private school liberal arts college it's very small and i think there's about seven thousand students both graduate and undergraduate students so it's fairly small but it's really nice because you get individual attention from professors i think the class size class to professor ratio or student to professor ratio is like twenty five to one so that's a pretty good sized school and it gives students a lot of individual attention so that they can really succeed in college and want to just that years and that i studied international studies or international relations which is the study of essentially the study of relationships between countries so the study of how countries interact with each other multinational corporations so it's a very vast subject and major but it's really nice and it's actually engineer disciplinary which means that and corporates about a more subjects academic subjects like either politics sociology history gender studies and law so i did all of those international as well so you get a very holistic incompetence and understanding of what's going on in the world and it's really it's really lovely i like her a lot and we are chatting earlier and you told me that you got an internship in a seattle and their african chamber of commerce yes tell us a little that that so i'm currently working as their intern and that's a really great opportunity to learn how development and what kind of investment opportunities are available in africa and how the pacific northwest companies here in the pacific northwest can you know branch out and invest and have investment opportunities or business opportunities in africa so it goes a very two way street where you know african countries can have can grow and also how so that business is in the northwest can develop as well and you know br horizon in africa so there's a lot of opportunities and part of my job is to promote what's what's happening at the chamber to the east african unity and so if anybody hopefully my ultimate goal is to start a school a k through twelve school where students have the right environment to achieve you know any of their dreams and be able to get to college or at least have a plan after that point i think it's very important to kind of gifts give students an idea of what they want to do in the future because as well as enjoying their time being young i don't do you know too much focusing on your future is necessarily good but it's a balance of both and so i have to start that and hopefully by the time they get to college we can also fund their education and our university whether they want to go abroad you're also part of the greater than that was that they will be community center yes last week tell us how the event when it was a really beautiful but i'm going i participated because it's nice to know that the community is there for  there supporting us and is really running for us and as it's a very important so ratio and just as like a student you know you going through years of college is hasn't necessarily been easy so you know i was kind of one of those so liberations that oh well i made a you know as of two for everybody to be there and to celebrate what does was a really wonderful and lovely event and i really appreciate the community and everybody that was you know put that together and that was really heartfelt for me it was wonderful song and i don't like to tell the audience about th community and it meant a lot that it came all the way from media you know that is you know that's a lot of work so i really appreciated that and we got we also got a certificate congratulating us on our chief man which was us a little about that his speech was really empowering and very uplifting he talked a lot about you know has a bringing he had to walk miles really to get to school every day which is you know that's not something we went through and so that was really interesting to hear you know similar stories that my parents had when my dad actually when we were going home my dad was you know telling me how he had a similar story so i really appreciated his story to just it was very clarifying of what our parents are cries and i'm very thankful you know it's it's it's not often that we realize how much our parents put forth for us to be here and just for us to have a better future and for us to succeed so it was beautiful to really witness that and he was very inspirational and i feel more empowered to like you know think about the future and what i want to do and what i want to incorporate so it was an inspiring in that you know help need to see what i can give back to my community as well as you know to set my sights you know on what the future is like state university and she studied sociology and gender studies so we have a similar kind of academic subject so it was really wonderful to hear her speech and how she framed you know what our  community has contributed to us and how important it is to be involved in our community as well as giving back and you know kind of setting a standard for the coming generations major in biology and mine and microbiology and at it was my experience that you do was incredible i mean it took me about four and a half years to complete my degree but it was after when i first started off i was like this is going to be a sprint i want to be out here in three years and they've got a medical school i'll be a doctor and the round thing but you know not everything works out as you plan it and i'm glad that i took my time because there are different opportunities that i was able to be able to take upon and be a part of so i was able to work on my professor's lab be part of african student association i also studied abroad and barbados which was one of the highlights my college career so why was the best part of your college experience there are so many of them in my experience as one of the members in their african student actually studied abroad abroad i was in egypt when a month before the uprising happened the arab spring happened so and then i ended up in morocco we got evacuated and then and of morocco followed the remaining on my study abroad so i got two trips for the price of one which was wonderful and i was also involved in an essay in b s u and i think there's a lot of opportunities in college to  and i was one of the student advisors for my major and i interned for i was a student sistan and for my professor as well as being the intern for my diversity dive off of diversity and community engagement office so are there is so much and i think universities child really hard to engage students of color so you put in my opportunities was talking to my friends there's or administrators or faculty my internship at the diversity office that was not working right there you know was through because i knew of the dean you know you so you have you semester our every beginning of the year we would have african american african student faculty and staff receptions so you get to know the staff the professors and everybody so you get to know each other as well and i think the biggest lesson i've learned so far about even getting jobs or getting different opportunities is who you know you know you might be the smartest student but you know maybe the c students go out there are personable and they go out there and get the job because you know their network so it's not necessarily what you know it's who you know and then there are francis as well have good references exactly so you have to definitely i think the biggest  thing you should do in college is getting to a professors they can definitely advocate for you and you know even if they don't like you know my just e mail us say oh you know i heard about this opportunity so and then also people in the community i think that has been the biggest advantage for me as people in the community that have told me oh i would just be engaged in conversation with them and they'd be like oh you know there's this organization or this person i know and so that's how you get to have different opportunities or you can you know jill and internships are definitely the biggest the biggest part of your post grad life so if you have good internships during college you years like you're getting acclimated to the university to campus to what's going on to what's going on so it definitely enjoyed outings and he let it out exactly to being on your own having all that freedom and no restrictions specially you know going to school out of state away from your parents it's a great like it's a huge learning process and you get to know yourself and you learn a lot about being independent but isn't it a bold decision for you it was or was but i knew  that you know i needed to leave just to to grow up you know and so even though i got into the university of washington my mom was like you have to go and i was like nope my i told my parents your options are you know new york or san francisco and so they ended up being comfortable with san francisco because it's two hours away on flight and i have family in the barrios so that was that made that ease their mind a little bit but and sometimes i wish you know i had stayed because i missed my friends here you know you'd go through a lot of like homesickness but i think you really develop assess of independence and relying on yourself and just being really bold about going out there and meeting  people and just depending on yourself a lot so it's a great opportunity to just go up but at the same time you also get to enjoy being back home by being back home is really a stress reliever and  welcome to the two thousand and thirteen graduation my name is tonight alone i am a graduate of the university of washington a proud as ski and he has he's in the house center and i'm also on the board and encourage everybody to volunteer and be active in this community and i'm so happy that you guys are here right now i'm so excited for tonight for some of you who don't understand memory they dancing and now they will be performing so please welcome them onto the stage of their first time performing dance group team summer activities that she wants us to highlight is that she was the co chair of the w r y w c a and is the founder of the black business students at her school hello everybody first i many of you can say with ease but becomes quite the struggle in dealing with americans and i'm not the only person in this room who's been asked how's that pronounced can you repeat that or do you have a nickname growing up my name is something that constantly reminded me confused says no there's no jasmine here the kid just to school starts to walk away when i come running down the stairs no i'm here i'm just me and my mom gave me the look and i knew i was going to get a play she sat me down and explained to me that he was her mother's name and and that it meant life and i'm heart now as beautiful as a name was i just wanted to be like everyone else and it was during my first trip where i was fully immersed in the culture that i began to really appreciate my roots i spent a lot of time in high school researching and trying to perfect my own park i began participating with the group and other various activities in the community once i got to college i took my passion for it to  channel it toward something i could make a career out of when it was my time to select a major for the second time i there were two things that i was sure of one that i love my country and two that i love children combining the two i chose the field of education is become my mission to gain the resources and credentials to take back with me to where i can open up a school after graduating with my bachelor's in sociology i intend on continuing to graduate school law get my master's in public policy and education were all fortunate to come from a culture was places a high value on education despite most of us being first generation college students did you know that african immigrants in the united states are the most highly educated group of immigrants more than indians or chinese or anyone else so this is our legacy these are the building blocks for development of africa and for our communities in america we must never forget this and continue to push the boundaries of excellence and what's possible gather here and celebrate our compliments let us not forget those who could not be with us to celebrate as well from the streets of m l k to the unseen corners of their countless young people being deprived of the opportunity to succeed it is the duty of those with the opportunity to pave the path for others i'm not telling you all to go out and start a nonprofit or into politics most people are led to success not by a senator or a foundation but by a mentor a parent an older sibling a friend as a member  strong tight knit community this is something we should all strive for the message i want to leave you all with is take pride in your culture is something beautiful and unique that no one could take away from you take time to learn about your country so that when you have children you have something to pass on to them and finally as you all move on to the next chapters of your life remember that education is more than tool for your own personal development it's also important it is also an important element for developing our entire community thank you and go are funded by hugh and it's public support that really you know drives this organization and some of the programs like media and video editing class as well as documentary and journalism classes and graphic graphic design classes are put together for students to participate all because of you know the money that the community supports and students receive to education and acknowledgement for their participation so it's a great opportunity for state has to be involved as well as you know to put on their resume and their future plans for colleges yesterday and yesteryears are gone indefinitely where they're in happen for a reason or by reason its facts and its impact now it's all gone persistence or nat but tomorrow's a mystery i agree but but i knew all their lives is not a big ball of coincidences that is trying to hit me down was unraveling spells just looking at staring through my rearview mirror i know that whatever happened today whatever happened that's being conveyed to not just happen randomly without me putting an input to it without the desires i secretly harbored with out  worked hard that's been manifested today see even if tomorrow is i'm told it and tomorrow is a mystery it doesn't mean i have no say to it it doesn't mean it just happened randomly by choosing and in participating in the creation of my tomorrow by dreaming beyond the walls of limitation i know entering this mystery community center and we've had students go through the course under supervision of don't know where she is and she's hiding she's the teacher community center now