When Rocky Banda learned he had been named a 2022 Coca-Cola Leaders of Promise Scholar and would receive a $1,000 award that goes with it, his first inclination was to look ahead – to consider how he might one day pay it forward.

Banda, 41, is a psychology major at Amarillo College who has endured drug dependency leading to homelessness and incarceration. His goal these many years since is to become a Licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor (LCDC) and help others with similar experiences to his own get back on their feet.