In her own words
Betty Kromah
Pursuing a higher education is something that I was strongly encouraged to do by my parents. I possess a West-African heritage, and in my family’s culture, higher education was viewed as the ticket to increasing one’s access to opportunities. As a first-generation college student, achieving education has been instilled in me by my family from an early age, thus contributing to my desire to excel academically and professionally. Higher education seemed like the place for me to continue my journey of academic and professional development, especially since I didn’t know what my career path would look like. Early into my college career, I learned about social work, which resonated with me specifically because I had an interest in the human services field, but the emphasis on uplifting people and advocacy personally inspired me. The education in social work allows me to pursue my goal of advocacy in working to uplift and support underrepresented communities, much like the ones that I grew up in. One key aspect of my social work education that I also plan to reflect in the community-related work I do is holding room for discomfort and disruption. Many of the tenets in social work were created under oppressive frameworks that harmed populations instead of supporting them. With my education, I aim to work at the individual and organizational level to dismantle some of the structural barriers preventing people from receiving the advocacy and resources that they deserve.