Marcus Beal-Crouch '23 Recruiting Profile

At sixteen, I decided to aim big: I would make it my life’s mission to help people free themselves from poverty, lifting at least one billion people around the world out of economic hardships. I know with tall goals come tall hurdles, which will require me to jump even higher to overcome them.  

This passion was birthed after I became engulfed in the history of Haiti. The genesis was in my world history class, where we learned a very surface-level “Western” perspective on what happened in 1804. Unlike any other lesson before or after, I was struck by the content, so much so that I devoted countless hours doing a complete nose dive into the entire history of the region. As an African-American, learning about Toussaint Louverture, and his bravery to oppose and defeat Napoleon and his robust army, was very inspiring and informative.  Haiti is currently the poorest country in the Western hemisphere; I was shocked to learn they had been forced to pay upwards of $500 million to the French government, prolonging the country’s cycle of poverty. This painful fact led me on my path, a life goal of lifting people out of economic servitude. 

Of course, it is easy to dismiss the violation of human rights as a problem that only other countries face. But if we are being honest about our reality, we can all attest to seeing multiple homeless people in our general area daily. Many people in developed countries are given the luxury of choice: will they choose to learn more about impoverishment? To truly see impoverished people? We all have to make a decision: to help or not. Sadly, many do nothing, or even cast judgment on poor people, as if they actively want to be in their economic situation.

 It would be very unwise of me to cast a negative shadow on “everyone” in developed countries. I recognize that individuals have their own hardships and responsibilities, which are draining and time-consuming. Adding the weight and pressure of helping others might only exacerbate their problems. This awareness led me to develop a personal priority of gaining wealth, and educating the general public on global economic problems, especially ways Americans can create solutions.  Whether we accept it or not, every day we make decisions that contribute to (or lessen) the world’s suffering. If we take no action or choose to remain ignorant, we only make the situation worse.       

I aspire to build wealth through business ventures and investments, then use my acquired financial resources to directly help impoverished and underserved communities, inside and outside of America.  I will utilize education in political science to help impoverished communities restart economically. To achieve this, I’d strategically build and maintain healthy relationships with individuals from the communities I’m serving, other politicians, and other philanthropists with a shared passion for giving back. 

This all may sound like I am overly optimistic about planning for the future. I am still learning more about the roots of poverty and community resilience. In the school cafeteria, I’m constantly in intellectually stimulating debates with peers, pointing out what’s at stake for all of us without being divisive. I’m ready to be of service, and that means now.   

I accept the reality that none of this will happen overnight. Economic problems are not accidents, but strategically designed for centuries, and undoing them may take just as long. There will be roadblocks to accomplishing my goal, entities that benefit at the expense of billions of people. Even the communities I may be trying to help may not accept me or my ideas as valid, which does happen in underserved communities, respectfully so: they are systematically oppressed, and their optimism has rarely borne fruit. Ultimately, I won’t save everybody, but like Toussaint Louverture, I’m willing to try.