A s a nation of immigrants, many of us come from the humblest of beginnings in search of our own particular American dream. The vast majority work hard to reach even modest success yet we still continue to painstakingly carve out our foundations for the next generation to follow. And then there are those few of us who achieve on a scale that creates a beaming beacon of shining light for all to see. Founder and CEO of Quantum Laboratory, Sylvester Williams, would be a prime example of this light.
committed discipline, a realization that had been honed over the previous summer’s toil in his first factory job. Hard factory labor had also convinced the young man that he must take the wheel of his future if he were to go anywhere other than straight back to his factory’s timeclock. Yet HS football success would not immediately transfer to gridiron glory as the JCHS graduate would find himself entirely unrecruited by any major program and with very limited options for any collegiate football career and education at all. Yet here
As a child of working class parents
who toiled long and hard to improve their family’s opportunities, young Sylvester was a gifted athlete—with size, strength and speed to spare—who dreamed of an NFL career upon entering Jefferson City High School. The headstrong teenager was indeed dreaming big but also temporarily ignoring the lessons of his hard working parents until he stumbled into his first major hurdle—a sophomore suspension due to neglected academics. Yet this adolescent misstep led to his first crucial understanding in how to both pivot and realign his goals.
he found himself prepared to bootstrap his way forward. Determined to make an athletic impact on his own, young Mr. Williams got into his first car and drove himself to Kansas and Coffeeville Community College to reboot his football career. After tremendous Juco success in his freshman year however, the defensive lineman found himself, again, unrecruited by any D-1 programs. And so it was back to his car for a long drive to the renowned University of North Carolina where he would bet big on himself and tryout as a true
and entirely unheralded “walk-on”.
His HS football coach spotted his obvious potential and encouraged him to switch sports and give the hard lessons of the gridiron a go. The junior year Mr. Williams heeded that call then quickly realized that both his athletic and academic work ethic would require the much needed addition of
After quickly establishing himself as an invaluable force on the UNC defense, the rapidly maturing Mr. Williams continued to redouble both his academic
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