If there is any experience on campus that I would recommend for black students. Then I would recommend Kuamka. Kuamka really was an experience that you will not get anywhere else. Kuamka gets you out of your comfort zone in so many ways and at the end of the long process you will have grown in so many ways. I joined kuamka my sophomore year because I was planning on graduating early and I wanted to see what kuamka was all about. I remember being at the black student welcome and seeing Mr. and Miss Kuamka for the first time and just thinking to myself, How do I become like them? After hours of considering if I should do it or not, I decided to apply for kuamka. On the very first day of practice, I remember being so nervous because I had no idea what I was about to get myself into. The biggest thing was kuamka is a leadership pageant in which you would be scored on 4 different categories: Interview, Platform, Question & Answer, and talent. We spent our practices preparing for all of them, At the beginning of the practice season I was still so nervous, I was stuttering, having imposter syndrome. I was unsure what my talent would be and I had no idea how I was going to answer a question that would be given to me on the spot. The only thing I was confident about was my platform Embrace your natural crown. I wanted my platform to based upon the initiatives of the crown act. I wanted a platform geared towards helping students embrace their natural hairstyles, because natural hair is beautiful. By the time wine had come, I had seen so much growth within myself, I started being more confident and feeling like I belonged amongst my cohort. I was starting to get the hang of things and I picked a talent that told the story of a father and daughter. I became so close with my cohort and we spent a lot of time helping each other out and preparing for the big competition. Eventually, January 30th came around and it was time to watch as all our hard work paid off. The first competition, interview, was pretty standard. The judges just wanted to get to know us as individuals. The 2nd competition was all about our platforms and our plan of enacting them if we won. The question and answer portion was the scariest for me, basically you would draw a number and the number would correlate to a random question that has to do with politics,current events/ movements and personal information. The next competition was talent and I actually had so much fun performing that night. Once the week completed I was just so happy that I made it through without quitting. Finally, the ball came and at the end of the ceremony it was time for the crowning of Mr. and Miss Kuamka. I remember being so nervous because I felt like I didn't stand a chance among my amazing cohort. But, to my surprise I won and I am so happy to be serving as the Miss kumaka 2023.