HOHENFELS, Germany -- Sean Little has a dream, and part of that dream includes helping young people pursue their own, and that's what he was doing at Hohenfels recently as part of a Club Beyond tour around European bases.
Little is a hip-hop artist with three albums under his belt, and while he can rap with the best of them, his message is a bit different than that of many mainstream rappers.
"Our choices really matter," Little said. "What we do with our lives, how we decide to live each day, they affect us and they affect the people around us."
Little learned this firsthand. Growing up in Cincinnati with divorced parents who were never around, Little and his brother drifted into dangerous territory.
"We just got into that urban, impoverished lifestyle," he said.
For Little, that meant girls, money, drugs, crime, "having stuff and being hard."
"All that's like a dead end road," said Little. "There's nothing, no life or joy in it."
It took the death of his older brother from a drug overdose to really get the message across.
"That really shook me up," Little said. "He was my big brother, my best friend, my dad in a lot of ways, and at 25 he was gone in an instant."
Tragic as it was, the event helped changed the trajectory of Little's life. He graduated college with a bachelor's degree in Interpersonal Communications, and then returned for another degree in English and a teaching license. But he never gave up on rap music.
"The culture of hip-hop is something that I've always lived in, so rap music is just the art and music of that culture," Little said.
He began writing his own songs at 10, and started rapping at 15. Now, at 30, Little uses that music to inspire others, sending positive messages of empowerment through his recordings.
He also runs a hip-hop program at a community arts center in Evansville, Indiana, and is starting up a non-profit program where he can help young artist record as well as provide a positive place for young people to gather and learn.
"I'm trying to get younger folk into mentor based relationships and doing creative arts so they can focus their energies and time somewhere," said Little. "When a parent is out of the household or not influencing the younger person, they'll get into whatever's around them. Young people don't always have the capability to decipher what is healthy and what is unhealthy about the choices that their making."
At the Hohenfels Middle/High School, Little spoke about the importance of choices and encouraged students to follow their dreams.
"Life is always changing, but the power of your dream is a constant," he said. "And the highest purpose of our dreams is to encourage other people to pursue their own."
"He really connected to students even at the in-school assembly which can be hard to do," said Michelle Hollenbach, Hohenfels' Club Beyond community director. "Students were impressed with his message about going after your dream and I am glad Club Beyond could encourage students by having him come. I think it gave teens hope that they can choose better things."
Later, Little performed a concert at Club Beyond, passing on his message with song, stories and laughs. His open and frank style helped him really connect with his audience.
"I enjoyed how interactive he was with the crowd, letting us know things about his personal life, friends and family," said audience member Jennifer Ford. "I love how he takes his time to go to different places and tell us his story. It's great to see how far he's gotten and he makes everyone else want to pursue their dreams. It was a great experience."
This is Little's second tour across Europe with Club Beyond, visiting bases in Germany, Belgium, Netherlands and Italy and talking at more than 20 schools. He said the experience has given him a new perspective on Soldiers and the military.
"I think for the first time, I really have kind of an inherent respect for people in the military because they deal with a lot of crap that is really hard to deal with, even just from the lifestyle of it all," he said. "The decision to do that, to serve the country - I really respect that."
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