I am so happy I am working at my alma mater as a Mentor.

I am happy to be able to help my Mentees. Some of them are African American and I work at Mercer. I try to be helpful to all of my Mentees. Some of them are Caucasian and others are Hispanic. They are all very nice and I have been able to connect with almost all of them. Sometimes when I meet a new Mentee at the beginning of the semester I introduce myself to them to familiarize myself with their names as well.

Letter to my younger self

Ayesha you were such a pretty little black girl. You were bullied a lot and you were victimized. All of the kids that didn’t like you were jealous of you. I know if I told that you would start to like yourself in your 30s you’d say “wow that fast.” I really want to say younger self-remember to forgive yourself and to be forgiving of others. My family always had means we were middle class we were not rich. I feel good about my values and the way I was raised. My identity was fashioned in my childhood so I know if I remembered my dolls were always African American I’d think of my mother and Kwanzaa memorabilia and black dolls things I’m thankful for.