user profile avatar

Mariah Smith

2,345

Bold Points

14x

Nominee

1x

Winner

Bio

A present sophomore at Michigan State University, I vividly recall the day I decided I was going to be successful. Having just begun my journey at Jackson High School, I can pinpoint the moment my geometry teacher drilled into me that I am smart; something I was not accustomed to hearing at home. Every day from then on I made it a point to challenge myself to do more. I ultimately graduated with eight academic honors and through my dedication to academic success, I am currently a member of my university’s dean's list. While the college experience has brought to life some of my greatest aspirations, in the same breath the subtle notion that I am a minority seems to continuously seep into my daily life. A current student at a PWI, I have personally felt the ache of feeling invisible at a school that was never designed for my presence. Sitting in a classroom of almost 300, I can nearly count on two hands the kids with kinky hair and melanin embedded skin like my own. As discouraging as it is, I use at as fuel to continue on. The oldest of fifteen, I am a role model to over a dozen little faces who look to me as an example. I pave the way, hoping they will follow - breaking generational curses one by one. This is for my siblings who look up to me, my late father who never got to see me grow up, my grandmother who never got to go to college, and more than anything, this is for me. I am confident that with help from your foundation, I can be the successful woman I have always been destined to be.

Education

Michigan State University-College of Law

Bachelor's degree program
2019 - 2023

Michigan State University-College of Law

Bachelor's degree program
2019 - 2023
  • Majors:
    • Social Sciences, Other
  • Minors:
    • Organizational Leadership

Miscellaneous

  • Desired degree level:

  • Graduate schools of interest:

  • Transfer schools of interest:

  • Majors of interest:

  • Not planning to go to medical school
  • Career

    • Dream career field:

      Human Resources

    • Dream career goals:

      To connect people of color with fruitful career opportunities that could ultimately change their lives forever.

    • Committee member/Facilitator

      School Of HRLR Diversity, Equity And Inclusion Committee
      2020 – Present4 years
    • Intercultural Aide

      MSU/MRULE Intercultural Aide's
      2020 – 2020
    • Student Success Mentor

      NSSC
      2020 – Present4 years
    • Crew Member

      Little Caesars
      2016 – 20171 year
    • Server, hostess, to-go

      Applebees
      2017 – Present7 years

    Arts

    • Orchestra

      Music
      player
      2011 – 2019

    Public services

    • Volunteering

      Michigan State University Day of service — Mentor
      2020 – 2020
    • Volunteering

      Henry Ford allegiance health — Volunteer
      2018 – 2019

    Future Interests

    Advocacy

    Politics

    Volunteering

    Entrepreneurship

    First Generation College Student Scholarship
    Winner
    A product of two black parents, I came into this world with the nearly inevitable kinky hair and melanin embedded skin. Faithfully, every three weeks I’d sit between my grandmother's legs as she’d apply a relaxer to my roots and strip away every kink she could find. You knew it was working when you could feel the heat begin to burn your scalp and just when you couldn’t bear it anymore, it was time to wash it out. In the end, you ended up with the “desirable” bone straight hair and it felt like it was worth it. Most of my earliest memories are associated with a seemingly similar dull ache. However, in those cases, the pain couldn’t just be washed away. Instead, it consumed me - with no “prize” to be given or even an ending. Rooting from maternal abandonment, sexual assault, and eventually, my father's death when I was five, the greatest challenge I have ever faced has been simply existing. When you lose your parents young, it is not at that moment that the impact becomes clear. Without the emotional maturity to even comprehend death, or the ability to understand why your favorite person doesn't want you, it’s almost impossible to express those feelings with others. Instead, I blew off life. My grades were awful, I was destructive, I was angry, I was mourning. Mourning the life I thought I deserved and filled with hatred for the cards I was dealt. It was not until I got to high school and met the geometry teacher Paul Brunngraeber that my life changed forever. It was in room 316 that I first discovered that I was smart. A word I was not accustomed to hearing at home, Mr.B constantly reassured me that I was only filling myself with doubt when in reality I was more than capable of everything I desired. Every day from then on, I challenged myself to do more. Not only did I hold a job all of high school, but I was also a member of an array of student organizations, made time to volunteer, and even bought my first car. I ultimately graduated with eight academic honors and through my dedication to success, I am currently a sophomore at Michigan State University with a 3.8 GPA. Ten-year-old Mariah, wouldn't even recognize the woman I have become. While my greatest tribulations have been some of the very reasons I wanted to give up, they have simultaneously been the very foundation of my tower of success. The love and light that pours out of me today is a direct result of all the times I needed it and I felt as if no one could give it to me. Truthfully, you have to dig yourself out of depression. There will be days where it feels like it is impossible, and you’ll want to give up, but it is in those moments that you are only being tested. My heart aches for people who couldn't see the light. The reality is, there never really is a light at the end of the tunnel, you just have to make one. I promise there are kind souls out there who are willing to pick up a shovel with you. If there is one thing that I could tell my younger self, it would be that the dull ache that she feels, that “never-ending pain,” it grows faint. There will come a day where you will no longer dread getting out of bed. There will come a time when you can finally fathom how bright the future is. There will come a time where you are able to receive love, and give it. YOU are the “prize.”