Ajani Washington

What’s good y’all,

My name is Ajani. I am a 2nd-year Communications major and I’m looking to pick up Applied Psych and Black Studies as a minor. I’m particularly interested in behavior, anger management, and emotional intelligence/health studies, but unfortunately, I’m still unsure what exact field I want to get into within Comm. I am from the “wonderful” city of Stockton, grew up and was raised there by my grandmother. I also play rugby.

I joined BSU for a multitude of reasons, but I’ll boil it down to just two. The first reason is because of my lack of experience within my own culture. I wasn’t raised in a big family, being an only child and not active within my own family. I felt out of place coming to UCSB for obvious reasons, but even when I tried to hang out with the BSU, I still felt out of place. I knew something was wrong, so I took the opportunity to become a BSU exec board member to build friendships with people of my own skin color, but to also get more in tune with myself. The second reason is pretty simple, I wanted to have more leadership experience. This was a huge opportunity to take advantage of because I never had a traditional role within an org before.

My vision is a step-by-step process and right now it’s cementing myself within the black community and UCSB’s community in general, so I can become a stable and welcoming force to aid and assist students and potential students.

I wish all of you the best in your college endeavors and if you need help, advice, or guidance in any situation don't hesitate to reach out.