Today we’d like to introduce you to Terrell Dark.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I am an Atlanta native, Grady baby. Growing up, I was raised primarily by my mother, Gladys and to a degree by my grandmother. My mom had three children, and growing up, I was the only one who had no relationship with his father. Although my mother provided me with ample love and support and raised me well, the void of a father stuck with me. It shaped me in many ways, as I had that early absence of a strong authority figure.
I was always a pretty bright kid. Not the smartest ever, but definitely a nerd. My mom and I used to do the Readers Digest weekly Word Challenge and my biggest goal was to someday beat my mom in it. Until I did. I was often in advanced placement classes or accelerated learning courses, but the biggest issue I had growing up was always my conduct. I’d often get in trouble, in fights, suspended from the school and bus, but what was always my saving grace was that I had strong grades and good academics. Except math. Ultimately, I turned out well. I graduated high school in Gwinnett County and initially attended Morehouse College as a Business Major. That could have been the end of my story, and a “the rest is a “history” kind of moment. But it wasn’t…
I still had a bit of my wild ways, so a series of events resulted in me being arrested for a fight, being unable to finish out school due to financial reasons, and leaving school altogether to join the Army. That decision was made sitting on a cold, hard bench behind bars at Rice Street. I wasn’t in there long, but it was long enough for me to realize that if I didn’t make some drastic changes, I’d end up a statistic like so many other brothers’ who came before me and afterward.
When I was released, my most immediate goal was to prepare and join the Army. I knew I needed discipline, and I figured who better to offer me lessons in it than Uncle Sam. My mom thought I was nuts, and I’ll never forget she even had a prayer vigil in hopes my mind would change. My mom has always been a strong prayer warrior and taught me the value of prayer and a relationship with God. I think her hope was that God would change my mind. It didn’t happen, but I did get release and confirmation from God that I was on the right path. So off I went. I joined the Army in 2005 as a Paralegal Specialist. I had romanticized life in special forces and really wanted to do that or something like military intelligence, but that prior arrest came back to haunt me. Anyway, I ended up doing really well in my basic training course and I graduated Distinguished Honor Graduate from my Advanced Individual Training.
When I returned to Atlanta, I had a newfound focus and plan. Because I was a reservist, I still had my military duties each month and over the summer, but for the most part, I had to work and figure things out still. Ultimately, I went back to college with a terrible GPA and a goal to someday go to law school. I enrolled at Clayton State University and worked really hard over the next few semesters to raise my GPA, re-earn the HOPE scholarship, and set myself up for a pathway to law school.
It worked. I graduated with a high enough GPA to be accepted to multiple law schools both in and out of state. I ended up choosing the University of Kansas School of Law primarily because it was so different from all my other options, and I wanted a slower pace to really dig into the study of law and ensure I graduated. By this point, I had a young son and was in the midst of a custody battle for him. So that was a lot to be starting law school with, and it ended up resulting in me being distracted and not as focused as I could have been in my first year of law school. Fortunately, I did just well enough not to be on academic probation, but I got a stern warning from a Dean to shape up or ship out.
What matters most to you?
My children are my everything. They are my legacy and my lifeblood. I think it all relates back to the void of not having a father growing up. I never got a hug or bedtime story, no one ever came to my games or lectured or disciplined me on how to be a man or showed me what a good man looks like. Still, I had to figure it out and I am thankful for a mother who, although she was single, never tried to supplant the role of men in my life. Instead, she gave me a strong foundation in God—our Almighty Father and exposed me to quality male role models who became like dads to me.
Today my fatherhood is shaped primarily by my relationship with God but also from so many lessons I learned from so many men and women throughout my life. I take all the lessons of positivity and perseverance and pour them into my children.
Contact Info:
- Website: attorneydark.com
- Instagram: @attorneydark
- Facebook: Dark & Dark Inc
