My name is “DeRonte”;several years ago, I adopted the phrase, “I want to succeed as bad as I want to breathe” as my personal mantra. Ruminating on this phrase, I realized, being a recipient of a Creative Corrections Education Scholarship, equated to being infused with a lifetime supply of pure oxygen. Given such an honor provides me the opportunity to attain an equal footing with others on my educational journey. Now my future success will be based on my potential, rather than lack of finances or how society visualizes “children of incarcerated parents”!