Nicco Hill

After reading Bryan Stevenson’s book Just Mercy in the ninth grade, I began to understand the importance of finding a career that is not only fulfilling to me personally but also creates space and enables others to do good in our communities. Stevenson is best known for his work as the founder of the Equal Justice Initiative where he has won legal battles for wrongly convicted people living on death row. His life’s work epitomizes intellectual acumen, relentless compassion, and servant leadership. These are qualities that I wish to emulate as I grow both personally and professionally into adulthood.

While being a good student has always been the standard set in my home, service to others is deemed just as important. Throughout high school, I have been on the honor roll, but I have also prioritized service and leadership in my community. To this end, I have been a junior basketball coach within an inner-city basketball club. Additionally, I tutored young students online during COVID when children living in under-resourced neighborhoods were most at-risk. My commitment to community service and leadership led to my selection into Bank of America’s Student Leader Program during my junior year. While this program is usually reserved for high school seniors, I was the only junior selected in the Cincinnati region to participate in the program. Through this experience, I had the opportunity to work at the Cincinnati Boys & Girls Club where I learned about operating non-profit organizations; but more importantly, I became a mentor to numerous students at the Cincinnati-Taft Boys & Girls Club.

In addition to service activities in my community, I practice leadership through participation in sports. I have played golf and basketball throughout high school and learned the importance of demonstrating both character and leadership in competition. Whether I am on the course or on the court, I have been in a plethora of high-pressure situations, and this has helped me develop various skills that positively impacted my team and my personal growth. Specifically, I have learned that effective and clear communication is essential to lead a team. Exhibiting selfdiscipline and courage garners trust from those that count on my leadership. More importantly, I have learned that leadership is a perpetual act of service and investment in people to reach a greater good for the group. I probably could have spent more time studying to get a higher GPA, but the lessons and leadership development that I learned through community service and sports are just as valuable to me.

I will continue to live in my leadership values to bring forth positive change in my community as I matriculate to college. Because I plan to attend an HBCU, I will be a student influencer with the United Negro College Fund to educate and encourage students to support and attend HBCUs. At Hampton University, I plan to hone my leadership skills by continuing participation in sports and volunteering as a mentor at the local Boys & Girls Club. My educational goals include majoring in Computer Science and Cyber Security. I will become an entrepreneur and lead my own company focused on preventing cyber-related crimes. Moreover, I will establish a non-profit that provides scholarships to student leaders raised by single parents so that I reinvest what was invested into me. Raised by a single mother for most of my life, I saw how student debt limits parents’ abilities to access resources that help children obtain a well-rounded education. I Nicco Hill May 2, 2023 Darrell E. Revis Foundation Scholarship Essay recognize that this issue is not unique to my family. I want to help other families limit their student debt. I want to make college accessible to as many students as possible and this will be my way of giving back and encouraging the next generation to lean into their leadership values to change the world.

Ultimately, I will attend and finish college, gain experience in my industry, and start a business doing what I love. Then, I will help others attend college through my non-profit. I believe that I should be awarded this scholarship because the scholarship committee’s investment in me will ultimately produce dividends in every community where I live, including Cincinnati. If awarded this scholarship, it will help close the $15,000 financial gap that I have to attend college and mitigate the amount of student loans that I have to acquire for my degree.