USM’s Men of Excellence (MOX) organization recently held its MOX ACT Bootcamp in the Thad Cochran Ballroom, as a way to prepare for the ACT and ace the exam. Roughly 40 students from Oak Grove High School, Lawrence County High School, Hattiesburg High School, Laurel High School, Marion County High School, Sumrall High school, and Stringer High School attended the event.
Key’Shawn Kennedy, a MOX member and USM graduate student, coordinated the bootcamp. He operates his own ACT tutoring service called Key to Success, which has held events in Mississippi and Louisiana. And he plans to take his efforts to Alabama in the spring.
In a way, providing ACT tutoring has come full circle for Kennedy. After starting his business as its only tutor, he echoes the importance of partnering with organizations such as Men of Excellence to expand his efforts.
“It’s been different to go from one-on-one settings to classroom settings,” he said. “But now I can have a much higher level of impact in a shorter amount of time.”
At his recent ACT Bootcamp at USM, Kennedy’s partnership with Men of Excellence was on full display, as several MOX members, past and present, were on hand to assist. They included Reese Sullivan, Karlton Jamaal, Ashton Crump, Bryan Nevills, Trey Meadows, and Zacchaeus Wallace.
“It made my job a bit easier with my fellow Men of Excellence brothers in the room,” Kennedy said. “They saw it more than just paying a tutor to come in, where in fact, they thought of it as helping their brother out.”
Meadows, a graduate student who was instrumental in helping the event be successful, spoke on the importance of getting involved with the ACT Bootcamp.
“The Men of Excellence pushed to bring out the best version of these young men as we can,” he said. “And that’s why we decided to collaborate on the ACT workshop.”
Meadows also expressed his hope that the event would encourage some of the high school participants to aspire to join the Men of Excellence organization if they attend Southern Miss.