A former student of mine is still breaking barriers and defeating the odds. These empowering words to Black girls in Georgia schools are written by Ashley Sheats, an Applied Linguistics senior at Georgia State University.
Since attending Atlanta Public Schools and being an Alumni of Carver Early College High School, I’ve always set my own standard.
Now, I am enjoying the perks of being a college student.
And guess what?
I’m preparing to graduate!
Black Girls Can Graduate in 3 Years From College Too!
I have participated in a variety of program through and to benefit GSU.
Girls Who Code, PantherLEAP, Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, The Applied Linguistics Society, French Club, and the GSU PEACE club.
These programs have introduced me to realms that at first I would not have thought about.
I am so grateful to have been in each one.
These programs sharpen skills of leadership, global communication, sustainability, coding, and my favorite, Black Pride.
Being an Applied Linguistics Major, I have had the opportunity to travel and teach English in Mexico in 2018.
I will be walking across the stage in a month!
Recently, I was presented an opportunity to share what life as a person of color is like in a quickly evolving world with both The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and MailChimp.
I was not given these opportunities because I am a person of color in a world that says it doesn’t really care about us.
I was given these opportunities because I am a person of color who is going to make the world care about me and everything that I do.
So, to each and every one of you; regardless of what you have been told about not being enough, you are!
Everything you need is inside of you.
Dig deep for the talent that you have and let it be known to the world that we are what they have been fearfully waiting on.
After graduating in May, I plan on teaching elementary learners for a few years and then returning to school to get a Master’s in Communication Sciences and Disorders.
I will become a Speech Pathologist following that degree.
Jason has worked in education for over 15 years as a teacher, blogger and community advocate. He speaks and writes primarily about the need to improve education for Black boys, particularly increasing the number of Black male educators in schools. In addition to blogging here at EdLanta, Jason is also a featured writer at Education Post.