Derrick Standifer is an author, a keynote speaker, and a Ph.D. candidate at the Florida A&M University (FAMU) whose primary focus is teaching people how to solve the twists and turns of life by solving the twists and turns of the Rubik’s Cube.
Growing up in impoverished neighborhoods and raised by a single mother, Derrick has learned how to transform his pain into power. Derrick dropped out of FAMU and flunked out of Georgia State University only to find himself waiting tables. After internalizing failure, he decided to bounce back from his trials and tribulations. Notwithstanding his academic accomplishments, Derrick is most proud of the fact that he did not quit. In 2014, he graduated with his bachelor’s degree and then with his master’s degree in 2016. Afterward, he began teaching and what was supposed to be a start to a beautiful career in education was instead met with misfortune. Sadly, he lost his mother to cancer a week before his 26th birthday, and then, his dad, “Coach Hill,” in 2019 from the same illness. Almost broken from grief, Derrick decided to use his life’s experiences to fuel his drive and commitment to serving mankind and womankind alike. “The people in my life invested in me, and they never let me pay it back, but they charged me to pay it forward. I intend to honor their legacies by using my gifts to serve.” Currently writing his dissertation to fulfill the requirements of obtaining a Ph.D. in Educational Leadership, Derrick has proven that failing does not mean you are a failure. When he is not writing and reading and researching, he takes great pride in being a full-time single father of two beautiful, trouble-making geniuses, Ayana and Derrick Jr.
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