On November 16, 2025, around 1 a.m., I found myself speechless while looking at my phone. The screen blared with racial slurs, sexist comments, and combinations of both about me. In September, I was asked by a stranger to participate in a competitive trivia game with my classmate, who is a white male. He won, and despite me saying, “This cannot be shown,” the video was published by the stranger to TikTok without my knowledge or consent. I did not find out until three months later, and the comments were sickening. I stumbled upon the worst one. When a viewer confronted the stranger about why the comment section was so hateful, he said, “I don’t know lol.” He enjoyed any kind of engagement. All his videos consisted of women being questioned trivia-style, and the comments were always degrading. He knows that being a student at the University of Maryland, College Park, especially first-year, means we are smart and tenacious. Rather than defending us, he played along with his audience because, to him, all publicity is good publicity. It was at that moment that I understood the power of my career. The stereotypical narrative of the ditsy pretty woman or the aggressive Black woman is constantly pushed to the forefront of Hollywood. If there is an accomplished woman in Hollywood, she is sexualized. If she is wealthy, the media highlights how a man must have gotten her there, either through romance or inheritance. Black women are viewed similarly but seen as aggressive and undesirable. The people behind these portrayals are often publicists, because they believe all publicity is good publicity, even when they present women as laughingstocks and sex symbols instead of highlighting their knowledge and value. As a communications major, I plan to wash these narratives out by putting more smart, tenacious, and talented women at the forefront of the media and maintaining their image as such, particularly Black women. Women need someone who understands them on a personal level to help navigate media and societal pressures from men. Publicists often lack connection to the struggles their clients face because they have not experienced what their client has. Though 73% of publicists are women, only 12.2% are Black women. Black women are encouraged to be loud and funny, and generally women are encouraged to show more skin for attention and act dumb. Seeing the hate comments on TikTok showed me firsthand how deeply threatened people can be by women succeeding, most painfully, by Black women succeeding. As a future publicist, I plan to amplify female entrepreneurs and creatives by securing their presence at major events like the Met Gala and award shows, arranging interviews, and ensuring their expertise, not their appearance, is what the public sees. Women deserve to be as visible, respected, and celebrated as their male counterparts who fill these spaces. To represent high-achieving women, I must also embody excellence. I have worked since I was fifteen and saved my earnings for school. I graduated high school as the only Black woman in my class to earn summa cum laude while simultaneously completing an associate’s degree in business ethics. I have interned at a creative marketing agency with A-list clients and recently became a business owner by launching my own magazine. My career goals will lead me to New York City or Los Angeles—both expensive but necessary hubs for networking and growth. With your support, I can relocate to these environments and work to reshape the way women, especially Black women, are perceived in the media.

Hey Alexa, play IT Girl (clean version) by Aliyah’s Interlude. The actress Yara Shahidi once said, “If you can see her, you can be her.” I see an IT girl and what's so cool about her is her faith in God and herself, her confidence but humbleness, her high-maintenance appearance, and most importantly, her growth: mindset. Becoming this woman was and still is not easy. Growing up in a Black-American household and a Liberian household, it was expected of me to work towards a job in the STEM field. When I told my parents I wanted to work in fashion, they instantly shot my dream down by telling me I would not be able to support myself in the future and that it was a waste of my intelligence. Though I wanted to prove them wrong, I still found it necessary to take their advice. So I worked hard at school to get a full-ride scholarship for college, took dual enrollment classes at my local community college that center around business management, enrolled in as many fashion school webinars about business from FIDM to Parsons, and started my own virtual styling business. Over time, I started ignoring the fashion aspect of business out of self-doubt and fear over my future and the financial sacrifices I would have to make to grow. I thought it was best to get a high-paying office job and do real estate on the side. This was the plan until one Sunday. This life-altering lesson occurred at the church and the scripture was (Matthew 21:18-22). As my pastor extraordinarily explained this by breaking the text down to us and the crowd, he said, “Focus on the fruit, not the fear.” Those six words formed together were so powerful that I tried to get back into fashion. I emailed an up-and-coming brand from my state asking to be an intern and when she said yes, I knew it was meant to be. I was blessed enough to see and learn the ins and outs of running a brand and what people need. Then I took two fashion courses at LIM College summer camp. When I was there, self-doubt feelings, and thoughts came slithering on me like a dirty snake. I felt so different as I was the only black woman. The lack of diversity inspired me to help Black creatives who want to start a business, but do not know how to. Starting a creative agency centered catered towards Black creatives would give them the voice they never had, and full creative freedom. This dream may seem wild but I am only 17 and through hard work I have made pretty strong connections in the fashion industry. When I leave this world, I want to see Black fashion designers and fashion students feeling confident in themselves and standing out because they saw a sister like me do it first.

May 7th, 2018, Blake Lively slid into her Versace dress that took 600 hours (about 3 and a half weeks) to assemble, Chris Appleton put his perfecting touches on Kim K’s sleek ponytail, Rihanna added the last touch to her makeup with her pink frosty lip gloss, and by 6 pm EST the world was amazed. The 2018 Heavenly Bodies was the best Met Gala because it was the first- and only-time guests followed a theme. This theme was all about Catholicism, which is an exceptionally beautiful theme. Not only are traditional Catholics fashionable but cathedrals are truly one of a kind. The interior and exterior represent the stories of the bible and the beauty of the religion. Guests were able to show the culture of Catholicism through their ensembles. The best-dressed woman of the night was Zendaya! That night she gave us a history lesson about the powerful Saint catholic, Joan of Arc. The actor was styled by the infamous stylist, Law Roach and the dress was custom made by Versace. Her metallic ensemble featured an armored neck-and-shoulder piece, sparkling chainmail, a spiked belt, and a modest train. Zendaya’s look was sexy but modest which made this feel like a salute to the beautiful saint, rather than being disrespectful. The best-dressed man of the night was Chadwick Boseman! The Black Panther actor looked like true royalty. Versace put on his white suit with gold embellishments and paired it with a white cape. His stylist did an exceptional job of incorporating the theme into Boseman’s style and image. He tends to have a classy style and he wears fitted clothes. The cape and gold detailing on his white ensemble resembled the menswear in the catholic monarchies. This correlated perfectly with his breakthrough role as King T'challa, in the movie, Black Panther. The worst dressed was Scarlett Johansson, her dress was not only hideous, but it was controversial. Her dress was designed by Marchesa, which was co-founded by Harvey Weinstein’s ex-wife, Georgina Chapman. In 2017, numerous women and even some Hollywood stars came out about the sexual misconduct they received from Harvey Weinstein. Though Chapman had nothing to do with her ex-husband’s actions, it happened a year ago, and it seemed insensitive. The brunette bob laid horribly on her warm-toned skin and the maroon-colored dress did not do any justice as well. On that night, there was a crowd of powerful outfits that caught the eyes of so many. It outweighed Scarlett Johansson's abominable look. This never happened during any Met Gala, which makes this one the best. I cannot wait to see what is in store for this year’s Met Gala! Thank you for taking the time to read this!

“Jordan, that’s so cool!” I constantly hear that when I tell people about my extracurriculars, which are virtual styling and personal shopping. Most of the time, they focus on the part that my extracurriculars have to do with fashion. But the cool part to me is that I boost the confidence of people who have been deemed as “undesirable” due to societal standards. During my experience with virtual styling and personal shopping, I quickly learned that this was my passion, my natural high, and my purpose. It also sharpened my skills in leadership, listening, time management, and most importantly, entrepreneurship. In 2020, I decided to develop an Instagram page where I would post outfits that I style and promote my services. I had a quiz to learn more about my clients and a consultation as well. From there, I would go online shopping to find clothing and accessories, style them as an outfit, and present it as an outfit. Unlike many other styling pages, my services were free, and I served all body types and catered to everyone’s budget. Initially, it was arduous to obtain clients because I was new to virtual styling and personal shopping. I knew the only solution was to build a following. So, each day, I made it a goal to give 110% in every outfit I styled and posted. I diligently paid attention to hashtags and who people were following on Instagram, to attract an audience. I felt immensely proud doing this because this is what I needed when I was in my early teens. At the time, I had exceptionally low self-esteem due to bullying and my style reflected that. A confidence boost was something that everyone needed after being in quarantine for months. Two clients stuck with me and helped me realize my impact. Let us call them Jessica and Cole. Jessica was a plus-size teen who struggled to find outfits because they could not afford them, and it hurt their self-esteem. So, when they called, I came to their rescue. For days I would search on every website for clothing items that they liked and could afford. I would do this in the morning, during class, and even till night! A few months after my services, they messaged me again thanking me and telling me how confident they felt in their skin! This was the moment I realized that this extracurricular was impactful. Another client that helped me realize this was Cole. Cole was a gay teenage boy in a conservative household. Not only could he express his sexuality but his clothing choices as well. So, I assembled some outfits that he would love but also that his parents would accept. In the end, he ended up messaging me about how free he felt and how grateful he was because of my services. We even became friends! I am deeply passionate about virtual styling and personal shopping because I love fashion. It gives people the opportunity to experiment with their identity and to express themselves. Most importantly, I love my extracurriculars because it boosts the confidence of others and myself.

Yara Shahidi once said, "If you can see her, you can be her." When I see my future, I see myself traveling overseas every year, I see myself being an entrepreneur and dominating my work field, I see myself giving to others whether it is my family or a person in need. When I see my future, I see myself with my dream car, my dream house, and my dream closet and money won't hold me back from obtaining these assets. To become "her" I must go through the hardest financial crisis 70% of Americans face, college. Therefore, it is my goal to graduate college debt-free. This is important to me because I do not want to live a traditional lifestyle. I want to express my creativity by creating all types of art such as clothes, films, furniture pieces, sculptures, writing, drawings, and paintings. I'd also like to establish a museum one day. My parents have very different views, they want me to live a traditional lifestyle. An example of this is them wanting me to become a doctor. We have already discussed my dreams for myself and their dreams for me but we can not agree. This made me doubt my dreams until I joined a webinar. My dream school, Parsons School of Design interviewed the founder of AfroBrutality, Syn Martinez. He had just launched a partnership with Puma and he told the story of how the partnership happened, how to build a brand, and what learned in the business of fashion. At the end of the webinar, he told viewers if they had any questions or needed advice to message him on Instagram. I messaged him on Instagram, asking for advice on my dream and if I should not pursue it or to without my parent's support. He told me I should listen to myself but also my parents. I should take into consideration what they said but also follow my dreams. Mr. Syn told me I could work towards my dream now. I took what he said to heart and created a plan. I looked for other job occupations that interested me and it was Real Estate due to my love for interior and exterior design and my great charisma skills. I also started to save up for art school after high school because I know my parents are not a huge fan of art school either. They also will not support me financially either after getting or pursuing a degree in art. Putting myself through art school will help me break into the creative industry. Even though it is risky and expensive, I am willing to take that risk but I also do not want to be trapped in debt. That is why I need to graduate college debt-free. So I can express my creativity and have a museum without living paycheck to paycheck. This will have a positive impact on society because I will help other creatives in this world, that are in the same situation as me. I want to give away scholarship money to students in art school, no matter if they are old or young. I want to exhibit artists' work at my museum and help them get into the art industry. I want them to see someone who never struggled financially as an artist in the beginning and continued like that. My vision will inspire a new generation of artists.