Discovering A New Strength by Dominick

Discovering A New Strength by Dominick - January 2026 Scholarship Essay

One big challenge I’ve faced is being black at a predominantly white school. I originally came from a public school before I got to Montgomery Bell Academy and it was a huge culture shock for me. My middle school, Head Middle Magnet School, was a blend of all cultures and races. When I got to MBA though, my entire class was predominantly white. My class is made up of 140 kids. 4 of those kids are black, including me. Going in, I faced a lot of ignorance and racism. There were numerous times in my first year where I would constantly be asked for the n-word pass by my classmates. I would constantly tell them no but they would continue to pester me about it.
As I progressed through my years at MBA, the “jokes” continued at a less constant rate. However, the jokes were still apparent. Once a kid told me, “can we measure the circumference of Dom’s lips?” Another time, a kid had a lanyard and he used the shape of the lanyard as a whip and told me “back to work slave”. These experiences were a huge part of my overall experience at MBA and it caused me to debate whether or not I should leave MBA. Nonetheless, I stayed. I knew that if I left, I’d only be aiding to their ignorance. So instead of leaving, I joined a student-led group called Tearing Down the Walls, which is a school organization focused on having uncomfortable conversations so that we can break down the barriers that separate us as people.
Being a part of Tearing Down THe Walls allowed me to be seen and heard in regards to my experiences. There were some students that were ignorant that came to the Tearing Down the Walls meetings and came out a lot more empathetic than they were before. But there were and still are some people who have no want in being empathetic, and I’ve overcome their prejudice by simply ignoring them. It’s a common saying but it’s true that if you simply ignore someone and what they’re doing for attention, then they’ll eventually stop. In regards to the future, there is another school organization called the Student Inclusion Committee that I was selected for. The difference between the SIC and Tearing Down the Walls is that the SIC is school sponsored. In the SIC we started off the year by having conversations with 7th graders talking about prejudice in their grade or even some biases that they may have. The conversation made the 7th graders more empathetic to each other and less likely to be prejudiced to their peers as my peers were to me. This year, as the head of Tearing Down the Walls, I plan on hosting more conversations and striving to end prejudice at this school.