Shonari Mondesir, a Prairie View A&M University alumnus, shared the story of the obstacles he had to overcome to become the man he is today in the Sept. 27 presentation of the documentary “Fearless” created by Smallz Media and hosted by the Omicron Omicron chapter of Lambda Pi Eta.
Mondesir was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., and moved to Houston, Texas, when he was 3. He attended a private school where the Headmaster told his parents that he would never graduate from high school and would become a blue-collar worker when he got older.
Being a quiet young boy who did not talk much to anyone, Mondesir was placed in a special education program.
He had two teachers who saw the potential in him that others did not. “You are quiet, but you are smart,” they said. The teachers constantly worked with him after school encouraging him to do his best.
“People don’t believe in you, you have to believe in yourself,” said Mondesir.
After being told that he would never go to college, he did what others believed he couldn’t. He graduated from high school and attended Prairie View A&M University.
His freshman year at Prairie View was definitely an eye opener. Mondesir felt as if he had to put on the tough guy act in order to gain respect and fit in.
Foolish acts and fights almost got him kicked out of school his freshman year.
An advisor saw right through the tough guy act and helped put him on the right track. After seeing the low percentage of African American males who attend universities, he did not want to become a part of the statistics.
Mondesir then changed his life around. He became involved in the Student Government Association’s executive board, research development committee, and community service committee.
It is very important to Mondesir to give back. Although he likes to help people, his intentions were not to become a teacher.
After changing his major several times, Mondesir is now a history teacher.
Mondesir explained why he is fearless.
“God, Jesus Christ make me fearless. With him I can overcome anything. Keep God first in everything you want to do,” said Mondesir.
He said that knowing that no one can take anything from him unless it is given up, knowing that every human being is a conqueror makes him fearless