On campus I am pretty involved with the Black Student Association, the National Society of Black Engineers, the President’s Leadership Class, Crimson Club, and the Henderson Scholars.
OU is a place that has always inspired me to be better because OU has always been a campus that has invested in me. From senior year of high school till now, OU has always been a place that opened some doors that I never thought could be opened for me. I was always taught that people are blessed to be a blessing, so as I climb I should then reach back and pull someone with me.
A lot of campuses love to say that their schools are places full of family and community, but when you get on the campus it's cold and dry. From the very first time that I stepped on OU’s campus as a sophomore in high school way before I was even looking at colleges, this place naturally felt like home. It felt comfortable just seeing people and walking this campus, almost as if I belonged here. As I started looking at and applying to schools my senior year it seemed like every time I was leaning toward another campus, OU came with another opportunity and another plus toward being a Sooner. I’ve never felt like an outsider on this campus despite being a minority student. The Sooner family is exactly what it sounds like, a family.
Football! I love OU football, and it’s so easy to cheer for one of the best programs in the nation. But outside of that I would have to say the student life. There is always something happening on campus, and it’s so easy to get involved or just find something to do on the weekend. From free movies to free food to concerts to Greek showcases, there’s never a boring weekend with nothing to do.
If you had asked me when I graduated high school if I would move to a college town and start a new life here, I would’ve said you were crazy and that Houston would forever be my home. Moving to Norman was definitely a transition, but leaving my home state is one of the best decisions I’ve ever made in my entire life. I feel like me staying in Texas would have caused me to keep some form of dependency on my parents and I really wanted to use college as a way to come into my own. Now I can say that Houston will forever be my hometown and one true love, but as of right now I live in Norman and that’s where my life and my friends and my newfound family is, and I wouldn’t change that for the world. Moving to Oklahoma has caused me to adjust not only to being in school but being in a new environment in the best way possible because it was unfamiliar territory that I had the opportunity to figure out and am still figuring out. It’s an added adventure to move out of state, and I loved the opportunity.
Coming to OU, moving away from home, and starting a new life was by far the hardest thing I’ve ever done but it’s simultaneously the best decision I’ve ever made. OU is not the most perfect school in the world but it is perfect for me. It gives me countless opportunities to grow and push myself toward being a better student, friend, daughter, and woman and I wouldn’t change it for anything. I have met my forever friends and mentors that have invested so much into me, and all I can do is give that same love and care to someone else. I tried hard to deny the fact that this was home for me because it seemed almost too easy for me to find a campus that accepted me with open arms and an open heart, but OU has a way of getting in your mind and your heart and never letting go. December 3, 2017 is a day I will always remember - it was the day I knew I would be a Sooner and I’ve never looked back. I had other options and schools that I could’ve attended, but OU made it impossible to deny that this is where I belonged and this is where I needed to be. I’ve never regretted my decision, and OU continues to show me everyday why this is the place for me and there’s no other school that mattered.
