John Gibison, Jr.

“The impact of applying to LEAD Scholars was not apparent immediately, but I’m still seeing and experiencing the effect years later. Throughout college and in the adult workforce, I have applied what I have learned from my experiences as a LEAD Scholar to be a more effective leader. LEAD gave me an opportunity to work with the UCF Psychology department in my second year which directly lead to a 3-year internship. When it came to job searching, every employer that interviewed me for a position pulled LEAD right off of my resume and used it as a pivotal focus point. In fact, because of LEAD I was able to partake in a 2-year leadership program at Citibank where I am currently still employed. If you were to ask me as a senior in high school if that application would have directly correlated to my success, I would have said, “maybe”; but I now understand how that one simple decision has helped to shape the course of my career and benefited me as a person.”