Living with purpose isn't about following one trajectory or being one thing in life. It is about all of the wonderful ways we affect the world around us along the way. GFA has always taught us to ask the right questions, not assert that we have the right answers. To see the ways that our stories are interconnected and the ways that we can use our own stories to influence others. 

We never stop innovating.  That is something I badly want to be a part of. Working with student-athletes of all ages to make the connection between mind and body, between dedication and success keeps me ticking. Our program and students thrive because of the strength of the relationships between our athletes and the adults in their lives — on and off the field. We never stop innovating.

I had attended only one school before I came to GFA. The thought of leaving a place that felt like home was, to be honest, terrifying. But GFA is such a welcoming place. There are smiles everywhere. My friends gave me the motivation to reach higher. That’s how it works here.

We take STEAM class in our homeroom. You start sitting at the rug. The teacher explains what project we will work on that day—like designing snowflakes and printing them on the 3D printer. Or building a tower using paper and tape. Then we go to our tables and talk with our teammates and make a plan. We get to work together and be creative. There’s a lot of excitement in the room.

His world is an open songbook. From the formative years at GFA to a job at Facebook, music weaves in and out of his life, tying each experience to the next. Rapper, marketer, family man, volunteer, mentor, Patterson sees music as a way not just to fuse together the different facets of his life, but to share them with others.