Something different happened when I arrived at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as a freshman student. I was thrown into a whirlwind of courses, independent social life, studying, office hours with professors and, most importantly, majors and career paths that I did not understand. I did not realize that I was ill equipped to attend a predominantly-white institution until it was almost too late. I did not realize that I possessed poor social/networking skills and a phobia of speaking with both white and black professors until my world came crashing down around me. I ended up on academic probation and seemingly about to face expulsion from my university because of my poor academic performance.
To fast forward, I met a mentor who absolutely changed my life the following year. She embraced me with a tough, motherly love that I could have gotten from my own mother, but I knew she hadn't gone to college. Besides, I did not want to worry her with an issue that I saw as mine to solve. My mentor, who was also my work-study manager, sat me down and helped me figure out what my passions were. She helped me figure out what really "rocked my boat," as she beautifully put it. From that point on, although a slight bit skeptical, I vowed to move away from fear and step into my greatest destiny. That is, to go for every opportunity that scared me in hopes that I would grow. From that point on I worked relentlessly to raise my GPA and to discover every opportunity that I felt would help me grow to my maximum potential.
So, I came to South Africa in response to failure and equipped with a resilience I mustered up to deal with a terrible GPA and a fractured ego. I thought I’d never recover.
