Zachary or Stephen Mason?

Stephen Zachary Mason a native of Orangeburg, SC doesn't have the typical graduate from high school and go to college story but his name and what people call him is a completely different story. We'll start off with the background behind his name. At a young age he always wanted everyone to call him Zachary or Zach for short because his fathers name was Stephen. Now Being the thinking man that he was born to be, he believed that his life was different than his fathers, they were two different people, and there was no reason for him to be called Stephen like his father. When he came to South Carolina State University  some people would call him Stephen and he realized he just had to accept it.


Mason's philosophy on Orangeburg, SC is not the same as everyone else's . He believes while everyone wants to get out of Orangeburg and move on, you have to embrace it and make it better. He believes that your situation you're in does not define who you are and that if your surroundings are bad you have to make it better and how can you contribute. Everyone talks about how bad Orangeburg is but no one wants to help make a difference and give back to the community. So Mason has made that one of his primary goals in life.

At a young age his parents made sure there were plenty of books to read in the house and the old saying, "There are hundreds of books to read here" was an understatement in his household.Elementary school Mason never made a "B", he made all A's. In his household his parents made him read books EVERYDAY!!! His parents told him at a young age that, "You're going to know how to read, write, and talk. In 6th grade lil Zach became a product of his environment in the gifted and talented program. This program was to separate the exceptional students from the "ok" students. Although he was around other smart individuals, everyone was so playful and didn't take things serious.

His love for college was lacking and he didn't want to go to college. In high school he already had the mindset of, " If I don't have a passion for it, I will not do it." He never saw hisself going to college so he never applied. Luckily there was an angel named Valerie that was taking care of Mr. Mason. Valerie's mother was a program manager for one of the organizations on the campus of South Carolina State and Valerie filled out his application for him. Now in his mind he's thinking, "How in the world did she get all of my information?" Soon after he was accepted to South Carolina State University.

Two things that define Stephen Zachary Mason are, Passion and Faith. You can follow him on his Twitter and connect with him and visit his blog