When I was a little girl I had no interest in any aspect of the business or legal world. It didn't seem like a feasible option for me. For as long as I can remember the business world was for rich white men. As far as I was concerned, they ran the race and only passed the baton to each other. High School certainly changed this notion for me, but only slightly. In my freshman year, I embarked on joining the DECA club, a non-profit organization that prepares high school students for careers in business. It was just something most of my classmates were doing and I got out of school for a day so why not? However, on our competition day, I immediately noticed that this was much more than a day out of school pass for the competitors. These were high academic achieving students whose parents emphasized the importance of competition in running the race. I was intimidated. I didn’t win. I didn’t expect to win. After losing, I had flashbacks of my classmates being coached on what to say by our Intro to Business teacher. It all made sense now. How could I win if my classmates were given a cheat sheet, and I didn't even know what to say? Upon graduation, I quickly realized that there were not just cheat sheets in high school, but in real life. Even with all my aspirations of becoming a successful business module I still feel as if sometimes I’m missing the cheat sheet to get ahead. Like myself, many black students are high achieving and being outpaced by others for both discrimination and not having the blueprint to succeed. However, with each black success, there is a wider path for the next. With my education, I intend to extend networking opportunities and employment to black students who are often overlooked. As of now, I work in a Forbes-rated hotel, and my director, a black woman, has opened management positions for other black women that otherwise would not have been considered. This has inspired me to endure the climb so that I too, can be in a position to diversify important spaces. This is why I call it “taking up space”, for many guests at the hotel who are used to a prior version of our hotel, it is sometimes quite obvious that they are taken back by how many black people are in the vicinity, by their facial expressions and remarks. Regardless, it is up to me and others in the field like me to use our leadership to take up space and normalize professionalism and success within our community. I've already begun my networking and I aspire to forward my baton to the next generation of black business leaders.