When I sing I don’t go for a humble tune or a quiet melody, I like to burst the ear drums of anyone in a 10 foot radius of me. However, those closest to me will forgive me because they know that singing is my largest outlet of pain. As a young college student entering my second year of University, I’ve had my fair share of pain, from nights where I can’t afford dinner to days where I am too depressed to make it to class. Despite these hardships, singing and music are two things that allow me to divert my pain and feel joyous again. Music shows me that you need to go through hard times to grow, and growth is the most beautiful thing there is. Sometimes boosting my optimism is as simple as shuffling through my highly specific Spotify playlists and absorbing the lyrics. Sometimes I am looking for a song that can articulate my feelings and help me release them, and sometimes I just want to hear Beyoncé sing about being a Single Lady. Either way, music and singing along helps me to stay focused on what makes me happy in life while also taking time to reflect on my feelings. This way, I can address my emotions in a healthy way while also working towards a brighter future. From this I’ve learned that when you are in pain, it is important to remember that your feelings are valid no matter what the situation is, and that your only responsibility is to try and take steps to heal and learn from the situation. Just sing and be happy!

Without trailblazing souls like the Boyntons, I would not have a platform to help empower my community. Amelia Boynton Robinson and Samuel Boynton were pioneers in the battle for equal voting rights for African Americans and fighters for a more transparent and equitable government. They were not only key in getting the Voting Rights Act of 1965 passed, but their legacy on the Civil Rights Movement still stands to this day. Samuel Boynton passed in 1963, however Amelia Boynton would go on to live out their dreams and goals as she not only became the first Black woman to run for office in Alabama, but was invited by the President to witness the signing of the Voting Rights Act. Amelia Boynton recognized discriminatory practices that bothered her and decided she wouldn’t rest until things changed. It is this exact mindset that enabled me to wake up and push for change in my city of Philadelphia. For the past two years, I have worked to organize and run dozens of voter registration drives and community events orchestrated to help members of the greater Philadelphia area empower themselves to demand change and learn about their civic duties. I also had the privilege to work as a Founding Member of the Black Philly Students Alliance, in which I advocated for better in-school conditions for Black students in my district. In my opinion, advocacy is not being another person's voice or telling them how to use their’s, but using your privilege to provide tools to marginalized communities and showing them how to use said tools to better their condition. Social justice depends on this kind of advocacy to be beneficial to those in need. Amelia Boynton was able to help expand the voting rights of millions of African Americans, with the effects lasting years to come. By empowering our community, she is engrained in history as an advocate. I recognize that her having a degree was definitely a beneficial tool in her fight. Because my predecessors fought so hard to have an education and use said education to fight for our rights, I find it imperative to get my education too. I want to graduate with a degree in Chemistry so that I can use science to help support my community even further and expand STEM opportunities to young children of color in Philly. I can only hope to one day have a fraction of the Boynton impact.

One of my favorite conversations I’ve ever had was with a middle-aged man who was fresh out of jail as we stood outside of a Shoprite on a 90-degree day. This memory is forever implanted in my mind, partially because of its spontaneous nature, but mostly because of how much the conversation warmed my heart and pushed me to help my community empower itself. For the last two years, I’ve worked with my peers and mentors to engage my fellow Philadelphians in their civic duties, particularly in the form of voting and holding elected officials accountable. We typically do this in the form of voter registration drives, social media outreach, and public speeches. Running voter registration drives is exactly how I ended up talking to this man outside of a Shop Rite on a hot Philly summer afternoon. As he walked briskly to do his grocery shopping, I stopped him and asked whether or not he was registered to vote. To my surprise, he responded that he didn’t have the right to vote. This led to us having a 15 minute discussion in which he found out that, despite being considered a felon, under Pennsylvania law, he was well within his right to cast a ballot. It made my day to know that he would be able to make his voice heard in this way. To me, advocacy is that conversation. Advocacy is not being another person's voice or telling them how to use their’s, but using your privilege to provide tools to marginalized communities and showing them how to use said tools to better their condition. Social justice depends on this kind of advocacy to be beneficial to those in need. Other ways I have given back to my community are through my work as a Founding Member of the Black Philly Students Alliance in which I advocated for better in-school conditions for Black students in my district, or through my apprenticeship at the John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge learning about making STEM careers accessible to People of Color. However, I would say the list of ways in which my community has given me and inspired me is much longer. My community was a large factor in my choice to apply to an HBCU, as every day in Philly I see the beauty and resilience amongst the African American community. Our culture is so beautiful and vast, and I felt as though I couldn’t truly serve it without going to an HBCU and embracing the African diaspora. For me, a degree from an HBCU holds more weight as it is a rich and complex experience that prepares you to not only advance in your career but as a young Black person. It is my honor to attend Howard University and I hope I can continue to serve communities amongst the Black diaspora for my entire lifetime.