About Me!

My name is Clifton Martin, I’m a 21-year-old senior at the University of Southern California. My sun sign is Leo, my rising sun is Capricorn, and my moon is Libra. I was originally born in Virginia Beach, VA but I’m really from Nashville, TN. I’ve lived there since I was six and I believe that the city’s warmth, appreciation for different cultures, and southern hospitality has rubbed off on me and developed into a part of my personality. Another part of my personality I attribute to my parents. For me personally, family is everything, and my parents mean the absolute world to me. I have my mother’s ambition and determination; when she puts her mind to something, she is one of those people that will get it done. My personal goals are to go to law school, practice corporate law in New York City, and to be in a place where I’m happy and healthy. In order to reach these goals, it requires hard work, persistence, and diligence and I’m convinced that my mother’s traits have helped developed these qualities that are critical for my aspirations. With my father on the other hand, I have his silliness and charisma. Due to my parents, I connect most with a lion. My family is like a lion pride and like lions, I’m so protective of my family and they also have a big personality like myself.

However, being from St. Louis, MO and the Bronx, NY and Baptist Christians, my parents have conservative and traditional views on most things and this is something that was not passed down to me. I am liberal on most issues because I believe in equality (as cliché as that may sound) and agency – people certainly have the right to make their own decisions. When I was younger, I remember driving in Tennessee and seeing the hills covered in beautiful tall deciduous trees. Not only is this one of my favorite things about where I come from, but it’s also how I kind of envision the world. Every tree has its own roots and growth as every human has their own story and development and who am I to ever try to stand in anyone’s way of that?

While I was growing up, my parents held high expectations for my brother. They wanted the absolute best for us and desired that we do the same. They pushed us to go beyond limits and to strive towards being our best selves. Therefore, I’ve inherently developed expectations of myself for where I would like to be in my life, presently and in the future, both short and long term. However, where I face some challenge within this is that I sometimes feel like I am living by certain expectations so that I can impress people rather than it being for me. I constantly feel like I am doing things because I should which I know is not necessarily in good favor, but it is something I’m working on.