Grease n' Oil
Mentorship is very difficult to find. The pressures of trying to achieve are daunting, and few are willing to offer a helping hand. At my university, students are lucky if they manage to find someone who is invested in them as a mentee. The investment is not cheap and does not yield guaranteed results for either party. There is also the added difficulty of finding a mentor that shares similar qualities and experiences—someone who will understand your perspective on life.
WRITING SAMPLES
This February, UW-Madison will be celebrating and commemorating Black history through a host of events that will bring many Black students and allies together. This large celebration is due to the amazing work of UW-Madison’s Pathways African American Campus and Community
Liaison, Karla Foster. Foster and her two interns, Jordan Gaines and Lexi Coleman, facilitate a committee that comes together once a week to spearhead the planning of Black History Month festivities. Each year the committee is in charge of picking a central theme and hosting events all over
campus that reflect the chosen theme. This year the theme of the month is Blackness and Intersectionality. All of the events explore the different facets of Black people and work to put an end to the idea that Black people are monolithic.
Madison is a dynamic city. It’s full of beauty, but also inequality. I was born and raised in Madison. I come from a single-parent, middle-class family. My childhood was full of walks to various parks, farmer’s markets and Mallard’s game-day traffic. I had two or three neighbors of color and we all knew each other. Many of our white neighbors were never that hospitable but we continued to enjoy ourselves. My family has always claimed Madison as our home regardless of the culture differences between ourselves and our neighbors. From a young age, I was taught to think critically about the world around me, to analyze my surroundings and be very mindful of everything that I say or do.