Robert Flemister

Breastfeed by poverty in the heart of Detroit and accidentally raised between two teen-aged parents with the best intentions, I have been afforded a unique motivational tool in life: fear. Without it, I wouldn’t be so passionate about foreign languages, and my world wouldn't be limitless. Without fear, I wouldn’t be the person I am today: tenacious, determined, intelligent, and passionate. I owe fear my life.

The fear of not being able to communicate seeded itself firmly in middle school, but it led to my first love: foreign languages. The beauty of culture and the beauty of this new world that I had discovered bloomed my thirst for knowledge. I began taking Spanish, French, and German, then ultimately Arabic, Hebrew, Chinese, and Italian. By the time I reached high school, I began teaching myself Czech, Portuguese, and Catalan with determination to become fluent in a dozen languages. I immersed myself in the most basic forms of communication; music, body language, culture. English was no longer the limits of my world. The threat of silence diminished more and more with every language I studied and with every second I watched the subtle movements of a person’s body.

Alas, I conquered my fear, my hurdle, my impediment. No longer a sycophant to terror. Slowly, I began to cycle through life effortlessly, forgetting my roots, forgetting to whom I owe my life. I began to lose sight of my goals, becoming complacent. Luckily, I quickly remembered fear is my motivation, my guide, and my friend.

I have eaten with fear, walked with fear, befriended fear. I know it takes power, determination, and wisdom to concur fear. And as I write this, with every trembling keystroke, I know I have what it takes to create a dream.