"I came to Weber on a football scholarship, but my playing time was pretty limited. I didn’t handle it well and stopped caring about school. I got a wake-up call when my grade point average dropped so low I couldn’t get a summer internship.

"I started re-taking classes, got involved with our Black Scholars United group, and accepted a position as the African-American student senator. I met Sen. Orrin Hatch at a town hall meeting on campus. He liked a question I asked and suggested I apply for an internship in his Washington, D.C., office. I got the internship and was hired full time when it was over.

"Student government taught me things about communication, collaboration and perspective that I might not have learned in the classroom alone."