Validate Your Self-Worth: Bring Out Your Wings To Persist

I had the privilege to be a guest speaker for Season 2 of the MamBa Inspire Motivational Speaking Series! I shared my personal narrative of my private challenges, academic trajectory, and triumphs. I gave insights of my experience transitioning from Inglewood to higher education at the University of California – Los Angeles (UCLA) and the University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin). I highlighted my family, friends (especially the Dream Team), and colleagues including my mentors.

Mamadou Balde is an ambitious 4th-year at UT Austin who recently collaborated with an amazing team to collect a series of inspirational stories in hopes that it would connect and empathize with others’ life story. The purpose of MamBa Inspire is to help minority students from high school and college to strive for academic success, navigate through the social stigma around them, increase the self-confidence and face challenges with rigor plus alacrity. Mamadou plans to pursue medical school. You can follow his profile on LinkedIn as well.

Thank you to the MamBa Inspire Team for allowing me to be part of this amazing project! I hope my story will inspire others who may have felt in a similar position to continue pushing forward. I look forward to collaborating with others to share our personal narratives.