I say it like it is. I'm not easily sold, and I don't accept things just because someone said so. I hold people, including me, to a high standard — maybe too high. But that's how it needs to be in order to challenge the status quo. Sometimes what I say makes people uncomfortable.

Sometimes challenging the status quo makes people uncomfortable.

That's OK.

During my time at Marquette, I've gone through the ups and downs of loving my experience, questioning it, changing my mind about things — including my major, going from engineering to English — and then appreciating everything I've been through. My experience here has prepared me for what's out there in life.

And what's out there isn't always comfortable. There are people out there who won't agree with you, or who won't see things through your filters. There are things out there that aren't fair. There are social problems that bother me deep down, problems that some of my classmates have never seen before.

But I know how to speak up and start the dialogue that leads to change. Some people say a well-rounded education prepares you for life. I think the activities you get involved in prepare you even more. During my involvement with the Black Student Council, and as the Student Government Diversity Commissioner, I learned how to work with different students, different faculty, I saw how things really got done and how day-to-day operations work. That's valuable, real-life stuff.

After I graduate, I plan to work in a student affairs office on a college campus — that's a place I can really make a difference. I discovered my passion takes its form in helping other people lead change in their own world.

When you're thinking about where to go to college, consider the intangibles. Go to the campus and ask real students about the pros and the cons. Get the scoop, but keep an open mind as you listen.

Finding the right place will change your life.

In high school, I always was in the shadow of my two older brothers. Not that it was that bad — they were so popular and are great people! But I tended to follow in their footsteps, like running for student government and doing other things they were involved in at school.

All in all, it was a pretty good experience, but once I got here, I wiped the slate clean and developed some of my own interests. In the process, I learned a lot about myself.

I've learned I have a strong work ethic and that I'm an independent thinker. I've learned that it's true what my mom says, that I walk to the beat of my own drum. I'm opinionated; I really do have firm views and I enjoy getting people together to discuss different ways of thinking.

In order to discover your identity, you have to feel comfortable on your campus. Go where you feel welcomed. Go where there's a balance in curriculum and opportunities to study a lot of different fields and have choices to change your major from among several good options, not just one or two. Go where you'll get skills you can bring anywhere in life.

I came to Marquette as a journalism major, but then I took a Western civilization class, which is a required class. I liked it enough to change my major to history, then added political science. After I graduate, I plan to apply to law school.

Something has become clear to me while I've been a student here. Everyone walks out of Marquette with a common base of knowledge to apply however you want, wherever you want. That's the beauty of a liberal arts education — if you go into business, for example, you can go into law later and what you've learned still applies.

What's more, everyone here has tons of opportunities to get involved in organizations so they can discover what's important to them and become more effective leaders in their own way.

For me, that means starting a chapter of the Intercollegiate Studies Institute at Marquette. For generations to come, students will gain a better understanding and appreciation for the values that sustain our free society.

That's a mark I'll be proud is mine.