Share the Dream: My Life, My Focus, My Goal Share the Dream: My Life, My Focus, My Goal: Wainaina, Laicey

Talent Merit Scholarship Recipient

My name is Laicey Wanjiru Wainaina. I'm a 19 year old girl residing in Dracut, Massachusetts. I’m a first-generation Kenyan-American, who carries and values my heritage in my everyday life. I live with my mother, father, and 3 siblings. 
I am the eldest. My biggest obstacle I've overcame has been navigating a world where I’m living as a black girl in a predominantly white town. I've been the only black girl on most of my sports teams. 
And it used to drive me insane knowing that we were different, and I would stick out like a sore thumb. My biggest accomplishment has been being able to realize my worth and purpose at such a young age. This past May, I hosted a mental health panel to help bridge the gap between parents and teens, especially those of 1st generation, navigating their mental health. I was inspired by the recent suicide of a friend. This event helped the community to start discussing mental health, and it opened up hard conversations. This meant everything to me because when I used to suffer with my mental health, I felt like I was not understood by my parents and once I started to reach out for help professionally, I got myself into a better place.


I chose to enroll at UMass Dartmouth because I felt I was the perfect fit for the school. Since the moment I laid eyes from the school at open house, I was already in love with the architecture and the gloomy look of the buildings. Then, as I went on to learn more about the school, I started to notice that there were a lot of students that looked like me. 
There were a lot of African American students, and it seemed so foreign to me at the time. I’ve never felt such a strong sense of belonging until being at UMass Dartmouth. I’m honored to be a proud Corsair.

My major is crime and justice studies on a pre-law track, and I’m interested in adding philosophy as a minor. I love the College Now program and the doors that it has opened for me. 
I truly believe that this is the institution for me. Because of College Now, I've been given the tools, the support, and the academic confidence that I feel I needed to be successful for the next 4 years. Now I know that I can make it for the next 4 years, and I do intend to stay at UMass Dartmouth for law school. What motivates me to stay in school is knowing that my future degree can help others. 
I've been very dedicated to community work and helping others around me. Others that look like me, others that also may not look like me. And college is different than I expected it to be than I was in high school because in high school, the idea of college seemed foreign, not impossible.  I suffered a lot academically, and I just didn't think that I would be successful in college, and I'm very surprised and proud of myself for making it this far.


I plan on using my education to contribute to society entirely. I plan on dedicating my life to community work. I feel that we need more female representation, black female representation at that, because we tend to go unseen, unheard, and pushed over, and that's no longer the case. 
I believe future and potential investors should invest in my education, because I have a plan on helping others, I will work as hard as I possibly can.