Education Studies Major Seeks to Provide Welcoming Learning Environment

Myciah T. Brown: 'My hope is that I can be the counselor that I needed when I was in school'

Is there a faculty or staff member who has made a significant impact on you? Dr. Rona Frederick, Dr. Katryna Andrusik, and Professor Chy McGhee truly have supported me as a student leader, future educator, and a human being. As a first generation, low-income, Black student, it takes a lot of work finding faculty and staff who support you simply because they see what you are capable of. I will always be grateful for them and tell people how much they have lifted and supported me.

Proudest accomplishment: While it was not my work, but my advocacy that helped SGA Senator Sophia Marsden pass legislation for the University to create an Africana Studies program, I am extremely proud of that collaboration. Education is formative and every student needs mechanisms to be able to explore their identity and ancestors in an academic context. I felt that The Catholic University of America ought to engage in the uncomfortable topics regarding race, race relations, and the history of the oppressed in our nation and beyond with compassion and understanding. Dr. Gregory Carr, Chair of the Department of Afro-American Studies at Howard University, wrote that, "Africana Studies seeks to theorize on the basis of long-view genealogies of African intellectual work." This specific discipline aims to discover, understand, and connect the lives and experiences of those who are of the African Diaspora. We are excited to see this program grow and know that all students in our community would benefit from that program.

What activities have you been involved with? I am currently the President of both the Black Student Alliance and the Iota Iota Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. These organizations’ legacies have made me want to be a better leader on campus. I want to provide a space where students feel comfortable to bring themselves, their whole selves as Sister Thea Bowman would say, to our CatholicU community. Being a member of these organizations has allowed me to be a better me and for that I am grateful.

What are your goals? My life goal is to find joy in all things. My career goal is to do school counseling in marginalized communities. My hope is that I can be the counselor that I needed when I was in school, especially high school.