I have been accustomed to living in the margins. As a First-Generation, Low-Income, Black Mixed-Identifying, Student of Color myself, I am no stranger to having many underrepresented intersectional identities. I grew up amidst domestic violence and saw firsthand how even Child Protective Services failed to save me. Sadly, I was controlled and abused and had nowhere to turn but the safety of my school. At school, I thrived. I took on this new identity as a student and ran with it. From an unheard-of 2-time recipient of the Student of the Year award in middle school, to now being a four-time Dean’s Honors List recipient at UC Berkeley, I can say that I have worked hard to escape my past and create a new life for myself. This is when I saw the power of education and where it could take someone even as hopeless as myself. I know what it is like to have to learn in a system that is not built for you and I want to use my adversities and accomplishments to inform how I support the next generation of learners. Every child deserves to be a student and deserves to be a student that is heard. My goal is to uplift all youth voices and especially those that are not traditionally listened to and accommodate learning styles rather than reject unconformity. There are many identities that I do not claim that I challenge myself to learn more from every day. Learning should be reciprocated and I aim to learn from my students just as much as they learn from me. I believe teaching has one of the grandest impacts on a child’s development. I want to be a role model and a glimpse of hope for these students no matter their circumstances and show them that learning can be fun and fruitful and that they are deserving of their dreams and aspirations. I have yet to have a Black teacher and I aspire to be an inspiration for Black youth so that they can see a role model who looks like them. I have had the opportunity to advocate for Black resources on campus at Cal and strive to continue to advocate for safe spaces for Black students. Learning is achievable for every student. I believe in a growth mindset and completely understand how different backgrounds and identities can change how students learn. Studying Sociology and Education at Cal and courses such as “Research in Education: Studying Educational Inequality and Possibility”, “Sociology of Childhood”, and “Education in a Global World” have opened my eyes to the inequities in the American public school system. Instead of reinforcing the opportunity gaps for students, I plan to level the playing field so that students from nondominant communities can experience growth in social and cultural capital. It is remembering what little I came from and seeing now what I can do for the next generation that inspired me to join Teach for America and begin working as an elementary school teacher in Los Angeles after graduating this May. I have been working toward this goal for years with substitute teaching experience in underrepresented classrooms in Emeryville Unified and working as a mentor for BIPOC, First-Generation, and Low-Income students at UC Berkeley. I am excited to use this opportunity to further my passion for uplifting marginalized voices in hopes of inspiring the next generation of learners that they can do anything.