I have a love/hate relationship with the big “why OU?” question every student in leadership gets asked. I dread it because when I first start to respond, my reasoning may seem less than exciting, but it quickly turns into a story of the people at OU and how they continue to be the reason I choose this place every day.
In my freshman year of college, I met tour guides like Jose Franc Morales, Grayson Fuller, and Lafonzo Spigner—all OU alumni who are launching impressive careers. This list of tour guides goes on, and it was the intentionality of each tour guide that impressed me most. They took time out of their busy schedules as seniors to help me finish my OU Tour Guide application, prepare for my interview, and then wrote my letters of recommendation because they wanted me to succeed in the same space they had. It was genuine support.
This same situation is in almost every organization I am a part of at the University of Oklahoma—High School Leadership Conference, OU Housing and Food, my sorority, Welcome Black Weekend, OU Scandals, President’s Community Scholars, and so many more! I want to take a moment to draw attention to the last organization I mentioned—President’s Community Scholars (PCS). My journey into PCS is a true testament to the intentional culture that OU cultivates and how consistent it is throughout the community. The PCS application involves writing a supplementary essay about your community service during high school. While completing my application I had no assumptions I would get whatever scholarship this essay was for. Carrying on with my journey into OU, I went to Camp Crimson a week before I was scheduled to move in.
It was there that I met Emma Kemp and Chika G Nwanebu. These two women poured so much into me during Camp Crimson and continued to do so throughout my time at OU. I later received an email from Kari Dawkins, the faculty advisor for PCS, stating that I had been accepted into the organization and received a scholarship. Later I learned Emma and Chika spoke on my behalf to Kari, and they spoke so highly I was admitted into the organization. I am forever grateful to these women for seeing my potential and not just speaking on it but taking action to continue to better the intentional culture here on campus. Three years later I am still part of this organization and creating these same moments and feelings of belongingness for new students
Now, not every single space or organization on this campus starts out like this. I am a broadcast journalism major at Gaylord college and my sophomore year during the spring semester I almost switched majors. During this whole year, I felt alone, lost, and behind the curve. I would look around at my peers and see them with internships at stations or part of organizations I had been trying to get involved with for months.
Imposter Syndrome crept in, and I felt as if I made the wrong decision even though I had a passion for writing and sharing people’s stories. I’d made strides to switch my major, but I decided to talk to people before giving up completely. Those people were John Smeltzer, Lee Reynolds, and Mike Boetcher. I kid you not, within a week they had connected me with other professors who had connections with stations out of state and in the state. I was offered the opportunity to take a semester and report in Washington, D.C., Lawton, Oklahoma, and with Channel 5 in Oklahoma City.
Without the help of those I have mentioned, I would not be where I am. Because of their intentionality and my current position as a leader on campus, I am now in the same position to help uplift and support those who will come after me. My experience has not been one of random people spontaneously reaching out to me. It was incumbent on me to connect and put myself out there.
That is what OU is all about—granting you the space to succeed and helping you find the people and community that will help you achieve your dreams.
