Opening: (audiobook recording from Black Cake: A Novel by Charmaine Wilkerson) "If you don't see someone out there who looks like you, you need to go for it anyway." [insert opening image of title page “A Challenge of Being a First-Generation Indo-Carribean Student in America”...title pending] 

My Voice: The decisions we make and the careers we choose are often shaped by where we come from, the education we receive, and our perceived limitations. [insert images of young me at my home in South Ozone Park, images of my local schools P.S. 108 and M.S. 137. insert images of my high school in Manhattan with friends displaying the demographic makeup of majority students of color] 

As a woman of Indo-Caribbean descent, my family's culture, immigration journey, and lack of representation in various fields shaped the way I used education and made big life decisions. Many immigrant parents from the Caribbean leave their home countries in search of a better opportunity for education and financial success. As children of parents that had to make significant sacrifices, we often feel pressure to pursue education and careers that we feel our families find respectable and justify their sacrifice. This message is not always explicit but is still internalized. I think now that I'm in my late 20s and I have had the opportunity to socialize with people from other socioeconomic backgrounds, I realize how narrow my scope was when choosing careers. The arts, research, and humanities seemed silly to me at one point because I couldn't reconcile the lesser financial success with the time and money it took to study these disciplines. If I were to look at many of my peers that come from multiple generations living in the states, I'd see more diversified career exploration within their families and social networks than what I would see in my own. [insert images of being a CUNY student, which was me limiting my scope of schools, images of me as a teacher for 6 years because in the Caribbean community teachers back home are “respectable”] 

(audiobook recording from Black Cake: A Novel by Charmaine Wilkerson) "Now I'm not gonna get all Pollyanna on you here and say that there aren't genuine obstacles to confront including financial barriers and stereotyping. Those of us who are a generation ahead of you who are supposed to be working on these things, and a lot of us are trying, but do yourselves a favor and think about it first before you don't think about it." [Insert images of unique or unthought-of careers for myself such as being a writer, film director, theater major, social media influencer etc... still brainstorming] 

Concluding audio: (audiobook recording from Black Cake: A Novel by Charmaine Wilkerson) "'Ride the wave' This is what I would like to be able to say to you, folks. That in life, you should just catch the wave and ride it. But what if you don't see any good waves coming your way?  You need to go looking. Don't stop looking, alright? And one of the ways to keep looking is to keep studying. Do not underestimate the value of applying yourselves in school because you cannot win if you don't play." [insert image of kamala harris as vice president?... still thinking on that]