WINNER - 2007

Danielle Bero There are many paths a student at Lafayette can follow. Involvement in sports, organizations, volunteer and activist programs, research, and Greek life are just a few broad options available for students to expand their college experience. I don’t think any option or path can define what is ‘ideal.’ I believe what is crucial is taking those opportunities and paths available to you and using them as means to make positive change in the community, both on and off campus. Change can be made in many ways and it doesn’t always have to be large scale. It can be as simple as accepting a person for who she or he is. In my four years at Lafayette, I have taken full advantage of the opportunities presented and tried to make the campus a more accepting, open and well-informed place. My freshman year, I was given a poster from a fellow Posse scholar that I have hung in my room for 4 years. It is a picture of Tupac and the quote is from his poem, “In the Event of My Demise,” published in his book The Rose that Grew from Concrete. It says, “When my heart can beat no more I hope I die for a principle or belief that I have lived for.” While at Lafayette, I have tried to live by that quote and inspire others to do the same. By designing my own major, I have been able to take an active role in the decisions and direction of my academic progress. But my most rewarding experiences have involved my time with the Landis Outreach Center and working with the youth downtown. Volunteering and helping to start programs such as Teens in the Community and Teen Moms have allowed me to not only help others but transcend my education into experiential learning. Studying abroad in Namibia, South Africa, Guatemala, and the Bahamas has also helped me to grow and engage in cross-cultural understanding. What I learned abroad I have tried to infuse into my experience at Lafayette. Finally, co-founding W.O.R.D.S. (Writing Organization Reaching Dynamic Students) allowed me to provide and participate in a creative atmosphere for the campus community. I believe that the ideal Lafayette student cannot be defined through words but through actions and experience. Through these opportunities and programs I have learned and experienced so much. At Lafayette we all are given the chance to bridge gaps and make a difference, we just must take advantage of it. As Margaret Mead once said, “A small group of thoughtful people could change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.”

 

Major: Creative Media and Social Justice (individualized major)


Academic Activities

• Posse Foundation Scholarship (1,2,3,4)
• David A. Portlock Scholarship to study abroad (3)
• Lehigh Valley Women’s Studies Conference (2)
• Motherlode Women’s Studies Conference in Canada (4)
• Lafayette College Leadership Conference presenter (4)
• Imagining America performance and conference with Sekou Sundiata (2)
• Study abroad through Augsburg College in Namibia and South Africa - Nation Building, Globalization and Decolonizing the Mind (3)
• Study abroad in the Bahamas for Geology (2)
• Study abroad in Guatemala for Econ (4)
• Dean’s List (2,3,4)
• Independent study with Professor Byrd doing creative arts with teens (4)
• Brown Bag presenter - LGBTQ, Service Abroad and What is Black Soul? (4)

Campus Activities

• Resident Adviser - 2nd floor McKeen Hall (2)
• Resident Adviser - 2nd floor South Hall (3)
• Landis Community Outreach Center Program Coordinator (2,3,4)
• Pre-Orientation Service Program Teen KIC Camp Director (4)
• Sexual Assault Oversight Committee (4)
• Performer in Jen Aranda’s senior thesis - Undesirable Elements (4)

Community Service

• The Midnight Run - feeding the homeless in Philly and NYC (1,2,3,4)
• KIC - Kids In the Community running programs and workshops, being a mentor and tutor to the kids (2,4)
• Teen Moms mentorship program - going down to Easton Area High School and tutoring and mentoring the teen moms (3)
• Alternative School Break - South Carolina building houses through Habitat for Humanity (1)
• Alternative School Break - Chicago working at a children’s after-school program (3)
• Literacy Day - planned events for the stations, chose the book for the kids to read, rode the bus to pick the kids up, ran the workshops (4)
• Lights on After School - picked up the kids from downtown and took them around campus (4)
• Kids at 3rd Street Alliance - watching the children at 3rd Street while their moms are in workshops or activities (3,4)

Athletics

• Junior Varsity Basketball (1)
• Powder Puff Intramurals (1,2,4)
• 5 on 5 Basketball Intramurals (4)

Special Interest

• NIA - multicultural women’s support group - Exec Board Historian position (2)
• Association of Black Collegians - Exec Board Historian position (3)
• W.O.R.D.S. (Writing Organization Reaching Dynamic Students) - Co-founder and President (2,3,4)
• QuEST (Questioning Established Sexual Taboos) public relations position (3,4)
• United Against Hate Week organizing programs and promoting them to raise awareness and tolerance on campus (2,3,4)
• Take Back the Night - rape and sexual assault awareness and support (1,2,3,4)
• Putting together the Hate Wall to raise awareness of stereotypes and prejudices on campus (4)
• Coordination of Redefinitions - a body image performance art for women’s history month (1,2)
• Presenting principles for Kwanzaa (2,3,4)
• Coordinator of Consciousness Conference - a weekend of thought provoking poets, films and lecturers (3)
• Published in Marquis and Aya literary magazines (1,2,3)