About Me

On February 14th, 1997, Valentine’s Day, I was born in Hartsville, SC to Marilyn and Trevor McDonald. I was their first born daughter and my mom’s parents first grandchild. My family is very close knit, mainly my immediate family. Although I have an extremely huge family on both of my parent’s side that is continuously growing and I do not see them as often, I am often amazed how much love we have for each other when we see each other at family functions. It is as if we have see each other every day. From a very young age, my parents indoctrinated the importance of education in both my younger sister and me, who was born two years after my birth. I remember those sweet moments of my mother reading to us both fairytales and the Bible to us in our bed. It is safe to say that my love for books and story telling derived from those precious times and it continues to shape my life.

I am a “preacher’s kid” and was basically born in the church. I truly cannot imagine what my life would be if my life were not so involved in the church. Most of my family are either pastors or other high officials in the church and so it happens that my both parents and grandparents are also preachers. I believe that some of those leadership skills were also passed along to me. Many people would say that I lived in a strict home, but to me, it did not seem like that. I just knew that my parents had high standards for me and wanted me to have the best in life. I also believe that I would not be so dedicated towards helping others if I was not brought up the way that I was.

Although my grandparents, on both sides of my family, were not able to go to college, they pushed my parents to do better than they did. My father always told me to do better than what he and my mother achieved and that not even the sky is the limit for me. My parents instilled in me the importance of hard work. I can still hear my father telling me every year that “hard work pays off.” My parents and grandparents were always my biggest cheerleaders when it came to my education and now I am beginning to see the fruit of not only my work but of theirs as well.

I look so serious

Me with my grandparents

I was a happy child

My dedication 1997

I was a happy baby

My dad and I

My little sister and I

My mom at my high school graduation

My dad and I

My dad at my high school graduation

My acceptance letter to USC

I was just born

My cousins and I

My mom and I

My watercolor painting

My family