He first fell in love with Tennessee State University during a summer program he attended with his cousin during high school. At the time, he was into physics and astronomy and thought he was going to be an astrophysicist or an astronaut. However, he soon realised he wanted to work in medicine. "I loved the science of it all, but I did not like the idea of working alone," he previously shared in an interview with Urbaanite. "I wanted to find something where I could help others and work with people."
While at TSU, he double majored in physics and astronomy before graduating in 2008. He was also involved in student government.