Intellectual Autobiography

MY COLLEGE JOURNEY
Intellectual Autobiography
Zakiyah Coombs
27 January 2023
Delaware State University

Survey of Liberal Studies
Since I was two years old, I have had a “passion for fashion” and a mind of
leadership. So while enrolling in college in 2015, I decided that best way to embody a
leadership position was to be an entrepreneur, so I became a business major. In my 18-
year-old mind, being an entrepreneur was the most rewarding career anyone could have.
Over the years, my desire has remained the same, but now as a 25-year-old senior here at
Del state, I know there are other careers that are just as, if not more, rewarding than
entrepreneurship. In one of the first classes I took at Delaware State University, my
professor told me that college was going to teach us how to think, and he was right. I
have learned how to think, and I have expanded my mind in ways that I did not know
possible. That expansion has allowed me to articulate myself confidently and become an
open-minded thinker, which has shifted my identity in the world. I am a very confident
person and I am proud of the woman I have become. Simply knowing what I want to do
in life and having a clear direction of where I am going in the future is the greatest reward
I have ever received. Growing up in Brooklyn, I was exposed to a very broad and diverse
culture in New York City, that is full of opportunities and possibilities, but even so, this
Brooklyn girl would have never imagined that she would be who she is today.
For the last 8 years (2015-2022) I have been a business major, beginning as a pre-
management major with a concentration in marketing and then switching to a
management major with a concentration in general management. I have transferred
schools twice and taken a total of three semesters off, (not consecutively). So far, I have
earned a degree of Associate in Science, Summa Cum Laude, from Medgar Evers
College. I did not go the traditional route of graduating college in four years and getting
my bachelor’s degree. That was due to many things, one being my diagnosis of scoliosis
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in 2015, as well as my lack of direction in what I want to do in life. After my diagnosis,
came the awareness that there was something wrong with me and that wrongness became
part of my identity. So, for a lot of years I let scoliosis be the reason why I made a lot of
my choices. I created this pattern of goal setting and activity completion with no concise
destination, but the important thing is that I never gave up. Seven chiropractors later, I
can finally say I have a much healthier relationship with my body, and now I listen to my
body, and that plays a major role in my life and everything I do. It enables me to be vital
and healthy enough to accomplish my goals.
Now, I am in my last semester of college and I finally know what I want to do in
life. Putting my health and myself first has gotten me here. My passion for fashion never
went away and it was my unwavering determination for completion & wholeness that
revealed this next chapter of my life. Which is, a career in fashion marketing, design, and
creativity. I say creativity because what I want to do is unlimited. It includes visual
merchandising, product creation, content creation, and making my own designs, just to
name a few. I aspire to pursue anything that interests me, and this journey has made me
be open to doing that.
Liberal studies is the final chapter in my college life. It came as a surprise when I
had to change majors in the summer of 2022. I had been so determined to get my
business degree and I was honestly disappointed that I had to change majors to graduate
in the fall of 2022. I felt as though I was giving up on business and my dreams of
entrepreneurship, but then I decided I wanted to graduate in the fall more than I wanted to
get my business degree. While researching what liberal studies was, something clicked.
All of sudden, there was a major that explained what I identified with as a person.
2
Business was what I did, but liberal studies explained who I am, a deep thinker and a
pursuant of truth.
Liberal studies is the fulfillment of the promise my professor made in those early
days of college. It has taken me this long to get here but I finally have a major I can
identify with. Upon enrollment in the Survey of Liberal Studies course, I watched a video
called “How to be the Smartest in the Room” by Ibram Kendi and in watching that video
I learned the value of being an intellectual. According to Kendi, an ''intellectual" is
someone with a tremendous desire to know, a tremendous capacity to change their minds
on matters, to self-reflect, and to self-critique. Intellectuals are only governed by one
special interest and that special interest is rarely self-serving, and that special interest is;
finding and revealing the truth. I identify with that on so many levels. My mission and
my purpose in life is to find and reveal the truth, do what I am meant to do, and fulfill my
destiny of why I am here.
Throughout my college years, I have been introduced to many intellectuals that
have been monumental in influencing me on my journey toward forward thinking, but
that video in particular was very eye opening for me. I connected with it on a different
level and it speaks to my purpose and how I live my life. I want people to know me as
someone who reaches their goals and finishes everything they pursue. In my future, I
only see a life of building and creating things I am proud of. Starting with my career in
fashion, I hope to influence people to pursue their dreams and to never give up on their
goals, no matter how long it takes. My life has been a testimony of how not giving up
always get you the reward in the end. No matter what challenges and circumstances come
my way, I persist toward my goals and I will accomplish all of them. I continue on this
3
path because I know even though it is not always easy, it is always worth it. Nipsey
Hussle once said, “the greatest human act is to inspire” and I intend to inspire others to
never give up on what they dream of, and to always persist no matter what comes their
way, toward accomplishing their goals.

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MY COLLEGE JOURNEY

Delaware State University

leadership position was to be an entrepreneur, so I became a business major. In my 18-

entrepreneurship. In one of the first classes I took at Delaware State University, my

management major with a concentration in marketing and then switching to a

management major with a concentration in general management. I have transferred

and healthy enough to accomplish my goals.

Now, I am in my last semester of college and I finally know what I want to do in

creativity. I say creativity because what I want to do is unlimited. It includes visual

be open to doing that.

I learned the value of being an intellectual. According to Kendi, an ''intellectual" is

on matters, to self-reflect, and to self-critique. Intellectuals are only governed by one

destiny of why I am here.

Throughout my college years, I have been introduced to many intellectuals that

have been monumental in influencing me on my journey toward forward thinking, but

way, toward accomplishing their goals.

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