Pat Maillet, Editorial Writer for the Michigan Daily, wrote this piece earlier this week, which features an overview of education in America & Merit!

About 7,000 high school students will drop out of school in America today. Unfortunately, today is not a special day or some sort of organized movement. No, instead today is just another normal day that contributes to the more than 1.2 million high school dropouts per year in the United States.

With rising costs in tuition and lower incomes, fewer people are able to afford a college education. And yet, a college education has never been more important. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, a person with a bachelor’s degree earned an average of $58,613 in 2008, while those with a high school diploma earned $31,283. Unfortunately, the importance of an education also has serious societal effects. High school dropouts are eight times more likely to go to prison and are 50 percent less likely to vote. We, as a society, are able to advance by allowing more people to attain a college education.

This is such a wonderful and remarkable story! Meet Feleke. A 12 year old boy from Arusi, 6 hours south of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. He lives in a mud house without electricity. He is the youngest of 8 sibs. His parents are farmers. They are very devoted to their Ethiopian Orthodox Christian faith.

Let’s let Dr. Rick Hodes, an American doctor who has lived and worked in Ethoipoia for over 20 years, tell Feleke’s journey to Ann Arbor:

I had the pleasure of attending an awesome event, Detroit SHIFT, held at Michigan’s Ross School of Business last week. The Revitalization & Business organization, comprised of Ross School of Business MBAs, hosted this two-day capstone conference featuring prominent industry and city leaders and entrepreneurial change agents. The conference examined how business issues contribute to Detroit’s progress and transformation through vibrant speakers, in-depth panel discussions, and an interactive, fast-faced IdeaLab co-hosted by Model D Media.

I left Detroit SHIFT extremely encouraged by the numerous initiatives sprouting up through the eyes and hands of young people throughout Detroit. I was so excited that I wanted to to share a recap with you, including the major points made by these change agents during their company presentations.

“The next big thing from Detroit is a million little things.”

“REVIVAL” Webisode Series Video Player

IMU was a brand, a brand with a plan.
To bring the inside out, of both woman and man.
But it’s a new season, a new era in time.
A new reason for excitement, a new reason for rhyme.
We’ve been dark for awhile, not quite fade to black.
In just a few weeks we’re gonna be back.
The team’s been real busy, working hard in the shop.
These products we’re dropping, they’re gonna be hot.
We’re oh so excited, for the changes in store.
What you saw was the beginning, you’ll soon see much more.
Some things will be different, new logo new name.
Some things still consistent, same passion same flame.
So fasten your seatbelt, prepare for the ride.
Let’s enable some goodness and make evil divide.
- Ghostwriter

Watch “Revival,” a 3-part webisode series that will answer the question, “What happened to IMU?!” Seen on GoodnessDetermined.com:
Part 1 – Monday, February 13th @ 9pm
Part 2 – Thursday, February 16th @ 9pm
Part 3 – Monday, February 20th @ 9pm

“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” –Edmund Burke

Every year, the Black Volunteer Network at the University of Michigan hosts a scholarship weekend in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. They invite high school juniors and seniors from Detroit to participate in activities on campus and experience college life first hand. I was so blessed and honored to have the opportunity to share my story and experience with these young people this past Sunday as a Keynote Speaker. I wanted to stress to the high school students the importance of education and making a conscious decision/choice to be remarkable. You can take a listen to my speech directly below. There are also pictures after the jump!

I had the wonderful privilege of honoring the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. yesterday by being the Keynote Speaker at the Romulus Community Celebration at Romulus High School. It truly brought joy to my heart to share a few words. For my speech, I expanded upon my piece “Wisdomisms – Breaking News: Someone is Waiting on Your Story.” I will hopefully get the video feed soon, however, I wanted to share my speech with you today:

Thank you for this wonderful opportunity to stand before you as we honor the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. It is with great appreciation that I am here, and I do not take it lightly. So I truly thank you. This is a stupendous day. God is so good and I give him all honor and praise for allowing me to be here with you today.

I always like to ask myself interesting questions. And as I was going over my notes for today’s speech last night, I stopped and thought to myself, “wow.” Martin Luther King, Jr. was born in 1929 and was assassinated in 1968, at the age of 39. And we are 43-44 years later and we still to this day, make sure to stop…pause…and celebrate his life. So I asked myself, “Why?” “What was so different?” “What was so unique about this individual that every year we make sure to stop…pause…and celebrate his life?” I continued to roll this over in my head.

Take it one day at a time. That’s what they tell you. But those days add up. Then there’s 756 one days. And for some, 756 one days of not achieving the end goal. Not getting to the place you want to be. Not being at the place you want to see.

But what if you just gave it one more day? The harm?

I learned a lot playing under Coach Beilein at Michigan. But if I could only speak on one lesson taken from his teachings and knowledge, it would be his constant proclamation, “Let’s get better today.” It seems simple, however, it’s extremely powerful.

“The Pursuit” will be a bi-weekly feature on Goodness Determined, written by my brother, Hayes Grooms IV. He’s extremely intelligent and talented, so make sure to check back often for more. You can also follow Hayes on Twitter – @H_Grooms

Synergy is one of those words. There’s something about it; but what’s truly amazing about such a great word is how it comes to life. Good ole’ Webster claims that synergy is when two forces come together and do something much greater than they can individually. We all see high levels of achievement. We read the stories of Oprah and Steve Jobs. And naturally we wonder about ourselves and if it’s possible for us too? Regardless of who you are or whose story you identify with, here’s the blunt truth—they didn’t do it alone. This is no mystery; it’s absolute fact. No one can make it out here alone. Alliances are necessary; in fact, they’re crucial.

The same rules apply in the animal kingdom. I have a deep respect for animals. Their world is tough, even brutal, yet they all have tactics, skills, strengths to survive, which I admire. Recently, two of the most powerful and dynamic animals on the planet, revealed an important lesson to me on the use of synergy—the Carcharodon carcharias and Orcinus orca, or the Great White Shark and the Killer Whale, respectively.

“The Pursuit” will be a bi-weekly feature on Goodness Determined, written by my brother, Hayes Grooms IV. He’s extremely intelligent and talented, so make sure to check back often for more. You can also follow Hayes on Twitter – @H_Grooms

Life is a sum of days. We each get a day and with that we each get a choice, sometimes two or three. What we do with those choices determines our life. And at one point in my life, I faced a crucial choice that changed everything.

After I decided to go over a thousand miles from home to play basketball in Texas, I was alone, scared, and quite honestly failing. Nothing was going right. I changed my major twice because I didn’t know what I wanted to do. When things couldn’t get any worse, I broke my foot and missed the entire season.

Tweet, tweet! On Friday, November 18th, Goodness Determined held its very first Twitter Chat! What’s a Twitter Chat? Well, you pretty much get on twitter, ask questions, then discuss the responses given by your community of followers. With Goodness Determined, Twitter Chats will occur monthly using the hashtag – #goodchat. It’s pretty cool and the first one turned out rather well. We brought people together to talk about the topic “(Actually) Uplift Detroit,” which expounded upon the featured article, “Detroit: Stand Up – Veronika Scott.” I really wanted to gather some peeps through the twittersphere to get their thoughts on the current state of Detroit and how we can continue to uplift the city. Here’s a quick recap of the wonderful insights/opinions within the Twitter Chat: