Anyone who meets Essence Ferren is likely to notice her warm smile and outgoing personality. But she says she wasn't always so confident.
“I was a person who kept to myself,” she said. “I didn't feel comfortable being myself.”
Before coming to AACC, Ferren felt pressured to make a decision about college and confused about what school to pick. It wasn’t until she started attending AACC that she felt like she was “surrounded by a community with people who actually, genuinely care for me and about my success and my future."
One pivotal experience was her first time attending a meeting for Experience Campus Ministry, a student organization.
“I walked in, and I just remember feeling like, do I fit in here?” she said. She quickly found that she did. “It was the most accepted I've ever felt in my whole life, and everyone wanted to get to know me. I felt so seen. And honestly, it's not just that club, but it's everyone in AACC that made me feel that way.”
Even as others began to get to know the psychology student, she began to get to know herself more, too.
“In (my favorite) class we learned a lot about who we want to be, who we are,” she said. “You get to know what you want to do with your future.”
That curiosity about how people’s minds work helped draw Ferren to the Psychology program.
“I love just getting to know people,” she said. “I love understanding why people make the decisions they make.”
One day, Ferren hopes to open a daycare to give kids a mentally and emotionally healthy start. In the meantime, she plans to keep making friends, learning and taking advantage of all that AACC has to offer.
“I feel like I'm finally finding my place, finding my place in the world, finding my place here,” she said.