As an early graduate and owner of an associate degree, I felt confused about what my purpose in life is. Throughout middle school up to my freshman year of high school, I absolutely hated science. I wanted nothing to do with that subject until my sophomore year where I was taught by a woman named Ms. Wright. She reminded me of myself in many ways, her wit and sarcasm being included, but our personalities were scarily uncanny. Ms. Wright is a strong-minded, lion-hearted woman who made her presence known through her aura alone. She was not a very talkative woman, but she managed to reach so many students through her science classes. Whenever I was struggling with something, she would be the first person I went to. I remember the discussions she and I would have pertaining to different types of sciences although the class was only focused on environmental. Suddenly I started enjoying science-related subjects and would take the extra mile on my science assignments. Then, one day she introduced public health to me because she believed that I would excel in that career field. Growing up, seeing black women pursue a STEM career was practically unknown. Ms. Wright is the role model who encouraged me to challenge the societal normality in my community by being a black woman in STEM. So, from that day forward I decided to pursue public health at Agnes Scott College with inspiration from the first person I connected with on a spiritual level.
Center taken by Debbie McCallum is licensed under CC.BY.2.0
