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Yakob Lemma

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Finalist

General information

Hobbies & Interests

  • Music
  • Volunteering
  • Community Service And Volunteering
  • Lacrosse
  • Psychology
  • Mental Health
  • Social Justice
  • Advocacy And Activism

Reading

  • Social Issues

I read books multiple times a week.

Bio

I am committed to dismantling systemic inequities, particularly those affecting Black male communities. My journey began with leading the “Black Students Matter” protest and founding a coalition to unite students against systemic racism in education. This activism highlighted the importance of addressing root causes, but it also brought significant risks leading to burnout. These experiences led me to step back from frontline protests and consider how to create long-term, sustainable change. During this period, I worked as a youth development counselor in a predominantly Black, low-income neighborhood. I facilitated programs promoting leadership and positive racial identity. Witnessing the impact of these programs deepened my interest in how systemic inequities affect youth development and inspired me to research solutions for these challenges. Through my research experiences, I found new ways to address inequities through policy. By evaluating youth programs and coding interviews with educators, I saw firsthand how research can drive meaningful changes for underserved communities. This work showed me that research, like activism, has the power to promote social justice. I now aim to combine activism with research by pursuing a Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology. My goal is to become a therapist, researcher, and professor dedicated to dismantling the school-to-prison pipeline, offering mental health support, and reducing stigma in underserved communities. I hope to create lasting, positive impacts for marginalized youth through this work.

Education

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Bachelor's degree program

2021 – 2025

Majors:
  • Human Development, Family Studies, and Related Services
  • Psychology, General

Enloe High

High School

2017 – 2021

Miscellaneous

Desired degree level:
Doctoral degree program (PhD, MD, JD, etc.)
Graduate schools of interest:
University of Maryland-College Park, University of California-Los Angeles, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Stanford University, Northwestern College

Career

  • Intern

    Education · Carolina Friends School

    Jan 2023 – Jan 2023

  • Election Canvasser Phone Banker

    Non-Profit Organization Management · Scale For Change

    Jan 2022 – Jan 2022

  • Summer Camp Counselor, Before and After School Counselor

    Non-Profit Organization Management · YMCA

    Jan 2021 – Jan 2022

  • Intern

    Hospital & Health Care · NAF- Optum

    Jan 2020 – Jan 2020

  • Summer Camp Counselor

    Youth Mentor · YMCA

    Jan 2021 – Jan 2021

  • Cashier

    Retail · Hamricks

    Jan 2020 – Jan 2021

Miscellaneous

Dream career field:
Research
Dream career goals:
Counseling Psychologist, Academia
Has nursing license:
No

Future Interests

  • Advocacy
  • Volunteering
  • Philanthropy
Bold Community Activist Scholarship
The summer of 2020 was possibly the most emotional I have ever been. I was hurt and angry at the systemic racism I see on a daily basis. I am sick and tired of seeing innocent Black men die on the news every day. It made me realize that every single thing in America is built to oppress minorities, it is clear in our legal systems, hospitals, and especially in our education systems. I recognize that as a student in Wake County I see my own peers getting criminalized by School Resource Officers every day. So I took initiative and along with a friend I Co-Founded the Wake County Black Student Coalition, a coalition of students dedicated to ending the school-to-prison pipeline and fighting the systemic racism in our education systems. We have held multiple different student-led protests over the summer expressing that Black Students Matter. As a founder and member of the WCBSC, our jobs are to change our community through respect and hope for a better future for our schools. We spent our summer organizing student-led protests in the streets of downtown Raleigh. When not in the streets, we were writing emails, researching budgets, looking up contracts, and exploring why curricula do not include authentic African-American participation and achievement in all aspects of our country. We developed a demand list called “The Big 5”. Our 5 demands include the abolition of SROs and replacing them with social psychologists and therapists, staff accountability and having teachers and admin go through racial training, having active Black Student Unions in every school as our minorities need a platform to speak on, a safe and organized way to report sexual harassment, and we demand that Black and Indigenous history gets included into all curricula.
Ruth and Johnnie McCoy Memorial Scholarship
My name is Yakob Lemma, I am a freshman student at UNC-Chapel Hill and a huge mental health advocate. I am not afraid of standing up for what I believe in and am a huge social justice activist. Sophomore year was my first year attempting to run for student council. I needed a campaign slogan but I had no idea what to make it. After talking with a bunch of my friends and family, I decided to base it off who I am. I love making others smile and helping them see the light in every dark situation, so I thought “Be Happy, Vote Yakob”. So I created an Instagram account for it and posted every day spreading good energy. When election day came I won, but I knew I did not want the Be Happy Movement to die just because I won the position on Student Government. It became a special part of me. I got invested in making sure I can do all that I can to make others smile. When quarantine began I saw everyone around me sad and alone; so I decided to create a podcast called the Be Happy Podcast where I speak on topics such as Self Love, Mental Health, and just giving reasons to smile. Knowing that I have the power to make someone else smile makes me feel so amazing. I truly feel like my purpose in this world is to spread love and positivity, and I am ready to serve that. On May 25th, 2020 George Floyd was murdered due to white supremacy. Because of this, staying positive was a huge challenge for me. I was very depressed and angered for a while, I soon realized that I was capable of empowering both myself and others, so I used anger and pain as fuel for action. I took initiative and started the Wake County Black Student Coalition, uniting Wake County students to help end systemic racism and the oppression of all black people, by educating our community and the surrounding communities collectively. Our goal as a coalition has become to ensure that all WCPSS student voices are heard loud and clear; and that everyone has an equal opportunity to thrive regardless of their race or ethnicity. We spent our summer organizing student-led protests in the streets of downtown Raleigh. Over the summer, I realized how powerful I really am; I want to continue fighting for what is right. I don’t want to have to give my children the same frightening talk my parents gave me. I want my kids and others to grow up in a world where I don’t have to tell them that their melanin is a burden. I want people to be able to pursue the same unconditional happiness that I once idolized, regardless of the color of their skin. I am a psychology major and I plan on becoming a mental health therapist so I can be a person that people can talk to no matter the situation, especially for people of color. Black mental health is so important and it is vital that we have more black people in these fields to have representation.
Brandon Zylstra Road Less Traveled Scholarship
All my life I’ve always been an optimistic person. Full of love and happiness, I wanted the whole world to be full of sunshine. As a member of Junior Advisory for Student Government, I started an organization called the “Be Happy Movement,” and what originally started as a student council slogan turned into a part of me that I cannot live without. On May 25, 2020, George Floyd, another black man, was murdered due to white supremacy. As a result, staying positive became the ultimate challenge for me. I realized that there was nothing scarier than being black in America, daily microaggressions, racial profiling, and being the token black kid in a class full of white and Asian AP students. The consequences of racism forced me to realize that the world is not full of sunshine and happiness for everyone because of disparity. The injustice of being killed for being black was at the forefront of my mind. To say “just be happy” would just be inconsiderate, so I began to focus on the fact that I have to work twice as hard as my peers just to catch up. I soon realized that I was capable of empowering both myself and others, so I used anger and pain as fuel for action. This summer, I gathered twenty to thirty friends of mine and created a charity organization called Raleigh Durham Student Coalition On Racial Equality (RDU SCORE). The purpose of our charity is to raise money and donate all of it to other organizations dedicated to fighting systemic racism and dismantling white supremacy. I led this team to raise over $2,400 that will go to Emancipate NC, an organization providing bail funds to protesters in North Carolina. In spite of our efforts, I still felt like there is more that needs to be done. I am the co-founder of the Wake County Black Student Coalition. We are uniting Wake County students to help end systemic racism and the oppression of all black people, by educating our community and the surrounding communities collectively. Throughout many high schools in Wake County, the sad truth is that we see a disparity in the amount of support for students of color and more specifically, Black students. Our goal as a coalition has become to ensure that all WCPSS student voices are heard loud and clear; and that everyone has an equal opportunity to thrive regardless of their race or ethnicity. As a founder and member of the WCBSC, our jobs are to change our community through respect and hope for a better future for our schools. We spent our summer organizing student-led protests in the streets of downtown Raleigh. When not in the streets, we were writing emails, researching budgets, looking up contracts, and exploring why curricula do not include authentic African-American participation and achievement in all aspects of our country. We scheduled a meeting with three Wake County Board of Education members to share our research and to request that they create better systems to improve racial equity throughout the county. Over the summer, I realized how powerful I really am; I want to continue fighting for what is right. I don’t want to have to give my children the same frightening talk my parents gave me. I want my kids and others to grow up in a world where I don’t have to tell them that their melanin is a burden. I want people to be able to pursue the same unconditional happiness that I once idolized, regardless of the color of their skin.
Pandemic's Box Scholarship
During the COVID-19 pandemic, I learned how to love myself more than ever. Not being able to see anyone has taught me to handle my thoughts alone, although it may have been detrimental to many student’s mental health, it sent me on a spiritual journey. In the beginning of quarantine, I was consumed in social media. I was spending my days only on my phone without leaving my room. I was slowly becoming more unhappy everyday, but I then came across a youtube channel talking about the importance of meditation and “raising your vibration”. So I gave it a try and took 10 minutes to myself to just focus on my breath and my thoughts, no phone, no distractions. Those special 10 minutes rested my mind and put me at true peace. So I decided to take 30 days without social media, and during this time as I disconnected from the world I spent my time in nature and learning how to truly love myself. I learned that in order to have a blissful state of mind, instead of spending my energy on things that don’t matter, I need to be spending more time taking care of myself.
"Your Success" Youssef Scholarship
All my life I’ve always been an optimistic person. Full of love and happiness, I wanted the whole world to be full of sunshine. As a member of Junior Advisory for Student Government, I started an organization called the “Be Happy Movement,” and what originally started as a student council slogan turned into a part of me that I cannot live without. On May 25, 2020, George Floyd, another black man, was murdered due to white supremacy. As a result, staying positive became the ultimate challenge for me. I realized that there was nothing scarier than being black in America. The consequences of racism forced me to realize that the world is not full of sunshine and happiness for everyone because of disparity. The injustice of being killed for being black was at the forefront of my mind. To say “just be happy” would just be inconsiderate, so I began to focus on the fact that I have to work twice as hard as my peers just to catch up. I soon realized that I was capable of empowering both myself and others, so I used anger and pain as fuel for action. This summer, I gathered twenty to thirty friends of mine and created a charity organization called Raleigh Durham Student Coalition On Racial Equality (RDU SCORE). Our charity aims to raise money and donate all of it to other organizations dedicated to fighting systemic racism and dismantling white supremacy. I led this team to raise over $2,400 that will go to Emancipate NC, an organization providing bail funds to protesters in North Carolina. Despite our efforts, I still felt like there is more that needs to be done. I am the co-founder of the Wake County Black Student Coalition. We are uniting Wake County students to help end systemic racism and the oppression of all black people, by educating our community and the surrounding communities collectively. Throughout many high schools in Wake County, the sad truth is that we see a disparity in the amount of support for students of color and more specifically, Black students. Our goal as a coalition has become to ensure that all WCPSS student voices are heard loud and clear; and that everyone has an equal opportunity to thrive regardless of their race or ethnicity. As a founder and member of the WCBSC, our jobs are to change our community through respect and hope for our schools' better future. We spent our summer organizing student-led protests in the streets of downtown Raleigh. When not in the streets, we were writing emails, researching budgets, looking up contracts, and exploring why curricula do not include authentic African-American participation and achievement in our country's aspects. We scheduled a meeting with three Wake County Board of Education members to share our research and to request their consideration of our five major demands: the abolition of school resource officers, a staff accountability system, a platform for black and minority students to speak, a safe and organized system where students can report sexual harassment, and integrating black history into our curriculums. Over the summer, I realized how powerful I really am; I want to continue fighting for what is right. I don’t want to have to give my children the same frightening talk my parents gave me. I want my kids and others to grow up in a world where I don’t have to tell them that their melanin is a burden. I want people to be able to pursue the same unconditional happiness that I once idolized, regardless of the color of their skin.
Undiscovered Brilliance Scholarship for African-Americans
When I was a little boy, I loved reading. I always loved going to the local bookstore. So one day, my father walked me to the bookstore. He gave me a $20 bill, allowed me to hold it, and told me “you can buy whatever you want with this”. As we walked and got closer and closer to the bookstore, we saw an old man sitting outside the store. He had his head buried into his arms, sobbing. It was clear that he was a homeless man, he had his cup out with some change in it and he had a cardboard box laid out flat on the ground with a couple of dirty blankets. So I put the $20 bill in his cup and told him “don’t cry mister, everything will be okay”. He then looked up and a big smile grew on his face. He told me “you are going to do great things in your life, keep being you.” At that moment, I had a huge warm feeling in my heart. I have never been happier in my life than at that moment. That is when I knew that I wanted to help people for the rest of my life. Humans are emotional beings, every decision we make is based on how we are feeling. When we are angry we give off bad energy and when we are happy we make others smile around us. The biggest thing that humans lack is empathy, and the number one thing we disregard is our own mental health. We take care of our work before we take care of ourselves. We wear this mask to show the public that we are okay and happy when in reality we don’t want to tell our problems to others because we feel like a burden, so we hold it all in and end up hurting ourselves. I want to be the person that can truly make a difference in people’s lives by becoming a psychologist. I want to be someone that patients can talk to when they are depressed and sad and help them reach a blissful state of mind. Mental health is the most neglected yet the most important thing we need to acknowledge. Aside from my mental health passions, I have discovered my role as a social justice activist within the last year. This past summer was possibly the most emotional I have ever been. I was hurt and angry at the systemic racism I see daily. I am sick and tired of seeing innocent Black men die on the news every day. It made me realize that every single thing in America is built to oppress minorities, it is clear in our legal systems, hospitals, and especially in our education systems. I recognize that as a student in Wake County I see my own peers getting criminalized by School Resource Officers every day. So I took initiative and along with a friend I Co-Founded the Wake County Black Student Coalition, a coalition of students dedicated to ending the school-to-prison pipeline and fighting the systemic racism in our education systems. We have held 4-5 different student-led protests over the summer expressing that Black Students Matter. We developed a demand list called “The Big 5”. Our 5 demands include the abolition of SROs and replacing them with social psychologists and therapists, staff accountability and having teachers and admin go through racial training, having active Black Student Unions in every school as our minorities need a platform to speak on, a safe and organized way to report sexual harassment, and we demand that Black and Indigenous history gets included into all curricula. I want to create a diverse and inclusive environment for all students in our education systems. Over the summer, I realized how powerful I really am; I want to continue fighting for what is right. I don’t want to have to give my children the same frightening talk my parents gave me. I want my kids and others to grow up in a world where I don’t have to tell them that their melanin is a burden. I want people to be able to pursue the same unconditional happiness that I once idolized, regardless of the color of their skin.
A Sani Life Scholarship
On May 25, 2020, George Floyd, another black man, was murdered due to white supremacy. As a result, staying positive became the ultimate challenge for me. I realized that there was nothing scarier than being black in America, daily microaggressions, racial profiling, and being the token black kid in a class full of white and Asian AP students. The consequences of racism forced me to realize that the world is not full of sunshine and happiness for everyone because of disparity. The injustice of being killed for being black was at the forefront of my mind. To say “just be happy” would just be inconsiderate, so I began to focus on the fact that I have to work twice as hard as my peers just to catch up. I soon realized that I was capable of empowering both myself and others, so I used anger and pain as fuel for action. This summer, I gathered twenty to thirty friends of mine and created a charity organization called Raleigh Durham Student Coalition On Racial Equality (RDU SCORE). The purpose of our charity is to raise money and donate all of it to other organizations dedicated to fighting systemic racism and dismantling white supremacy. I led this team to raise over $2,400 that will go to Emancipate NC, an organization providing bail funds to protesters in North Carolina. In spite of our efforts, I still felt like there is more that needs to be done. I am the co-founder of the Wake County Black Student Coalition. We are uniting Wake County students to help end systemic racism and the oppression of all black people, by educating our community and the surrounding communities collectively. Throughout many high schools in Wake County, the sad truth is that we see a disparity in the amount of support for students of color and more specifically, Black students. Our goal as a coalition has become to ensure that all WCPSS student voices are heard loud and clear; and that everyone has an equal opportunity to thrive regardless of their race or ethnicity. As a founder and member of the WCBSC, our jobs are to change our community through respect and hope for a better future for our schools. We spent our summer organizing student-led protests in the streets of downtown Raleigh. When not in the streets, we were writing emails, researching budgets, looking up contracts, and exploring why curricula do not include authentic African-American participation and achievement in all aspects of our country. We scheduled a meeting with three Wake County Board of Education members to share our research and to request their consideration of our five major demands: the abolition of school resource officers, a staff accountability system, a platform for black and minority students to speak, a safe and organized system where students can report sexual harassment, and integrating black history into our curriculums. Over the summer, I realized how powerful I really am; I want to continue fighting for what is right. I don’t want to have to give my children the same frightening talk my parents gave me. I want my kids and others to grow up in a world where I don’t have to tell them that their melanin is a burden. I want people to be able to pursue the same unconditional happiness that I once idolized, regardless of the color of their skin.
Ethel Hayes Destigmatization of Mental Health Scholarship
When I was a little boy, I loved reading. I always loved going to the local bookstore. So one day, my father walked me to the bookstore. He gave me a $20 bill, allowed me to hold it, and told me “you can buy whatever you want with this”. As we walked and got closer and closer to the bookstore, we saw an old man sitting outside the store. He had his head buried into his arms, sobbing. It was clear that he was a homeless man, he had his cup out with some change in it and he had a cardboard box laid out flat on the ground with a couple of dirty blankets. So I put the $20 bill in his cup and told him “don’t cry mister, everything will be okay”. He then looked up and a big smile grew on his face. He told me “you are going to do great things in your life, keep being you.” At that moment, I had a huge warm feeling in my heart. I have never been happier in my life than at that moment. That is when I knew that I wanted to help people for the rest of my life. Humans are emotional beings, every decision we make is based on how we are feeling. When we are angry we give off bad energy and when we are happy we make others smile around us. The biggest thing that humans lack is empathy, and the number one thing we disregard is our own mental health. We take care of our work before we take care of ourselves. We wear this mask to show the public that we are okay and happy when in reality we don’t want to tell our problems to others because we feel like a burden, so we hold it all in and end up hurting ourselves. I want to be the person that can truly make a difference in people’s lives by becoming a psychologist. I want to be someone that patients can talk to when they are depressed and sad and help them reach a blissful state of mind. Mental health is the most neglected yet the most important thing we need to acknowledge.
Elevate Mental Health Awareness Scholarship
When I was a little boy, I loved reading. I always loved going to the local bookstore. So one day, my father walked me to the bookstore. He gave me a $20 bill, allowed me to hold it, and told me “you can buy whatever you want with this”. As we walked and got closer and closer to the bookstore, we saw an old man sitting outside the store. He had his head buried into his arms, sobbing. It was clear that he was a homeless man, he had his cup out with some change in it and he had a cardboard box laid out flat on the ground with a couple of dirty blankets. So I put the $20 bill in his cup and told him “don’t cry mister, everything will be okay”. He then looked up and a big smile grew on his face. He told me “you are going to do great things in your life, keep being you.” At that moment, I had a huge warm feeling in my heart. I have never been happier in my life than at that moment. That is when I knew that I wanted to help people for the rest of my life. Sophomore year was my first year attempting to run for student council, I needed a campaign slogan but I had no idea what to make it. After talking with a bunch of my friends and family, I decided to base it off who I am. I love making others smile and helping them see the light in every dark situation, so I thought “Be Happy, Vote Yakob”. So I created a special Instagram account for it and posted every day spreading out good energy and when election day came I won, but I knew I did not want the Be Happy Movement to die just because I won the position on Student Government. So I continued to make posts every single day, it became a special part of me. I got invested in making sure I can do all that I can to make others smile. When quarantine began, I saw everyone around me sad and alone because they are not used to being alone for a long period of time. So I decided to create a podcast called the Be Happy Podcast where I speak on topics such as Self Love, Mental Health, and just giving reasons to smile. Knowing that I have the power to make someone else smile makes me feel so amazing. I truly feel like my purpose in this world is to spread love and positivity, and I am ready to serve that. Humans are emotional beings, every decision we make is based on how we are feeling. When we are angry we give off bad energy and when we are happy we make others smile around us. The biggest thing that humans lack is empathy, and the number one thing we disregard is our own mental health. We take care of our work before we take care of ourselves. We wear this mask to show the public that we are okay and happy when in reality we don’t want to tell our problems to others because we feel like a burden, so we hold it all in and end up hurting ourselves. I want to be the person that can truly make a difference in people’s lives by becoming a psychologist. I want to be someone that patients can talk to when they are depressed and sad and help them reach a blissful state of mind. Mental health is the most neglected yet the most important thing we need to acknowledge.
Impact Scholarship for Black Students
When I was a little boy, I loved reading. I always loved going to the local bookstore. So one day, my father walked me to the bookstore. He gave me a $20 bill, allowed me to hold it and told me “you can buy whatever you want with this”. As we walked and got closer and closer to the bookstore, we saw an old man sitting outside the store. He had his head buried into his arms, sobbing. It was clear that he was a homeless man, he had his cup out with some change in it and he had a cardboard box laid out flat on the ground with a couple of dirty blankets. So I put the $20 bill in his cup and told him “don’t cry mister, everything will be okay”. He then looked up and a big smile grew on his face. He told me “you are going to do great things in your life, keep being you.” At that moment, I had a huge warm feeling in my heart. I have never been happier in my life than at that moment. That is when I knew that I wanted to help people for the rest of my life. Humans are emotional beings, every decision we make is based on how we are feeling. When we are angry we give off bad energy and when we are happy we make others smile around us. The biggest thing that humans lack is empathy, and the number one thing we disregard is our own mental health. We take care of our work before we take care of ourselves. We wear this mask to show the public that we are okay and happy when in reality we don’t want to tell our problems to others because we feel like a burden, so we hold it all in and end up hurting ourselves. I want to be the person that can truly make a difference in people’s lives by becoming a psychologist. I want to be someone that patients can talk to when they are depressed and sad and help them reach a blissful state of mind. Mental health is the most neglected yet the most important thing we need to acknowledge. Aside from my mental health passions, I have discovered my role as a social justice activist within the last year. This past summer was possibly the most emotional I have ever been. I was hurt and angry at the systemic racism I see on a daily basis. I am sick and tired of seeing innocent Black men die on the news every day. It made me realize that every single thing in America is built to oppress minorities, it is clear in our legal systems, hospitals, and especially in our education systems. I recognize that as a student in Wake County I see my own peers getting criminalized by School Resource Officers every day. So I took initiative and along with a friend I Co-Founded the Wake County Black Student Coalition, a coalition of students dedicated to ending the school-to-prison pipeline and fighting the systemic racism in our education systems. We have held 4-5 different student-led protests over the summer expressing that Black Students Matter. We developed a demand list called “The Big 5”. Our 5 demands include the abolition of SROs and replacing them with social psychologists and therapists, staff accountability and having teachers and admin go through racial training, having active Black Student Unions in every school as our minorities need a platform to speak on, a safe and organized way to report sexual harassment, and we demand that Black and Indigenous history gets included into all curricula. I want to create a diverse and inclusive environment for all students in our education systems.
Yakob Lemma Student Profile | Bold.org