“Growing up, I went to my fair share of different schools, and when you go to different schools, you see how people are treated differently. I didn’t like to see the autistic kids get bullied or be in a different class than us. I remember taking psychology and AP psych in high school, and that was one of the only classes I was truly interested in. I wanted to know why people think the way they think and do the things they do, while also raising awareness for mental illness. I think that’s what really motivated me to major in psychology. When I was young, I really didn’t understand why these kids had to go to different classes. Once you get to know them, they’re very smart, but I feel like people look over them, or down on them, because they have a disability, when really they’re just regular people. I think I want to do clinical psych to be able to work hand in hand with them and maybe counsel or give them therapy. That’s something that I’m really passionate about now.

My mom was an attendance clerk at my high school, but she acted more like a counselor. We had a very huge high school with international students and English Language Learning (ELL) students. A lot of the students really liked my mom. They were close with her, and she connected with them too. Especially the ELL students and the foreign exchange students because they can easily get looked over, too. She’s worked in public schools for a while, and she’s always kind of acted like the liaison for students in the school. When they felt like they couldn’t talk to certain people, she was always there, and I could see that she was really helping people. They looked forward to talking with her, and it kind of made their day. I didn’t even realize the effect it had on me until now. It was really cool.

When you’re working in psychology, you can get any kind of patient. I was exposed to a lot of different people, and I feel like it’s good to have a versatile platform like that. I would like to open my own private practice and facility that would aim towards people in need more, and go towards non-profits, so I can help people as much as possible without them worrying about finances.”

– Jada, junior psychology major from Grand Rapids, Mich.

“As my family puts it, I’ve lived a long 22 years. During my junior year of high school, I lost my cousin to a drive-by shooting. Not long after that, I lost a close friend that I grew up with. It kinda pushed me to a breaking point. I didn’t really know what to do or how to act. I had been a straight-A student, but then I just stopped doing my school work. I felt terrible. I didn’t want to talk to anybody. And it hurt me the most to know that I was hurting my family by them seeing me that way.

I didn’t know how to fix myself. But what helped me was going to therapy, talking to someone who had no bias and no prior knowledge of my life. I’ve been to two therapists, but one of them could really relate to me on a different level because we had a lot in common. He was a younger man who was also in a fraternity. It really helped to have a therapist who looked like me to talk to me and listen to me. He was able to push me to open up more about things, and he would joke with me to keep the mood light.

So, although I’ve had a lot of hardships, hard times and experiences for the short life that I’ve lived, I overcame them. And I want to be there for people who may be dealing with the same things that I was dealing with: depression, anxiety, and all of that stuff. I want to be somebody who people come to who they know will actually listen. I want to do what somebody else did for me. That’s my motivation. That’s why I’m majoring in psychology.”

– Tyler, senior psychology from St. Louis, Mo.

“This is kind of weird because I really don’t talk to too many people. I have friends but I don’t really just talk, like that. Actually, when I was in middle school, I was really outgoing. But when I got to high school, I went into a bubble because I didn’t trust people. Here, I feel like I can trust people more, because I’m around my community, so I’m more outgoing now than I was in high school.

I’m a singer. But I don’t compare myself to any other singers. I’m just me. I like many styles of music – gospel, R&B, pop, rap, metal, rock. I like everything.

I was actually a music major at first. I changed my major but I still sing in my free time. But when people put me on the spot, that makes me not want to sing. It’s not that I don’t want to sing in front of people. I mean, if it happens, it happens. For instance, if I’m in a store, and I’m just singing and you happen to hear me – that’s fine. But when somebody asks me to sing for them, it’s hard for me to do that.”

– Ariona, freshman Psychology major from Milwaukee, Wis.

“It was my senior year in high school, and one of my church members was telling me about how the summer bridge program at JSU was for her. And I always wanted to go to an HBCU, so I was like, ‘Well let’s go look and see what Jackson State is like.’

When we came down, I loved how the campus looked, and they had a DJ playing music on the plaza. I saw the Greek Unity Circle and how everyone was strolling together. I said to myself, ‘I want to go here because it feels like family.’ I knew this was the school for me.

I always wanted to be Greek. Last spring, I became part of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Incorporated. My mom is a member of Sigma Gamma Rho. She crossed up north where Sigma Gamma Rhos are very big. And growing up, I wanted to be just like my mom, but she told me not to do anything just because she did it. She told me to see which chapters follow their principles and watch how they handle themselves. That’s who you want to go with.

Well the Lambda Beta chapter, every since I’ve been here, has been warm and welcoming. They have people with different shapes, sizes, personalities, and majors. So I was like, ‘That’s an organization I would love to be part of because I don’t have to try and fit in. I can just be myself.”

– Khaliya, junior psychology major from Park Forest, Ill.

“I went back to Africa in 2014. That was my first time going back to Sudan since 2000 when we came to the United States. It’s not safe to go back right now because Sudan is a war zone. The civil war broke out in 2009. My family left and went to Ethiopia for a little while, then we went to a refugee camp. Then we had the opportunity to either come to the United States or go to Canada. We decided to come to the United States because it offered more opportunity for us in 2000.

I was five when we left Sudan, but my parents worked really hard on making sure that me and my siblings understand where we’re from. They make sure we understand our roots. One of the traditions that I found really fascinating when we went back (to Sudan) in 2014 is that when you have family from America who comes back to Africa, the entire family gathers – no matter where they are – and we all step over a goat. They lay down a live goat, and we step over it. It represents a blessing over us – a blessing for safe travel back. Then we kill it and eat it.

People have to understand that the way Africa is portrayed in the media is not how Africa looks. Africa is beautiful. The difference is there just isn’t as much opportunity in Africa as there are for people here. So being here has really made me understand that there are some things that I did take for granted. But now I appreciate the true value of hard work.

That’s why I worked hard to graduate with my undergraduate degree in three years, at the age of 20 and started my doctoral program at the age of 22. It just made me realize that education is what’s going to make me successful and give me hope here in the United States.”

– Nyabang, graduate clinical psychology student, originally from South Sudan, Africa.

“I‘m mixed. I don’t know him, but my dad is black. My stepfather also is black. But I didn’t really think there was anything abnormal about me – being biracial or anything. I would go over to my stepfather’s family’s house and they were always yelling and having a good time and cracking jokes on each other and stuff like that. And I would go to my grandmother’s house on my white side and we would play video games or ride bikes around the neighborhood or something like that. It wasn’t that either was better than the other. It was just a different experience.