that's, and he talks about that when he talked in 2020.

So he talked about the importance of education.

- He sure did.

Speaking of education, back in 2020 at the banquet, you had a huge role Jonathan you're with (indistinct) English and near the end a banquet.

We were asking people if they wanted to support the scholarship program.

You had been with us, Dr. Woods and me for quite some time back during the banquet and then when we started 100 for 100 back in 2021, what does this mean to you personally giving back?

- [Johnathan] This means everything to me.

I remember like I said, when I got this award and to have the opportunity to be one of the ones who could contribute in helping make this continue to happen, I said, I wanted to do it.

I wanted to make sure that we had other students who came after for me to give awards to like this.

And it's just, it's been an incredible journey to just see the numbers continue to rise every year as we give more and more recipient scholarships.

And so it's been a really a blessing.

It's been a blessing, being able to give back.

It's always such a blessing.

- It really is.

And Dr. Woods, your involvement back in 2020 as well, you must have walked 10 miles in that banquet.

I'm sure that you did, but you have a special role at Pensacola State College.

You're an employee here.

Why don't you tell us about that.

- Yeah, so I work with military veterans and help them to be able to prepare for college and be successful in college through the veteran's upper bound program.

And so that is important because just like the scholarships I'm investing in their lives and trying to help them with their educational journey and meet their educational goals.

- That is stellar.

Jonathan, there have to be people in your life who have inspired you to go the extra mile.

Why don't you share a few examples?

- [Johnathan] First of all, I give honoring glory to God.

And then Dr. Leary, yourself, you really have inspired me, even in this journey through Pensacola State College.

I never knew the amazing impact Pensacola State would have on me, but you know, taking your class and just throughout the years, just it's been such a blessing to just have you as a teacher and have other ones like doc miss Carrie, but guys have been such a blessing.

It's been lifelong friends.

And so I I'm really blessed to have participated here at Pensacola State and been a student.

I love to say, I am an alum of Pensacola State College.

- And we are so happy to have you.

So what would you say to anyone out there, Jonathan Stalworth, who's on the fence, who doesn't know whether or not they're going to apply for a scholarship?

What would you tell them?

- I would say take every opportunity you can and apply.

And there are so many scholarships out there who's waiting to give you money.

And so use that money.

That's free money that you don't have to pay for it, - Free.

- And you dont have to pay it back.

So.

- Benefit of being free right?

- It's the benefit of being free, but also you deserve it.

And so go for it.

Use the money in.

- Dr. Woods sometimes people wonder about veterans.

Can veterans apply.

We have to dispel that myth, correct?

- Oh, absolutely.

That veterans can apply for any of the scholarships here at Pensacola State College.

And there's some scholarships that are specifically for veterans themselves, but all the other scholarships that are open up to any student are open up to veterans.

- [Rameca] And as a follow up your involvement with 100 For 100 in the networking and meeting people, do you have a personal story in that respect with your efforts helping with the initiative?

- Yeah.

Well, one of the things that I was able to do, and this is kind of cool because at the same time we were doing this, I had to go through physical therapy.

And so... On injury that I had, and so my physical therapist, I was talking with with her about it, and she was one of the individuals that provided funds and helped us out.

Yes.

- And you really never know how you will impact another person, a smile, a hug.

- That's right.

- Well wishes.

Right guys?

- That's correct.

- That's true.

- You both inspire me so much.

Thank you very much for all of your hard work and to all of our volunteers.

And we definitely want you to apply folks.

Okay, as we pause momentarily, we want to welcome the Inglewood Baptist church praise team as they sing, "You Know My Name."

Take a listen.

♪ Oh how he walks with me ♪ ♪ And how oh how he talks with me ♪ ♪ Oh how he tells me ♪ ♪ That I am your own ♪ ♪ You know my name ♪ ♪ You know my name ♪ ♪ You know my name ♪ ♪ You know my name ♪ (soft music) (upbeat music) - Hello, everyone, you just saw the smiling faces of the remaining 2022 Dr. Garret T.Wiggins "Live Your Dream" Scholarship recipients.

What an amazing honor.

There were 25 AAMES Wiggins awardees.

And during this segment, I have the pleasure of welcoming three of them right now.

I'm thrilled to introduce Shelby Witherspoon who was selected for an AAMES scholarship.

And we also have two Wiggins scholarship recipients.

Shantora Grant and Jaisiah Rivera.

Now I can definitely feel your excitement.

- Oh yeah.

- I know you're psyched, aren't you?

So let me start with you Jaisiah .

I know that you probably had such a spirit of elation when you found out.

What was your first reaction?

- Woo.

- I'm feeling those.

- Listen I got home after a hard day of school and work man.

And I opened up my computer.

I was scrolling through all my classes, making sure my homework was done.

And then it was there, boom, right in front of me.

You have been awarded X amount of dollars.

And I was like, yes, it's such a relief.

Being on my own and being responsible to pay for the college it's very time consuming and it's very, it demands a lot of physical work.

I currently am working two jobs and I go to school full time.

- What is your major?

- My major's premed.

I wanna be a doctor.

I have big, big dreams.

The scholarship was live your dream.

So I can put that money towards my dreams of becoming a doctor and helping out poor kids.

- That is simply amazing.

So Shantora, let's hear your story.

- Well, I was very excited because as Jaisiah said it was very hard trying to go to school, work full time.

I'm a mother of two, also a grandmother and I'm going back to pursue my bachelors for business management.

So it was very exciting.

And I was like, I'm so excited to get that scholarship because I was gonna have to pay for it out my own pocket.

- There's so many amazing back stories aren't there Shantora?

- [Shantora] Yes.

- A lot of times people are saying, how am I going do this?

And then miraculously, a scholarship is awarded and it makes you feel sensational.

So Shelby, let's talk about your AAMES moment.

- I actually received a email.

I got accepted into the EKG program and is not covered by the (indistinct) grant and I'm a single mother to two.

And I work full time every day.

So I was trying to figure out how I was gonna pay for it.

And I filled out for a scholarship, well, several different scholarships.

And I got that one and I was overjoyed.

- Now Jaisiah in the first segment, we found out that there are over 200 PSC scholarships and it takes time to fill out that application, but not very long, but we have to be motivated.

- Oh yeah.

- What motivated you to apply?

- It was honestly out of necessity.

It was out of necessity.

If I had the situation where I could just afford it on my own and have somebody pay me or have somebody pay for me to go to school, that's one thing.

But as I was saying earlier, being on my own, having two jobs, practically working full time, it - [Rameca] It's a lot.

- It's a lot.

It drove me.

It really did.

So it's like, yeah, I can be in debt.

I can take out student loans or I can do something.

Be proactive in my life.

Do something that's gonna help me better myself and my future.

And even though, it might not be a million dollar scholarship.

It's something that I can use to help me in, help me achieve my goal of financial security.

- Speaking of which, I know that there are some people who have inspired you.

Why don't you give us an example of one of those people?

- I really wanna talk about my mother.

- [Rameca] Yes.

- My mother is my biggest, biggest.

She is the reason why I am here.

Listen, I had a single mother, she had five kids and she was able to do it all on her own.

She went to college, she went to school.

She worked full time to support all of us.

And that is just something like, it makes me, it really humbles me.

And to the point where I'm just like, I have nothing to ever complain about because when I was a little kid and I couldn't do anything for myself, she was doing the work.

She was breaking her back.

So I could have food on the table, food in my mouth, clothes on my back, a shelter, a home to be loved.

And you know, I'll always be so thankful and so appreciative of her for doing that for me.

And you know that, and I just wanna be able to give back.

And that's the thing.

She always told me to be a positive person.

You speak positivity.

You do small acts of kindness throughout the day, anything, it can really, really help change and inspire somebody else's life.

So that's what I want to do.

I wanna be a beacon of hope.

I wanna be a positive figure.

I wanna give back to people in our communities that are struggling because I've been there.

I've done that.

I don't wanna make it to the top and then forget where I came from.

You know what I mean?

- [Rameca] Exactly.

Exactly.

So what I'm thinking about Shelby is when you all took that group photo with Dr. Meadows, and you were actually holding your physical awards and the elation on his face, and I know, that he mentioned how much he loves you.

And he's so proud of you.

From your perspective regarding your life.

Were there any stumbling blocks that you had to overcome to make it to where you are today?

- Yes.

I didn't have like nobody pushing me to go to school or be better or anything like that.

So I went to college.

I mean, yeah.

I went to college straight outta high school and I dropped out.

So, I mean, over time I ended up having kids and it was hard getting back into college.

Like a lot of stuff had changed.

It was hard getting through it.

I failed a class or two and had to retake 'em it's hard.

It was hard.

- [Rameca] But what made you get back?

What made you come back?

Either tiger.

Something made you come back.

- Just wanting to be a better role model for my kids.

You can always tell them, go to school, go to college.

You can tell them that if they see you doing it, sometimes I wanna be like my mama, my mama did it.

I can do it.

So that's what.

- That's what keeps keeps you going?

- Yeah.

That's what keeps me going.

- But you said even when the couple of classes didn't go, well, you kept on going.

Shantora isn't that right?

- [Shantora] Yes.

- We have to keep on going.

Those obstacles made present themselves, but we don't have to harness those obstacles.

Do we?

- No.

Get knocked down, get back up.

It's just like riding a bike.

If you fall off, you get back on you remember how to do it?

You just gotta do it.

- [Rameca] So what is your program of study.

- Business management.

I'm going back for my bachelor's.

- [Rameca] And what are your long term goals?

- I would love to continue to work at sacred where I'm at now and run an office.

- So tell us specifically what you do there.

It's very interesting.

- I am the data entry for the bariatric program at the hospital, which is the weight loss program.

I make sure that I keep all the doctors credentialing so he can stay accredited for the programs.

- Now Shelby back to you because I must know what your program of study is.

I know our audience wants to know that as well.

So tell us.

- I am currently in the EKG program.

- [Rameca] All right.

- I am 24 credit shy of having my associate in business though so I'm gonna get back to that as well.

- And I know that you will do it.

Jaisiah, back to you.

One of the things I really admire about you is your tenacity.

You have a lot of energy and it's infectious.

- You have to.

- It's rubbing off on to all of us speaking, feel it.

So if you were a motivational speaker, which I believe that you already are, what would you tell to anyone out there who's saying, well, I don't know if I can do this.

This is going on.

Or maybe another obstacle has presented itself.

What would you say to encourage them?

- What would I say?

Okay.

So I listen to a lot of rap music and that's very inspirational to me.

And I just wanna use some quotes from two of my favorite artists that I listen to J. Cole once said, "they say, anything's possible.

You gotta dream like you've never seen obstacles."

- [Rameca] Okay.

- And that's a quote that I live by personally.

And another quote is from Juice World.

He said, "just go and do it."

So, I mean those are just my driving force too.

You know what I mean?

I just hear those words.

And if these people made it and they're telling me that I can do it, then I probably can do it.

So that's what I would say.

- And I will say many of us have obstacles in our lives and overcoming them.

That's the beauty of it all.

Right Shantora?

- Yes, it is.

I've had obstacles in my life as well.

I graduated in 92 and I went to school.

It wasn't a quite fit for me.

I guess I had to mature to be able to be able to go back back to school and be motivated.

So now I'm motivated and I wanna show my children that, hey, it's never too late to go back to school.

- So I know that there is someone who has motivated you give us an example of at least one person.

- My kids.

- Anything specifically that they may say, mommy, you can do this or anything like that.

Do you have a special quote, a saying from them.

- Mama, you got this, Mama you got this.

- You sure do.

- Yeah.

- So on the down days, I tell you studying and doing your papers and then work that work life balance.

How do you stay focused?

- It's hard, but I'm a very spiritual person.

So when I feel like I'm giving up, I just turn to God.

- [Jaisiah] Amen.

- And pray.

- Yes.

Your faith keeps you going.

- Yes.

- So Shelby, I know I can feel it right there from you as well, because let's just say this scholarships are awarded every single year, but sadly, with some scholarships people don't apply.

That's why it's so important for us to share this with you.

We want you to apply for PSC scholarships do it .

Right Jaisiah?

- [Jaisiah] Do it.

- You've got to do it.

- [Jaisiah] You've got to do it.

You have to.

- Because you would always have that question in your mind Shelby would have, could have, should have, but you wouldn't know.

So take that first step, make sure that you're doing it, but I will say this giving back, let's talk about endeavors outside of your educational journeys.

So Jaisiah anything that you do, and I know you're working two jobs, but do you have any volunteer efforts or anything that you're affiliated with outside work?

- Yeah, definitely want to shout out the Nova Beach Marine science station.

I graduated from Nova High School and they have a really awesome program where they just give back to the community.

They host a lot of you events on the beach and I've been a volunteer with them and for them since I've graduated.

So go check them out.

They do some really fantastic things.

They have an autism event coming up this April, I believe.

- Sounds great.

Well Shantora what about you?

Anything outside of education that interests you maybe volunteer work?

- I don't any volunteer work 'cause it's not enough hours in the day.

- Busy schedule.

- Yes.

But I do help out with helping my daughter with my grandson and doing stuff for her.

So that's a lot of volunteer hours to help her so she can grow and also become successful in what she's doing as well.

- And helping children with homework tutor.

- Yes, help me.

- Yes help me.

So Shelby, what about you?

- I don't volunteer, but I am a full time mom and I mean, my efforts are raising my kids will help the community.

- But I will say this, we give back in so many ways what you do with your children, with your families.

Yes you are giving back 10 times over.

- Oh yeah.

Right Jaisiah?

- Yes ma'am.

- You're molding them.

Their ideas are being shaped.

They're looking at what you do.

Your accomplishments.

And then they're pondering in their minds will I follow in their foot at steps and more than likely?

Yes.

- Yes.

- Because they can do it, right Jaisiah?

- Exactly.

And they're gonna go right back into society.

Once you guys have done your awesome jobs as mothers, and they're gonna be productive members and contribute and promote more positivity into the world.

And with the current affairs, you know how negative it looks right now.

So any small act of kindness, any bit of positivity, I mean, it goes a long way and they're getting that from you guys.

You guys are their heart.

You're their, you are their foundation.

- I wish I could have had all three of you in some of my classes, you have really inspired me.

And we learn something new every day.

Don't we Shantora?

- Yes we do.

- We don't know it all.

Education is a journey.

It's a continuum.

We keep learning more and more each and every day.

So Jaisiah, I'm gonna put you on the spot.

- [Jaisiah] Okay.

Is there an adjective that you can think of that describes you?

An adjective.

- An adjective.

Creative.

- Love it.

How about you Shantora ?

- Motivation.

- All right.

- I am very dependable.

- Dependable.

And there you have it.

Many thanks to all three of you.

I know I'm feeling good and I hope you are too.

Folks as we close the show, I want to thank all of our guests for joining us.

And I must say it's always a pleasure to honor our Pensacola State College students .

As a final note, for more information regarding the PSC foundation, you can log into foundation.pensacolastate.edu.

I'm Rameca Vincent Leary, thanks for watching.

Remember to keep it locked in right here on WSRE PBS for the Gulf Coast.

(upbeat music)