HUMANS OF BELLAIRE – Tera Reed

“[Jarryn Carner and I] rode the bus together last year. We would just be talking about how we’ve been here all four years, but we’ve never seen a big demographic of Black students uniting as one. We always saw our community fighting each other rather than uniting. We just wanted to create a safe space for Black students and show that minorities can also do stuff because a minority is a powerful group. It’s a powerful group, and it has a powerful voice.

The idea [to start the Black Student Union] came from [my] growing up in a predominantly Black demographic. Our culture was really implemented into our childhood, preteen-hood, teenage-hood and adulthood. I’ve been dealt a pretty bad hand with how I grew up with a single mom and then having a sister [with] such a big gap between us. She’s 24, so we didn’t really get close until my mom died. Freshman year was probably the hardest. I felt like I didn’t have a place because I lost such a big part of my life. My mom was literally the other piece of me. Losing her felt like my entire world was crumbling, so my goal was to just create a safe space for kids who’ve just been going through it.

I thought that it was gonna be super hard because we were starting a club as seniors. I remember talking to Jarryn [saying], ‘I feel like I’m a terrible president. I don’t know what I’m doing.’ Starting a club feels like you’re raising a child. I’m not gonna say that it’s always been easy, but it’s not as hard as I thought it would be. Recruiting kids is the easy part. Getting them to stay and be active is the hard part. The Black History program was super hard to do and we pulled it off in two weeks. It was a challenge, but if I see a challenge, I’m going to face it head on.

I learned that I can actually lead. I was in such a state of shock when I realized that I could actually put stuff together off the top of my head and just go with it. I was just like, ‘Wow, I can actually do it.’ Being the founder and president of a club is challenging, but I took the challenge and made it into something positive. 

I remember [during] our first meeting, I did not expect to see as many people as I did. Our mental health panel was when I really saw a turnout. I genuinely did not think people would come because mental health in the Black community is not something that you talk about. No one really realizes how deep trauma goes. So I wanted to highlight that and showcase that no matter what —you can be black, blue, white, purple, green— we all go through something. 

What I’ve learned is that it’s okay to not be okay and that everyone has different stories. Everyone has different backgrounds. Everyone has something they went through. You can breathe. You can give yourself time to breathe, and you can have fun. It doesn’t have to be work all the time.

I’m just a girl trying to break generational curses and trauma. We can all do whatever we put our minds to. I really wanted to highlight that no matter what you’ve been through, no matter who you’ve lost, no matter what you’ve lost, you can still do it because you are amazing in every single way no matter what people have told you. You’re still going to be ‘that girl’ or ‘that boy’ or ‘that person.’ Be yourself. Live life. Mistakes are going to come along the way, but perseverance is key.”