Alumni Success Story: College of Business graduate becomes first-time author

While living in a world surrounded by chaos and stress, KenDrell Collins, a University of Arkansas at Little Rock College of Business graduate, made it his mission to find peace and serenity in every adventure or encounter he experienced to help ease his mind and reinforce his purpose. Collins, a native of Osceola, Arkansas, grew up as a country boy with dreams big enough to fill the Mississippi River. As a young man, he had aspirations of becoming the president of the United States, the governor of Arkansas, and the CEO of a company. Before he could obtain any of those positions, Collins took a detour and decided first to become an author.

Journey to publication

“Be Steady, My Soul: Daily Practices for Peace and Positivity” was written, edited, and published by Collins in just eight months. Although the idea of the book started as a Facebook suggestion, it quickly transformed into a life-changing narrative. “It was December of 2016,” Collins said. “I would always post quotes and inspirational stuff on Facebook and people would suggest that I write a book. Ironically, during this time I was overcoming all the emotional impacts of law school and wanted to write something I could turn to for encouragement.” As a law student at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, Collins witnessed his peers turn to drugs and alcohol to cope with strenuous academic demands. Instead of following suit, Collins drew inspiration from the experiences around him and outlined them on the Microsoft Word pages of his laptop. Almost every evening after an intense study session, Collins would make his way to a nearby cafe, Starbucks, or Panera Bread to put his thoughts on paper. “Each chapter embodied a personal hurdle that I was overcoming,” he said. “I figured I couldn’t be the only person who had or would struggle with these things. My hope was that by sharing what worked for me, someone else would also be strengthened.”

“Be Steady, My Soul”

According to Collins, the book addresses 40 aspects of the human character that need tending to. By using personal experiences, Collins expresses ways in which a person can cultivate more peace through patience, humility, self-gratification, and more.

“My favorite chapter is probably ‘Be Patient with You,’” Collins said. “I think the biggest challenge for my generation is that we are so accustomed to getting everything instantly. When it comes to building a life, things don’t happen instantly. We get frustrated and find ourselves in a quarter-life crisis because our life isn’t as perfect as we expected it to be at that moment. I battled with that and had to learn to be more patient with my own growth and not compare my rate of development with the next person’s.” After five months of writing, Collins took two months to analyze and reassemble his work. “The process of editing and improving the writing was the biggest challenge,” he explained. “You read the same chapter 10 times, and you find better ways of saying something. Then, you wake up and re-read it, and it sounds worse.” In addition to writing, Collins also worked on constructing the perfect title and cover art for the book that would exemplify its intended message. “Originally, the title was ‘Be Still, My Soul,’ he said. “However, when I googled that phrase, there was a massive list of songs and books with the same title, so I realized I had to change it. “As I was searching for the artwork, I wanted to find a picture that would demonstrate balance. From the front of the book, the rocks, which represent strength, look like they’re about to fall, but when you flip the book over, you realize that they’re perfectly steady. That’s when I figured, ‘Why not replace ‘still’ with ‘steady,’” he said. Once he finalized the title and art for the book, Collins spent a month figuring out the self-publishing process. Soon after he mastered the method, the 24-year-old’s first publication was born. “The most rewarding feeling of publishing a book is hearing someone say that they read the book and decided to buy copies for their friend or a family member,” Collins said. “That means a lot to me because that’s like going viral in real life.”

The final chapter

As he finishes his final year of law school, Collins plans to continue writing, publishing, and even helping others to publish their own work. “Writing is in my DNA,” he said. “I want my books to become Amazon and New York Times best sellers and be in bookstores around the world.” In addition to writing, Collins still looks forward to fulfilling his original plans for the future. As a lover of the South, he plans to stay in Arkansas, start his own firm or business, and travel the world. “The fact that my dream came true shows me that we can have just about whatever we want in life, if we really want it,” Collins said. “We don’t have to sit around and wait for someone to give us permission to do what we feel called to do. It removes a lot of the fear and hesitation. I actually believe anything is possible now.” Collins’ novel, “Be Steady, My Soul,” is available on Amazon.