What’s up 🌎, welcome to December! As the year winds down, I’ve done a considerable amount of self-reflection and I behoove you all to do the same. I also reflected on how far I’ve come in college. With ~3 semesters to go, I am thankfully closer to the end. But, I would not have made it half as far without my next guest, Samaria Campbell. Sam is a Junior at Howard, Human performance Major Chemistry and Military Science Double Minor. Born in rural Greensboro North Carolina, she moved at an early age to Atlanta with her mother. She credits the majority of her development to growing up in Atlanta, which is where she “learned how to be busy”. Between various extracurricular activities, she met people all across the state who broadened her horizons. As much as she enjoyed life in Atlanta, in her own words “high school sucked”. A blessing in disguise during her 4 years however was when she enrolled in ROTC in 9th grade. Initially dreading it, she dedicated herself to the process and graduated at the top of her class. She even spent Summers in Fort Benning Georgia sharpening her skills as a cadet. She recalls 5 days at the Naval Academy as the most demanding Service-based program she has ever done. The program was both rewarding and taxing, as she not only found a newfound respect for the Navy, but for herself for being able to come out on the other end. When deciding on a school, she was torn between Howard and FAMU. Determined to go to school anywhere but Georgia, she had set herself up with options. Campbell could see her life at both schools, and the HBCU lifestyle intrigued her from the beginning. Howard emerged as the best option across the board, and the decision was made. Sam continued ROTC in college and initially, Campbell was taken aback by the increase in time commitment and stark contrast to information learned in high school ROTC. Like all things, after time she got the hang of it. Waking up began to feel like second nature, and Campbell was even doing extra workouts. “She believed she could, so she did” speaks to Campbell’s work ethic and journey to self-belief. Again, I thank Sam for a long overdue episode. 🖤 Recorded 11.27.20
