00:00The best value for attending an HBCU or the best reason for attending an HBCU is that HBCUs are a
00:11family. We care about our students as though they're our own children, they're family members,
00:16they're our cousins, we're their aunties. We stand by support and assist these students both in the
00:20classroom and out of the classroom. So one of the best of BC, that's what we typically refer to our
00:26alumni and our graduates. Neda Rutherford is an amazing, amazing young woman. She is the first
00:32African-American female coroner in Richland County, South Carolina. She has broken ceilings, she has
00:39made history and she makes us proud every single day. What I love about an HBCU is that they help
00:45students like me who had no direction and no real purpose in their lives. When I came to Columbia,
00:52South Carolina, I was a homeless teen. I'd been homeless two days after graduating from high
00:58school and that HBCU, Benedict College, decided that I deserved a chance, that I was a good kid
01:05and that maybe, just maybe, if they gave me an opportunity, I would shine and because of Benedict
01:10College, I was able to make history in my life and in the county that has served me well. My HBCU
01:17experience showed me that no matter where I come from, no matter the fact that I was homeless,
01:23abused, I grew up a ward of the state in foster care, it didn't matter. What mattered was where I
01:28was going. She Got Now is an award that lets me know that while I may have been the first to do
01:34something, I should not be the last. And so my goal, my mission, my passion and purpose in life
01:40is to make sure that doors, windows, and all of the things are open for the women that may look up to me
01:46and for the young girls coming behind me. The student honoree for She Got Next here at Benedict
01:50College is Adaranke Adalaken. She is a computer engineering major. She's a sophomore from Hyatt
01:56School, Maryland, and she is a part of our student innovation hub on the campus of Benedict College.
02:01She has her own product line called Royalty Cosmetics, where she specializes in discovering
02:08cosmetic lines for women with darker hues skin. So she is a rising entrepreneur,
02:14a scholar in her own right, and represents the very best of BC.
02:18When I hear the phrase She Got Now, it makes me feel like I am the future, I am next, and I am what
02:26is upcoming and what is going to be presented to the future. And when I got the email that I was
02:34going to be honored, I was like, what? I did not expect it at all, to be honest, but it feels great.
02:40It feels amazing to be seen because honestly, I go to a very small college in South Carolina, which is
02:45not like super known, but the fact that I was acknowledged makes me feel great. What I love
02:52the most about my HBCU experience is the family unit. It really feels like a family on my campus,
02:58especially because it's small. I hope that all students from different ethnic backgrounds consider
03:04attending an HBCU. It's like going home to family. I would say to my Benedict College family, BCBC, you know, you know.
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