Education: a conveyor of (self-)empowerment

If I had to pick one word to describe my 2023, I’d certainly choose « transition ».

I stopped studying full time, explored new endeavours in tech and politics, and even moved from my dear hometown to Paris. Honestly, it wasn’t easy. I knew, but never experienced, the extent to which change could be uncomfortable.

I’ve spent weeks questioning myself, trying to learn how to embrace the freedom of choosing, failing, and resting that I’ve always dreamed of.

Never in a billion years could I have ever imagined being able to not just survive, but to actually « live ». It is such a thrilling sensation.

I’ve spent so much time fighting - social phobia, racism, and whatever disadvantage life or society threw at me - that I forgot what it felt like to breathe.

Graduating this year made me realize the journey I’ve been through; education clearly offered me peace but also the opportunity to use my voice without fearing repercussions against myself.

So, I refused the fact that only a few people could benefit from the empowerment a quality education can give you, and decided to change the game at my elitist alma mater.

I entered its alumni association, going as far as becoming its vice-president to handle socially impactful projects such as the organization of a national conference on equal opportunities in education or the progressive development of scholarships and mentoring programs for underserved communities.

However, my greatest pride lies in the report I wrote for my (at the time soon-to-be) ex-institution on how to diversify students’ recruitment and how to concretely support educational equity. These pages - deeply inspired by my experience as a minority in what we could sincerely call an ‘ivory tower’ - got me invited into the president's office to further develop my recommendations.

It was humbling because I remembered the younger me at school, struggling to fit in, often unable to gather enough strength to stand up for herself, and always weighted by the loneliness of the underrepresented.

But as Maya Angelou once wrote:

Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I’ll rise.

And now that I have the power to break educational glass ceilings for others, I am just getting started.

Cara Doumbe Kingue on 28/12/2023