As a future civil rights attorney, I have started to follow and live by North Carolina Central University’s motto—“In Truth and Service”. As a black woman, we make up less than three percent of lawyers and attorneys, and I want to influence others to change that. However, I believe the first step in accomplishing that would be to attend a historically black college myself, just like everyone else in my family has done. I believe by excelling in a college that has historically benefited my own community, I would be setting a good example for young black girls that have very few positive role models in the media—that they can be just as great, especially if they learn and love their African American heritage. Since I was raised in a predominantly white area my whole life, I never had a real chance to connect with my own culture, since oftentimes, we were barely 20% of the school population. I did however, want to know more about my culture, as much as I possibly could. So, in my senior year of high school, I applied to three HBCUs in the state and picked North Carolina Central University. I believe that going to an HBCU will help me reconnect and rediscover my identity, and will also help me in the long run when I become a civil rights attorney, as I will know much more about my history when I see it on campus.

Since I was born, I have always lived in predominantly white areas and spaces, with some instances where I was the only black girl in the room when it came down to classes. Despite this, my mother and father always managed to teach me everything that I needed to know about my culture, from the foods we eat, to the Divine Nine sororities and fraternities, and how our people have always strived through the oppression we’ve historically faced in order to achieve equality in society. I was taught all of this from a very young age, but I still wanted to learn more about my own culture, and attending a historically black university seemed to be the best fit for me to achieve that. Not only do I believe that attending a college like this will help me better connect with my cultural identity, but I also believe that it will help me in my future career as well. My mother in particular has always encouraged me to consider going to an HBCU after I graduate high school. Apart from herself, everyone else in my family, both on her side of the family and my father’s side of the family have all attended HBCUs. She didn’t attend one herself, but she has lived in a predominantly black neighborhood throughout her entire childhood, and has a better understanding of our African American culture and sense of community than I do. She has always told me that I must uplift and give back to my own community, especially the black community because of our heritage. I was in middle school back when she first started bringing up the idea of me going to an HBCU, but I didn’t truly look into actually attending until my tenth grade year of highschool, where staff at school started hinting that it was already time to start thinking of our futures beyond college. While I was researching a few colleges in North Carolina, I kept my future career in mind while doing so. As someone that wants to be a civil rights attorney, I wanted to attend a college that was a historically black college, had connections with a law school, and was in my best interest to go—which is exactly how I ended up committing to North Carolina Central University. I was also surprised to find out that NCCU’s law school was one of the only six historically black law schools in the entire country. A historically black university with a law school was more than enough when it came to my college checklist, and I was ecstatic when I realized that I could learn more about my own background, work towards my future career, and give back to my community all at the same time! As a result of predominantly my mother’s viewpoints, a desire to learn more about myself and pursue my dreams of becoming a civil rights attorney, I truly do believe that attending an HBCU can and will benefit me in the long run.

Ateez has always been one of, if not my favorite kpop groups that I have ever been a fan of. Though my bias is Seonghwa, all of them are very loveable men who spread a positive message towards everyone they interact with. Not only is their music catchy and fun to listen to but they have an amazing stage presence and are very kind and respectful towards their fans and people they interact with in general. I first got into their music during my sophomore year of high school. A friend of mine had shown me a video of them singing a cover of Leave The Door Open by Bruno Mars and I had been a fan ever since. Their music discography ranges from various styles, which can fit into any mood you’re in, and are also very well written by their own group leader. Whether you’re looking for a song to workout to, sing along to during the holiday season, or something to just relax and unwind you, something from Ateez’s albums will always fit into those categories. Their stage presence is also something that is extremely captivating. It’s definitely important for idols to have strong physical performances in this type of career and Ateez executes this in such an astounding manner. They have a “pirate” themed concept, which is unique when it comes to kpop concept themes and are best known because of that. They also have certain choreography to remind everyone of this theme, for example, during LA Kcon this year, Seonghwa had a visual in which he wielded a sword on stage while the group performed “Wonderland, Symphony No.9 ‘New World’.” This gave their show a bit of a pirate vibe, which nodded back to their original concept. The way they interact with their fans as well is very admirable. Mingi is very open about his mental health, and how it was previously negatively impacted by harassment he has received. The fact that he was comfortable in speaking to his fans about the fact that he had gone on hiatus because of this, influenced a lot of his fans, me included, to check in on our own mental health, the people around us, and make sure to give Mingi words of encouragement. Ateez is also very comfortable around their fans, and even babysat at a park at one point. Each and every one of them are very selfless and inspirational to the people around them. In conclusion, Ateez is very influential on and off stage. They make sure to hold themselves and others to high standards, motivate the people around them while making excellent music. They are by far one of my favorite kpop groups that I listen to and some of the best influences I have.

No other anime has grasped my interest more than Jujutsu Kaisen has. Even after starting the series a few years ago, I am still a happy, invested fan. The animation is beautifully done, the plot is well written, and the main character is very loveable and very interesting. I’ve seen quite a few anime ever since I watched my first anime, Sailor Moon, at the age of six. Though, I can’t think of any that come close to Jujutsu Kaisen’s style in terms of animation, especially when it comes to season two, which was just released. Itadori Yuuji’s fight with Choso, Kenjaku sealing Gojo, and even when Gojo’s eyes are first revealed to the audience back in the first season are all very important moments in the series that were animated perfectly to capture the emotion of the scene and the audience at the same time. One of the main reasons why I continue watching this series is because of the well written plot. Gege Akutami is an incredible writer and knows how to keep his plot moving forward in a well-timed manner. All of the characters he’s written have their own individual personalities, depth and background to them that makes them unique and unlike any other manga or anime series I’ve watched or read. Plenty of audience members get very easily attached to these characters because of how likable they are, including the villains. A lot of main characters don’t seem to be fan favorites, despite them having lead roles in their anime and other shows in general. Itadori however, is a very unique main character with a distinct, charming personality. Despite us as the readers not really knowing his real background and identity, aside from being a highschool student with a curse living inside of his head, his selflessness, strength, charisma, and his love for his classmates and teachers all motivate him in some way to become the best person he can possibly be. In general, Jujutsu Kaisen is a very good show, with the eye catching animation, well written plot, and the main character himself. It is definitely worth the watch and even to read as well.

I’ve always been very interested in English, especially when it comes to literature and writing. Before I was born, my father had been a high school English teacher that taught upperclassmen. After I came along, he retired, and he ended up teaching me how to read when I was just eighteen months old. That being said, my father was definitely influential in my love for reading and writing, since I had ended up applying in my school’s gifted program for English throughout my elementary school years to challenge myself to improve my reading and writing abilities and eventually find a job that fits my interests. I was one of the only four students in my elementary school’s English enrichment program, so it was easy for us to truly focus as a group on areas we needed to improve on. Soon, we found out that two students, me being one of those students, could read on a college level and write at a seventh grade level while only being in the third grade, which made sense considering that I had been reading every day, and every night for that matter since I was very young. These reading skills ended up transferring to middle and high school and also became very comforting, since I could just open a book or take out a piece of paper and a pen and easily transport myself into my imagination and be anyone I wanted to be, as cliché as it sounds. Now that I am a rising senior looking into colleges and planning out my future, I have decided to pursue English as my major. Since I’m planning on going to law school and eventually become a civil rights attorney, I decided to choose to major in English, not only because of my background, but because these courses will help me develop the skills I need for my future job, such as analyzing cases, speaking in court, and making strong arguments for my side of these cases. Overall, I am very proud to have such a solid educational background when it comes to English. English as a subject has always been my favorite core class ever since I was in kindergarten, and I’ve known since than that I have wanted to pursue it in my future career since I enjoy it so much. I am very positive that I will continue to love this educational subject for a good long while.