The road hasn’t always been easy for Fatmata Sesay ’23, but she’s pushed through for her father. 尽管面临挑战, she has not only made it just a few months away from graduation (which is no easy feat on its own), but she also leaves behind a tremendous legacy from her involvement on campus and dedication towards making Bryn Mawr better for the next generations to come.
In 2010 Fatmata and her family moved from their home country of Gambia to Houston, 由于她父亲的健康状况不佳，她通过联合国申请了德克萨斯州. Fatmata had always been passionate about education, but even more so when she moved to the U.S. since there were several times back home when her family could not afford school.
“My father was always the biggest supporter for me and my education. 他总是督促我，鼓励我做好事. So, 我一直在战斗, 总是讲述我是如何来到这个国家的, and how I have to use all of the opportunities that I get because some of these opportunities are limited back home.”
Fatmata’s father unfortunately passed away during the fall of her sophomore year at Bryn Mawr. 她飞回家参加葬礼，然后做了一个决定. Fatmata’s mother suggested that she stay and take a gap year to be home with family, 但法玛塔最终决定继续前进.
“我问自己，我真的应该休息一年吗? But I knew that’s not what my father wanted for me, so I came back to finish what I started.”
Fatmata recalls the promise that her father made to her before she joined Bryn Mawr.
“He said, ‘on your graduation day, no matter what I’ll make sure I’m present for you.“当我回来的时候, the hardest thing was knowing that my father wouldn’t be there for me physically on my graduation day. 但我想过了，我知道他会去的. 我不知道怎么做，但他会看到我走上舞台. 我脑子里一直在想我现在停不下来了. 大二很艰难，但我还是完成了. 大三，大四，小菜一碟.”
Fatmata让它听起来比看起来容易. 在她的学业上, Fatmata担任SGA的社会正义与公平主席, 猫头鹰大使, 联席总裁的 进来吧, a DLT 成员, 副导师 还有一名学生协调员 布莱克在布林茅尔 程序.
Fatmata took a 布莱克在布林茅尔 tour in her first year and felt so seen by the figures mentioned in the tour, 比如31岁的伊妮德·库克, 第一位从布林莫尔毕业的黑人女性.
“She was a STEM major and at that time I was trying to be a STEM major, so I really clicked with her. 我就想哇, I kind of understand how she feels; I remember my biology class being so large and I felt very small. 听到伊妮德·库克的事，我很感动. And I also want to be that person to give out and educate the community inside and outside – I want to spread that information.”
Although Bryn Mawr’s early founding did not include students of color, knowing that there were Black students who later came in despite the obstacles, 坚持, and forged their own paths gave Fatmata the confidence that she too would be able to make it through her own challenges as a BIPOC, FGLI学生. Fatmata joined the 布莱克在布林茅尔 team in her sophomore year and is now the student coordinator for the 程序.
“The thing I really love about the 布莱克在布林茅尔 tours is that it’s very collaborative. 我们在与观众交流，教育他们, but we’re also learning from the audience because they often have things to share. There’s so many times I’ve learned from my peers, staff, professors from what they had to say. 当我们学习和谈论这个的时候, 我们可以让事情变得更好，不仅仅是为了我们自己, 也为我们之后的人.”
Giving back is a value that Fatmata has carried with her through all aspects of her college experience. 这可能, Fatmata will graduate with a degree in psychology in hopes of becoming a pediatric mental health specialist.
Due to her father’s health, Fatmata describes the hospital as her “second home” back in Houston. It was through her experience of always being in the hospital surrounded by doctors that Fatmata felt inspired to also go into medicine.
In pursuit of a pre-med track, Fatmata started off taking biology courses at Bryn Mawr. 而她喜欢生物，在班上表现很好, 她不知道这对她来说是不是最好的选择. 她一直对大脑很好奇, especially because of the stigma around mental health in her own family, 想尝试一下心理学.
Fatmata initially thought that it was too late to pursue a psychology major since she was already midway through her sophomore year. She also worried she would be at a disadvantage since she had never taken any psychology courses in high school. But with some encouragement from faculty members in the psychology department, 法塔塔参加了她的第一堂入门课, 喜欢它, 而且没有回头.
Fatmata hopes that the unique facets of her identity will help contribute to the underrepresented topics and clients in the field of mental health.
“People feel comfortable talking to people who know where they are coming from. If I can provide that I think it will be helpful to so many children. It can be hard if there’s a barrier blocking the relationship between a therapist and their client. I feel like there’s so many different values that I bring to the table."
Fatmata’s love for kids extends to many of her extracurriculars and she regularly spends her time volunteering for children in the area and back home. Every Friday since her first-year, Fatmata has been volunteering with 进来吧 where she teaches STEAM to middle schoolers in the Norristown Area School District.
“It’s one of the extracurriculars that I really enjoy because I’m working with kids and they’re fantastic. 看到他们从学习中获得的激情真是太棒了.”
Fatmata also connects regularly with children back home in Houston with the 促进难民进步和融入伙伴关系(PAIR) 组织. Fatmata joined PAIR as a middle schooler when she first moved to the U.S. 并通过这个项目提高了她的英语水平. 现在我是PAIR的导师, Fatmata helps refugees who are in their first year of college maneuver through the different challenges of college life, 以及告诉他们如何玩得开心.
“我们都有自己的生活、故事和背景. 布林茅尔有时很难相处, 但只要你记得你的根, 你从哪里来?, 我认为你可以督促自己，因为动机真的很重要.”