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When I first came to Clark I actually didn't know that I was an ALANA student. In my household,
race was really never you knowůit was left at the door. So when I came to Clark and I
joined this Ace group, them saying ALANA, I kept asking "what is this term ALANA? what
is this term ALANA?" Finding out what ALANA actually meant, it was kind of just interesting
to see how people categorized people I guess. There are things here on campus that Clark
University can work on in order to make ALANA students feel at home and to feel like this
is the place they belong in, but at the same time, in order for you to make those things
happen, you really want to be part of it. Helping Clark University be like "ok, yeah,
these ALANA students are coming up with such great ideas. Let's help them do it."
I'm a part of Black Student Union, Focus, which is an all male group where we talk about
things that happen in society or on the news. And we just talk about how it affects us personally
or in our communities. And I'm a part of MLC. I joined the MLC committee, which is Millennium
Leadership Conference/Committee on the Clark campus, which is a conference that's held
every year. And it's for ALANA students and they're allies. And we hold the conference
depending on the theme that the committee chooses. This year I did the committee with
Awilda Reinoso. I met Joanna freshman year at Ace. We both
did the reorientation program and we both were cochairs of the club, so being friends
and directing that was amazing. It really opened up our minds to different things because
being cochairs of a club can be tough. But just running an ALANA club and being proud
of itů I currently volunteer at the Boys and Girls
Club. I think that that's a connection that has brought me closer to this community is
volunteering and helping out the kids and mentoring them. I also work with another program,
the Adam Achievers Success Program, which just started up. And that is also mentoring
high school students in the community. Last semester I worked with Claremont Academy
and Woodland Academy. Those are two schools nearby. And I just volunteered my time there
and just helped student with poetry, just developing their learning skills and things
of that nature. And I'm continuing that this semester.