Graduated Student Profile
Marquese McFerguson
He is soft-spoken, but don’t let that fool you. Marquese McFerguson will make a loud noise on day. “ I want to be a college president,” eh declared with such confidence one has to believe it will come to fruition.
McFerguson, a graduate of the P.A.R.K. program and Ouachita Baptist University (where he attended on a P.A.R.K.-secured scholarship and earned a degree in graphic arts) is currently in graduate school at the University of Arkansas, Little Rock, pursuing a master’s degree in interpersonal organizational communication. He would like to teach at his alma mater, OBU, to gain the necessary experience to earn a doctorate and fulfill his dream.
How did a young man form one the poorest sections of our state come to this point in his life? “Without P.A.R.K. I would either be dead or in jail,” McFerguson stated. McFerguson, affectionately referred to around P.A.R.K. as”Chicken”, grew up in Wrightsville. Both parents, custodians who often worked two jobs to make ends meet, were often gone leaving him alone with every opportunity to get involved with drug dealers. McFerguson entered P.A.R.K. with a 1.9 GPA and he left the program at high school graduation with a 2.5. “My father died in ninth grade, and I (was fortunate) to have male figures (at P.A.R.K.) who showed me you don’t have to be an Albert Einstein to go to college. The Average Joe could go,” McFerguson said. He said he knew the sky was the limit when he achieved a 3.8 GPA at OBU his first semester.
McFerguson still lives in Wrightsville while attending UALR. He uses his experience from P.A.R.K. to encourage others in his old neighborhood that they, too, can realize their dreams. He also can be seen around P.A.R.K. almost daily mentoring others who are in the same place he was not so long ago. Keith Jackson’s description of Marquese McFerguson says it all. “’Chicken’ defines what P.A.R.K. is trying to achieve. He is gentle and kind and has the fruit of the spirit. He is an ambassador for good with a purpose.”