Many people are not aware of the fact that there are only four black female students out of the 150 students in the class of 2018.

Many are also not aware that last year there were only two.

It is not people’s fault that they weren’t aware of this; many don’t notice things simply because they aren’t looking.

As a person of color, this is something I always immediately recognize.

I am always aware of being the only one. In three of my five classes, I am the only one. I don’t say this because I want pity but instead so others can get a sense of how it may feel to have to constantly be aware of being the only female of color in an academic space. As a person of color in general, this is not something you can easily escape.

The other three girls, Crystal Brown ’18, Celeste Owusu ’18, Maia Lockhart ’18, and I have a groupchat appropriately titled “4/4.” We send group pictures, talk about funny situations when others have mixed us up, and just talk.

It’s nice knowing that I have a supportive community of girls in similar positions as myself. Having a safe space is important to me, and I believe everyone deserves one. If I did not have anyone here to discuss my problems with, especially those concerning race and ethnicity, I don’t know what I would have done.

As a freshman, I struggled with my identity and how I wanted to represent my race. As a person of color, there is that burden of you representing the racial or even ethnic group you belong to. I felt myself attempting to assimilate in small ways, until I realized I wasn’t being myself and I shouldn’t have to change for anyone. Chipping away pieces of yourself to fit in or be deemed as appropriate by others is stressful.

The reason I wanted to write this piece was to highlight how I’ve felt since freshman year being the minority of the minority. Being conscious of my race and gender has always been a reality for me, and being at Hill has heightened that reality.

As people we need to understand that people of different races, religions, ethnicities, sexualities, and other identifiers have different walks of life than us.

Even in my middle school, which was racially diverse, I was still teased for my dark skin and aspects of myself that I couldn’t change. This experience made me realize that I could never escape my race.

I am proud to be one of the four and to be able to set an example and pave the way for others.