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LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Correcting the record

Editor’s Note: The Daily News publishes Letters to the Editor with minimal copy edits and provides a headline only if the author does not provide one. We reserve the right to withhold submitted letters depending on the content. Letters should be approximately 500 words and sent to editor@bsudailynews.com.

In 2012, the year I graduated high school, my mother had just moved to Indiana. When we began discussing which college I would enroll in, the goal was to spend my freshman year at a university close to where she lived and then transfer to any university I wanted to attend. I was reluctant to go along with this plan, but mother knows best, right?

My mother was worried, as I assume most mothers are, but she was more worried because her only child was to begin university at just 16 years old in East Central Indiana. Of course, I was worried too. Here I was, a 16-year-old Nigerian girl in the middle of Indiana at a school I’d never heard of.

During my first few weeks at Ball State, my mother would call my residence hall director to check on me — it was embarrassing, to say the least, but despite a few growing pains I decided to stay at Ball State.

I found community at Ball State and I made lifelong friends.

My experience on campus was not traditional. I went through teenage milestones on campus — I learned to drive in the Ball State parking lots. I never got to enjoy a night out at Brothers though, because I graduated before I turned 21. All in all, Ball State is where I grew up.

Still, I knew I was not the only one with this experience. I’d heard of other young black women who started at a young age at Ball State:

  • Rayasia Simmons began her freshman year at 16. In fact, Rayasia went on to graduate at 19 with departmental honors.
  • Nyesha Canady began her freshman year at 15 and then transferred to Ball State. She told her story at the annual Black Student Association (BSA) pageant.

So yesterday, when I scrolled across the Ball State [website] home page and it featured a 16-year-old freshman, I was not surprised by the girl’s age. I was, however, confused as to why she was featured.

She certainly is not the first student to begin at 16, and probably won't be the last. I wondered, ‘what was the newsworthiness?’ I knew of at least three people, myself included, who began college early, but our stories had never been told like this before.

In the year of Donald Trump, I couldn’t help but wonder if her race had afforded her the honor of being celebrated in the town square. After all, one thing I learned at Ball State was the politics of race and the impact it has on how the university operates.

A Muncie Star Press article read, “But Dora is the only full-time, on-campus 16-year-old on record in Ball State's history." Dora has definitely accomplished a lot in her life. I understand how overwhelming it is to start college young and I do not wish to undermine her. In fact, I’m excited for her and proud that another woman has joined a club of women that are rocking Ball State at such a young age.

But I can’t help but be disappointed that my alma mater hasn’t always included black girls in our institution’s narrative. So I decided to write this to correct Ball State's record, to celebrate the other black girls who started college young, and to start a conversation about how we’ll build the Ball State story.

Good luck Dora — my hope is that you have an amazing time at Ball State. Advice from a once 16-year-old freshman: join as many organizations as possible, enjoy the free movies, the beautiful scenery of campus, and never miss out on a chance to tell your story!

Kanyinsola Ajayi
kiajayi@icloud.com

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