Amidst adversity, a Long Beach City College student stands as a testament to perseverance, transforming her personal battles into a narrative filled with drive and dedication for change.
April Brown, president of LBCC Umoja club made an indelible mark as she was honored with California Community Colleges 2024 Student Leadership Award.
The award bestowed upon Brown highlights her commitment to her campus community and the impactful moments that motivated her to get here.
Throughout her childhood, Brown faced numerous challenges having dealt with bullying, home struggles and various signs of mental illness.
She fought to find a balance between her home troubles and being present both, mentally and academically.
“I felt like I was a burden to the world, I felt like I didn’t matter and I was useless,” Brown said.
During her freshman year of high school, Brown reached out to the national suicide hotline and sought help.
At 15 years old, Brown was diagnosed with severe depression, anxiety and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder after being hospitalized from battling with suicidal tendencies.
“I felt validated, like, I was given a partial answer to why I feel like this and what it’s called,” said Brown regarding her feelings about her diagnosis.
Within the year, and with the encouragement of her family, Brown worked towards her betterment and became more involved with school activities, improving in her academics and graduating with a high grade point average.
After high school, Brown was accepted into Howard University where she attempted to start over.
It was then that Brown found herself derailed once again after becoming a victim of sexual harassment at the university only weeks after the beginning of her journey with them.
During Brown’s time at Howard, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic in the fall of October 2021, protests centered around poor student housing conditions erupted at the university and interfered with student life on campus.
Many students like Brown who resided in student housing were impacted by the protests and ultimately faced food scarcity due to the lack of access to the campus foods and resources during the time.
“Everyday felt like it was a surprise and not in a good way. It was just such a struggle trying to gain access to the resources and information I needed to succeed as a student at Howard especially as a freshmen,” Brown said.
The complacency of the university in their approach to handling the matter and the overall handling of student affairs left Brown unsettled.
“I was continuously around negative energy and feeling like I just don’t belong here, I don’t fit in, and that I am not fitting the stereotype or I am not doing this or that, so I called my dad and asked him to pick me up,” Brown said.
This would be an event that would impact the rest of her academic career.
Brown decided to move back home and attend LBCC where she ultimately became Umoja Club president and had the opportunity to work for the school’s welcome center, where she met the mentors she has today.
In her short time at LBCC, Brown managed to raise over $17,000 for the Umoja club, making that the most funding a club that focuses on equity and inclusion has raised at the LBCC campus.
Her experience at LBCC is what Brown references when she speaks on her current triumphs and the successes that got her to win the 2024 California Community College’s Annual Student Leadership Award for raising the club funds and her overall involvement on campus.
Advocating for people and voicing out student needs has always been a big part of what motivates Brown to do what she does.
With some of the money raised for the Umoja program, Brown and other Umoja club members were able to visit various universities including Howard years after Brown’s departure, providing Brown with a deeper insight and a new perspective on her overall experience at the university.
“There’s a lot of stuff I didn’t know going in as a freshman in college. I learned why my experience was bad, and I learned why these private historically black colleges and universities are like this,” said Brown, “With that education, it bloomed me towards why I now not only educate but advocate for my peers about the reality of some of the schools that they are interested in now. Never to turn them away but to show them the reality of it and what it entails to help prepare them.”
Brown used her experiences as learning tools to better assess not only her future needs but the needs of any transferring students she comes across.
“If it wasn’t for these core moments I wouldn’t be where I am today,” Brown said.
Brown expresses gratitude and credits her motivation for being the student leader she is to numerous LBCC staff such as her supervisor at the Welcome Center, Kemberly Quiroz, Dean of Student Equity, Sonia De La Torre, Umoja Club Director, Chrishaad Moye, and Black Student Success coordinator Angela Fowlkes along with her friends and family.
“She’s always been very ambitious, motivated and confident. I have watched her grow into this developing leader that is just always supportive and encouraging towards others,” Angela Fowlkes said.
“I am all about student advocacy and trying to represent and be there for students because I didn’t feel like I got that growing up as a bullied child. I did the hard work but it takes someone to hear it. It takes a village. LBCC will always be my village,” Brown said.
Brown is going to CSULB next year where she will transfer to pursue her bachelor’s of science in business management.
However, Brown says she will make it a point to continue to stay involved with LBCC’s Umoja program during her time at the university.