Focused, determined and friendly are a few words that describe Xavier Harris, a senior at Mississippi State who exudes leadership qualities. As the son of a military family, Harris has lived in locations all around the world—from Hawaii to Japan—but claims Mississippi as home.
The industrial engineering major has spent his time at Mississippi State being active on campus and in the Starkville community.
The recent Mr. MSU candidate is president of the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity Kappa Beta chapter, a senior cadet on ROTC wing staff, an employee in the dean of students' office, a member of both the National Society for Black Engineers and Increasing Minority Access to Graduate Education, as well as a volunteer for both TRIO and the Brickfire Starkville Project.
"I try to stay as busy as I can. It comes with a lot of restless nights but at the end of the day, I feel like it's all worth it," Harris said. "Everything for me has always been about fostering some type of leadership."
At an early age Harris wanted to spend time around his parents and their friends so he could absorb as much knowledge as possible. He said when his parents had company, he would sit and listen to their conversations rather than playing video games with his friends.
"When they would talk about work or anything that had to do with school, going to college, getting a job, negotiating the type of salary you want, and finding something that made you happy, those are the types of conversations I tried to listen in on," Harris said. "I've always been told that I seem old for my age. I sound like I'm somebody's daddy is what people tell me all the time."
After graduation Harris will enter the U.S Air Force as an officer.
While planning his future, the ambitious 21-year-old is keeping his options open, but Harris said he is certain about one thing he wants to accomplish.
"Down the line I know I want to own a restaurant—restaurants even," he said. "That was something that my mom always wanted to do. My dad cooks, and my mom is a chef in the navy. That's something that they always wanted to do, as well. So I said if they don't do it in their life time, then that's something that I want to do for them."