My heritage means everything to me. And I firmly believe that you can’t understand where you’re going in life if you don’t understand and appreciate where you’ve been. My mom was born on Guam, I have countless cousins, friends and family there, and in its own way, the island will always feel like home to me.

I’ve proudly represented the Chamorro people for my entire football career, but before this offseason I’ve only ever had the chance to visit the island twice before. This summer, I started what I hope will be an annual tradition in visiting and serving the community in Guam.

Thanks to the awesome people at Guam Sports Network, I got to spend one week on the island before Colts Camp starts. It was great to see family and friends all around the island, go deep sea fishing and get to share my vision for B3 throughout the week. But by far the best part was the opportunity I had to speak and volunteer at a football camp for all of Guam’s youth football teams. Throughout my entire time there I felt welcomed like I was coming home to family, and felt even more committed to the work I hope to do there in inspiring the next generation of Chamorro youth to succeed in college and beyond.

B3 is planning its first official football camp on the island for next offseason, where we hope to continue the work that was started this summer both on the field and in the classroom.

Right now, it’s time to focus on football season. But to my family in Guam, get ready for next offseason. It’s going to be a good one!