Did any factors of your identity influence your decision to study abroad or how you selected your host country?

And he said, my presence shall go with thee, and I will give you rest.

--Exodus 33:14

I remember the day my mom and I almost got into an argument because I told her I planned to study abroad and she refused to allow me to go because “she wasn’t ready.” That was one of the most frustrating conversations for me to have because, one, I felt that my mother was standing in the way of a great learning opportunity and, two, because as much as I wanted my mom to yield to my wishes, I could understand why she was so adamant about keeping me in the States. Being Black is something that I cherish, but also something that I realize comes with a great deal of hardship. Black people are literally dying every day just miles away from where I am at any given moment, it is only natural that my mother would be terrified at the idea that I would travel not only across state lines—which I did when I left Miami to attend Duke in North Carolina—but also national borders as well.

“In two years, I will be claiming a Bachelor’s degree from a school that profited off of the tobacco industry, the same industry my great-grandfather sharecropped in, yet died penniless. I would be going to study abroad in Paris, speaking French as my second language, despite the fact that my parents did not have the privilege to invest themselves in learning another language. ”

— Michael

However, while being Black in a racist world is plenty reason to want to curl up in bed and pull the covers over my head for all eternity, I decided instead that my blackness would be fuel to strive despite the dangers all about me. The reasoning was simple but deeply personal: I was blessed to be in a position to do things that my parents, their parents, and even those before them never got to. In two years, I will be claiming a Bachelor’s degree from a school that profited off of the tobacco industry, the same industry my great-grandfather sharecropped in, yet died penniless. I would be going to study abroad in Paris, speaking French as my second language, despite the fact that my parents did not have the privilege to invest themselves in learning another language. My generation is the generation of firsts and of restoration. I thought back on scriptures that my parents uttered over me as they prayed us through hard times and realized I don’t believe in a God who gives me this skin and gave me these passions in order to see me destroyed for chasing them. And I’m glad that my mother came to that realization, too.