Salutations Everyone!
I had the honor of being a guest speaker at NSBE McGill’s Black Legacy Dinner! When I was approached by the president of NSBE McGill to be a guest speaker I was like “Me? Are you sure? I’m not that I’m awesome…I’m only a high school teacher…” The president assured me that she wanted me to be one of the guests, and I gladly accepted…
The dinner took place on Friday, March 1st, and it was one of the most humbling experiences I’ve had in a long time… To be a scientist, and be in a room full of scientists is exhilarating…But to be a black scientist, and be in a room full of other black scientists it’s spiritually exhilarating…For that moment, you feel like you belong, you feel like you’re exactly where you’re supposed to be, you feel strong, because you feel like you’re a part of something bigger. In my opinion, I was one of the least impressive guests there, and that was humbling, but humbling isn’t a bad thing! I was so uplifted and inspired!
I invited both of my daughters to come with me: the bigger one declined as she had to work (teenagers)…My little one passed up an evening of “FORTNITE” and her warm bedroom to come with me. She recorded my entire talk (I’ve uploaded her video to our YouTube page); and when I was done, I asked her how I did, she said “Mom, you were amazing…You are superwoman, and I love you even more…” My little one brought a device so that she could play games on it, while we were at the dinner…But not once did she go on her device… She listened to each speaker: she gave them her full attention, and was eager and keen to hear each word that they had to say.
The President (Valary Malowa) and Vice-President ( Ellina Kouam ) of NSBE McGill thanked me for taking part, but it is I who has to thank them! This was an experience that both my daughter and I will never forget! It changed something in our core…
