Imani Salazar-Nahle | AESP Consulting Fellow

I remember always feeling "not enough" of anything. I consider myself a drifter – flowing between identities, hobbies, and interests. I am Lebanese and Afro-Guatemalan, a mix of two contrasting yet coexisting cultures from opposite sides of the globe. Growing up was a really interesting experience for me because I experienced a lot of difficulty identifying with either culture fully. I always felt like I wasn't enough of either to really claim both sides of me.

I began to notice that my identity seemed to hold some sort of significance when I arrived to UC Berkeley and began to make my way into the workforce. I pondered the idea of college admissions and job offers from the perspective that I was the “brochure kid” and “diversity for diversity's sake," as I continuously found myself in spaces where no one else looked like me.

It then dawned on me that my experience in these spaces and the way I was representing myself was beyond just me. I was taking up space and serving as a representative for my family and for my community as a whole. My ability to have access to these kinds of spaces is a feat within itself that I needed to recognize as a way to pave the path for those to enter these spaces after me. I learned that I needed to carry myself with pride while maintaining humility and integrity in everything I did. The way I represented myself was rooted deeper than I had originally thought, and maintaining this mentality for myself made me stronger and more prideful than I ever was before. From taking ownership of my story, I have been able to tell my story in the book “You Can Change the World”, make an impact in Berkeley Business Society, and be recognized as an Accenture Student Empowerment Fellow. But the most important aspect is that all my accomplishments will need to extend beyond myself for others - that is how I will have #madeHERstory.

Imani Salazar-Nahle, UC Berkeley Student (@missmaani)