PLATFORM : Role Models

The good role model should be in the home. These kids don’t have it. And the best thing we can do, what I’m doing right now, is being a mentor so they can have someone to pal around with, to do things with. I can show them the right way to do things, which means that I’m not out gangbanging, I’m not selling drugs. I’ve got my college degree, I can teach them in a fun way. And that keeps them off the streets, and it shows them an alternative so (that they can say), “Hey, Nolan made it like that. I can do it, too. I don’t have to go out and sell drugs and beat people up and things like that.”

I’m a 23-year-old kid, so it’s really easy for me to identify with them. If you allow them to express themselves, it’s better for them and all the better for you. Education is the most important thing. In school you’ll always be a winner. You can be the Michael Jordan of English, you can be the Michael Jordan of math. And that’s what you have to teach them.