Student Reflection: Batool Ibrahim

CAS MarComm Author

05/18/2022 Added

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Senior Batool Ibrahim (global studies, political science) shares her experience at the college's Celebration of Excellence.

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[00:00:03.269]Hello, everyone.
[00:00:04.904]My name is Batool Ibrahim.
[00:00:06.806]It's really nice to be here.
[00:00:08.541]Literally a week away from graduation.
[00:00:11.478]So I came to you and in the fall of 2018 and made a very big mistake
[00:00:16.649]of being starting off as a college of business student.
[00:00:21.621]I'm just kidding.
[00:00:23.390]But as I began to reflect on my time here at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln,
[00:00:28.561]and most importantly, as a College of Arts and Sciences student,
[00:00:31.765]I realized my story starts way before I came to UNL.
[00:00:35.735]You see, I grew up in predominantly low income neighborhoods in Lincoln, Nebraska,
[00:00:41.007]and I also attended the underfunded and overcrowded
[00:00:44.511]public schools in these neighborhoods my entire adolescence.
[00:00:49.082]Every aspect of my personhood was shaped by the schools I was raised in.
[00:00:53.553]When I was in sixth grade, I spent more time reading and translating
[00:00:57.223]government documents
[00:00:58.625]for my immigrant parents than reading the books assigned to my class. I learned
[00:01:03.096]really quickly what the qualifications were for SNAP and Medicaid.
[00:01:09.102]But was told that I was not
[00:01:10.370]smart enough to take an exam that would qualify me for dif classes.
[00:01:14.707]I spent years in rooms where lessons about slavery would result in my
[00:01:18.645]whole class turning and looking at me and the other black students.
[00:01:22.882]As my teacher told them, my skin color would qualify me to be a house slave.
[00:01:28.121]Of course, none of these incidences would be challenged because as soon as
[00:01:31.691]I did challenge them, I was sent out of the classroom for disruption.
[00:01:36.129]This is what my education looked like.
[00:01:39.165]I was not believed in
[00:01:41.501]and everything and everyone told me that I did not belong in the classroom.
[00:01:45.972]I saw more of my friends drop out, find themselves behind bars,
[00:01:50.276]or even murdered before they dreamed of attending UNL.
[00:01:54.414]But that is a privilege that I got.
[00:01:58.651]This all changed when I had the honor of attending the University
[00:02:01.988]of Nebraska-Lincoln and becoming a student in the College of Arts and Sciences.
[00:02:06.926]It was the people of this university who uplifted me here and challenged me
[00:02:12.465]that my experiences that I asked myself a persistent
[00:02:15.602]and urgent question, How can I fix this?
[00:02:18.972]What is my duty to my community and how can I bring about this change?
[00:02:24.577]I have found the answers to these questions during my time
[00:02:27.547]here as a student for the College of Arts and Sciences with Dr.
[00:02:31.851]Dreher, my first black educator who introduced me to the writings of Audre
[00:02:36.022]Lorde and Alice Walker , and literally transformed
[00:02:39.559]the way I thought about the use of words in English.
[00:02:42.929]It was in her classroom that I began to understand that I am intelligent.
[00:02:48.334]Dr. Jeanette Jones, who continues to teach me
[00:02:51.437]how to take up space and to do so unapologetically.
[00:02:55.475]Dr. Emira Ibrahimpasic,
[00:02:58.011]whose inclusive learning style, allowed me to finally see myself
[00:03:02.448]and the struggles of my communities in the classroom and in the curriculum.
[00:03:07.120]Dr. Gwendolyn Combs and Dr.
[00:03:08.955]Michael Combs, whose legacy will forever change the way I think of myself,
[00:03:14.160]that I am a scholar, that belongs in the seats of this university.
[00:03:18.498]Dr. Julia Riley, who's just a frickin awesome instructor who makes her students
[00:03:24.170]feel excited about learning and the curriculum.
[00:03:28.908]Dr. Alice Kang who taught me that there's always a way
[00:03:31.878]to change a system. Always.
[00:03:35.081]The village of teachers who have supported, uplifted,
[00:03:38.685]cared and love for loved me here at UNL,
[00:03:42.288]who taught me the most important things that I am smart, that I belong,
[00:03:48.261]that I will do great things, that I am capable, that I am excellent.
[00:03:54.701]It is because of them that every position I have held will hold,
[00:03:59.939]will only increase my capacity to serve my communities
[00:04:03.776]and to give others what they have given me.
[00:04:06.846]The work I have done at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln
[00:04:09.749]was because of the home I found at the College of Arts and Sciences,
[00:04:14.120]a place where my intelligence was not questioned
[00:04:17.023]or diminished but challenged and expanded.
[00:04:20.526]This all resulted in me challenging systems here at UNL,
[00:04:24.897]creating a community initiative that single handedly fed and clothed
[00:04:28.868]and aided 400 families in the Lincoln and Omaha communities.
[00:04:33.273]Changing and creating more equitable educational policy changes.
[00:04:37.343]Becoming the first black student body president and student regent
[00:04:40.813]in the history of our university, and serving as an advisor
[00:04:44.450]to our Chancellor so that we could all make this place a safer home
[00:04:48.321]for black, brown and Indigenous students.
[00:04:51.257]So while UNL has not always felt like home, I know that I will leave it better.
[00:04:57.463]And as I am mere days away from graduation
[00:05:00.233]and being the first in my family to graduate from college.
[00:05:03.636]I'm cognizant of those from my childhood who have not made it this far,
[00:05:08.107]and I'm reminded of my duty to them and how institutions neglected them.
[00:05:12.979]In adolescence, we never had dreams beyond the four block radius
[00:05:16.449]that was our ghetto from the windows of our underfunded and overcrowded schools.
[00:05:21.754]We saw our future on the street corners where our would be role models stood.
[00:05:26.726]No one told us that we could be more.
[00:05:29.362]But the family I found here told me I could.
[00:05:32.832]Positive role models who saw innate value in me
[00:05:36.536]might have resulted in some of my friends realizing their own potential.
[00:05:42.375]So being believed in is opportunity itself.
[00:05:46.813]I will continue to serve them
[00:05:49.882]and as I've been accepted into top law programs across the country,
[00:05:54.220]I know that as an aspiring lawyer, every client I will have
[00:05:58.958]will have the College of Arts and Sciences, the teachers, the educators,
[00:06:03.529]and the home I found here to thank for the justice
[00:06:07.033]that I will achieve for them.
[00:06:10.036]And like always go big red.

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