YUSUF DAHL: I believe anything is possible.
Your past does not have to dictate your future.
My name's Yusuf Dahl.
I am recently graduated from the Woodrow Wilson
School of Public and International Affairs
with my master's degree.
I grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin,
in an environment of really extreme adversity.
At 18 years old, I was sentenced to the Wisconsin prison
system for 10 and 1/2 years for possession
of a controlled substance.
It was a moment that I resolved
I was going to spend every single moment that I had,
making sure that I acquired the education that
would allow me to take control and change the trajectory
of my own individual life.
When I was released, I applied to hundreds of jobs.
My mother had saved a pair of dress shoes I had,
that I wore to my sentencing at 18 years old.
I literally wore the soles out of those shoes,
going door-to-door to businesses,
trying to find work.
My big break, actually, came when
I was hired by the state of Wisconsin.
At 28 years old, I received my bachelor's degree
in information sciences.
And it was during my time as a graduate student
that the foreclosure crisis hit.
And so as my neighbors began to abandon their homes,
as blight began to move in, I had
to make a decision of what I would do.
I knew that I had a responsibility to my community.
And without any formal training, I began to buy foreclosed homes
and renovate them.
I helped lobby for significant legislation
in the state of Wisconsin, and was
honored with being present at two bill signings
next to Governor Scott Walker.
I knew that I wanted to have a bigger impact, one that was
national, rather than local.
And that's when I decided to apply to Princeton University.
Princeton is just a phenomenal place.
It's absolutely, indelibly changed
how I look at the world, and how I view my ability
to have an impact in it.
MARTIN JOHNSON: Yusuf brings an unusual background,
for a lot of reasons.
He has this awesome life experience
that he can bring to the academic world, which
not many can do.
And if you're teaching practical courses,
like a course on social entrepreneurship,
this is the kind of guy you want around you.
This is the kind of guy who can offer both personal, as well
as the professional, and do it in a way that
is lighthearted and thoughtful.
ANNOUNCER: Yusuf Dahl.
YUSUF DAHL: Coming to Princeton was
the first time I was in school full time
since I was 15 years old.
So the level of rigor that was expected when I originally
got here was quite difficult. After a very rough
first semester, I made some changes, met some people who
were a lot smarter than I was, built a team of resources,
and I was able to thrive over my last year and a half on campus.
And through Princeton, I've been able to spend
a summer in Africa.
I've been to Germany.
It's just been a wonderful experience,
and I'm very thankful for the resources
that they've provided for me, to achieve
my own, individual potential.
I'm extremely proud to be an alumnus of this university,
and I look forward to being able to leverage the experiences
and resources that I've gained on campus,
to having a bigger impact.
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