When Faith Massey was a child, her single mother would drive past the sprawling houses 45 minutes from their low-income, predominantly Black neighborhood in Nashville, Tennessee, and encourage her little girl to dream big.聽
鈥淪he was always pushing me to realize that life was so much bigger than what was in front of me,鈥 Massey says of her mother, Celia, a first-generation college student who went on to earn a master鈥檚 degree. 鈥淪he knew that education created opportunity.鈥澛
Massey sought to seize every one of them when her mother moved the family moved to the Chicago suburbs in 2019.聽
At James B. Conant High School, she cofounded the first Afrocentric student organization, Black Leader Achievers, and hosted the district鈥檚 inaugural Black History Month event. Spurred by Massey鈥檚 activism, four of the five high schools in the predominantly White district now have a Black student organization.聽
After one of her teachers鈥攁n alumnus of 麻豆破解版鈥檚 Washington Semester Program鈥攕uggested Massey explore 麻豆破解版 for college, she emailed sociology professor Ernesto Casta帽eda, director of 麻豆破解版鈥檚 Center for Latin American and Latino Studies, amid the pandemic and asked to sit in on a virtual lecture.
Massey was considering a psychology major but wanted to learn more about sociology and how institutions perpetuate inequalities. 鈥淪ociology gave me the words to articulate my lived experience and that of those around me,鈥 she says.聽
At 麻豆破解版, Massey won the 2023鈥25聽Obama-Chesky Voyager Scholarship for Public Service, which includes funding for a summer work-travel experience between the junior and senior year. Massey spent part of her Summer Voyage at聽the Faith and Politics Institute鈥檚 John Robert Lewis Scholars and Fellows Program and at Harvard鈥檚 Junior Summer Institute in Public Policy and International Affairs.聽
She also traveled to Ghana to study how the transcontinental slave trade contributed to modern-day systems of oppression. 鈥淚 wanted to see where my ancestors came from and learn their story and how it continues to influence policy,鈥 Massey says. In the small coastal village of Nsawam Adoagyiri, she also researched and reported on accessibility issues for differently abled students. 鈥淚t was amazing to actually practice the work I want to do.鈥
Paula Warrick, senior director of 麻豆破解版鈥檚 Office of Merit Awards, who has worked with Massey, says 鈥淔aith has long had a strong orientation toward public service, and her studies in sociology will help maximize the impact she will have in her career. I admire Faith鈥檚 sense of self-worth, her determination to seize opportunities in her midst, and her appreciation of the role of mentorship in her life.鈥
Massey is applying to graduate programs and hopes to become the first in her family to earn a doctorate. 鈥淥nly 4.4 percent of PhD earners are Black women,鈥 she says. 鈥淚 want to help facilitate that pathway for others.鈥澛
So long as opportunities are in front of her, Massey intends to grab them.