The Academic Hustle. Matthew Pigatt

      Acknowledgments

      This book would not exist if it were not for my MamaLove, Valerie Pigatt. Her determination to graduate from college and provide a better life for her boys is the reason this book was developed. She was the first to get a degree in our family. MamaLove maxed out everything she had to secure the loans for my first two years at a premier private institution. She wanted me to be the first in the family to have a “real” college experience. If we would have had the information in this book, MamaLove and I may have been almost as awesome as my lil brother, Randon Campbell.

      Randon was the guinea pig for The Academic HustleTM. One of the highest honors of my life is having a lil brother who listens, appreciates, and respects me. He constantly inspires me to be a better person. Randon earned over $250,000 in scholarships for his undergraduate degree, and $80,000 to attend the University of Michigan School of Dentistry, the #1 dental school in the world. He is taking our family’s legacy to the next level with a dentist’s salary! That is the purpose of this book, to teach people how to get paid while making our family and community proud.

      My grandfather, Melvin Pigatt, was the patriarch of the family. He is responsible for my hustler mentality. I have a huge family and hustling runs deep in our lineage. Over twenty-nine aunties and uncles. Almost everyone has their own squad of kids with unique hustles. For me, it was academics and career development.

      I owe it to the men of the 100 Black Men of South Florida for pulling my head out the gutter, even when my mouth spat sewage at anyone who tried to give me helpful advice. Mark Valentine saved my life. He always believed in me and even gave me my first office job. He had this beautiful waterfall in the office and it was my job in the mornings to open and get it started. I would regularly and unintentionally flood his office. I drove my first luxury vehicle, a BMW, while running errands for him.

      Glendon Hall has become the father I never had. In every major step of my life, Glen has been there to assist in ways only a man of love and wisdom can. The 100 Black Men of South Florida and Glen, through The Morehouse Alumni Association of Broward, awarded me my first scholarships.

      Dear old Morehouse…the place that made me into the man I am today. I could write a book about what Morehouse has taught me…well, another book. All the experiences mentioned throughout the pages of this book are credited to my time at Morehouse. I entered Morehouse full of “hood” arrogance, and Morehouse showed me so many examples of Men of Excellence that I could not help but to reevaluate myself and my standards. Men like Dr. Marcellus Barksdale, the founder of the African American Studies Department at Morehouse College, were among the pillars of men who I would run up against over and over again. My stubborn, arrogant, and disrespectful attitude were chipped away each time. I licked the wounds to my self-esteem and grew into a better man. It was Morehouse that molded me and I am forever true.

      To everyone who dismissed me: Thank you. The rage I felt after being belittled fueled the late nights and early mornings. Those times ultimately led to my personal development. The many dark and lonely places where I cried out—all the thoughts and reminders that I was not good enough were replaced by an even stronger determination to prove people wrong. That fire burned away imperfections of spirit and refined me.

      Finally, to those who made this book one of the most proudest things I ever done in my life, Thank you. It took over 10 years to produce. Thank you. John Peragine for organizing the original structure. Dr. William Hobbs for bringing my story to life. Kierra Bryant, Indra Campbell, Tyrionne Paul, and Antionette McCoy for the detailed line-by-line edits.

      Shout

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