As COVID cases in Mississippi spiked in April 2020, the negative impact on what was supposed to be one of the happiest years of my life appeared right before my eyes. First, my graduation ceremony was cancelled, and students had to move off campus immediately. This meant goodbye to any senior-year traditions, rushed farewells to my professors, friends and classmates, no more late-night runs to the store with my college friends and definitely a “see you next time” to my twin bed in my dorm. Shortly thereafter, I noticed a change in how my OB-GYN scheduled appointments.
Gabrielle Terrett
A native of Vicksburg, Miss., Gabrielle Terrett is a graduate of Alcorn State University where she studied mass communication. While enrolled, she wrote for the Campus Chronicle, Vicksburg Daily News and the Vicksburg Post. She also served as president of the Alpha Chi Alpha chapter of Lambda Pi Eta, a chair member of ASU's National Association of Black Journalists chapter, member of the campus NAACP and meteorologist for ASU T.V. 13. She marks one of her greatest writing accomplishments as her piece "We Belong Here, Too," a training document written for the Harper's Ferry National Historical Park. This piece is used to help interpreters better explain how African Americans overcame adversity. Gabrielle now serves as the president of Warren County Young Democrats to provide her city's youth with access to information about how politics directly affects them by organizing candidate round tables and voter-registration drives.