“I am often asked what inspired me to run for Vice President of the Black Student Union. If I were being honest, I never would have believed that I’d have the opportunity, let alone the courage to do so. Growing up I attended primarily white institutions my whole childhood. This gave me a skewed interpterion of my value based solely on race and skin color. I rarely saw any other Black girls or boys on the playground, and I never had an older Black staff member to look up to. Like any other kid, I tried my best to fit in, but my darker skin and coarse hair proved this difficult. I entered high school feeling as if I didn’t belong. That’s when I came across a club called BSU. For the first time in my schooling career, I was surrounded by people who shared similar experiences to me. I heavily looked up to the older officers of the club during my freshman year and wanted to be just as confident as them. I then attended meetings nearly every week for the next 4 years. So, when asked what inspired me to become Vice President of BSU my senior year, it’s because Black Student Union is a place where I built meaningful relationships, learned about formally taboo topics, discovered my love to educate those willing to listen, and where I finally accepted my identity as a black woman.”