Aubrie Edmond, Contributing Writer

When I first read this reflection from one of our contributing writers, I thought about my college graduation. She captures something many of us know deeply—that mix of pride and fear when we step into something new. Her words remind me how often we celebrate the finish line without acknowledging the quiet courage it took just to keep going. As Black women, as students, as community members, we know what it means to walk through fear and uncertainty. To keep moving, even when the path is foggy. Aubrie is graduating college and headed to law school. She’s finding the strength to walk through the unknown...Finding Her Way

Today, I graduate from college. It doesn’t feel real, especially as someone who has transferred schools countless times. The end of college always felt like a goalpost that was just slightly out of reach, but by 9:00 pm today the journey will be over. I have a lot of mixed emotions about it. Part of me is excited for my new life to begin, I’ll be going to law school in Boston in the fall, back in a city that is so familiar to me in a situation that is so new. Another part of me feels nothing but fear.

I’m scared of the unknown, I always have been. Something about the fact that the fear has been constant is comforting, I know that I’ve overcome it before. It’s something that I’ve faced through every new opportunity and conquered, but this time it feels different, more final somehow. Of course I’m happy, there’s no part of me that wants to continue working solely on my undergraduate career, but there’s another part of me that feels like the story is unfinished.

That may be because I have to go on a week long camping trip as a class requirement directly following graduation. I don’t necessarily enjoy camping. I love spending time with my friends in nature, but at the end of the day, there’s nothing I want more than a warm bed and a shower. The idea of depriving myself of those things for a week in the middle of the desert is daunting. My fear of the unknown is gripping me tight over this, but I know that if I am able to get through it, I can get through anything. I am excited to graduate from university, but hopefully over time I will finally be able to graduate from my fear of the unknown as well.

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