Today we’d like to introduce you to Osazi Al Khaliq.
Osazi, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
Growing up as a child, I always wondered what does it mean to be great. This concept intrigued me because it seemed to be one of the most motivating factors for people’s lives, though many never considered how such an abstraction is attainable. As a young adult who aspires to personify his own definition of greatness, I knew I wanted to live a life of purpose and meaning.
However, this wasnt always so. For a long time, I had been stuck in a constant state of heartache because I wasn’t able to change the adverse position I had been born into. As a result, fear of worthlessness was the biggest motivation for me to try. But if I had learned anything from this sense of fear, it was that this feeling was misplaced. As I grew I was able to accept the conditions around me and realize that if I wanted to change me and my family’s position it would have to be through sheer will power, faith, and hard work.
Growing up, I was able to realize that it was because of the numerous obstacles and challenges I’ve endured that I have been able to shape my character in order to mature and grow as an individual. As I was able to look at my local community, I realized that I could provide the tools and information to help others who may have been in a similar situation as I was. It was through this thinking that I decided that I would dedicate myself and my career to helping others (specifically the youth) and providing the tools for others to succeed just as I did. Thus, I was able to find a passion for service and for giving back to my community in a way that would inspire those who are underprivileged as I was and by doing so I was able to find my own definition of being great through service.
It was this journey that led me to my participation in the Harvard Debate Council Diversity Project, a pipeline program that trained underserved minorities to be scholars through a 10 month collegiate training period and gave them the opportunity to debate at Harvard during the summer. Through this program, students were able to learn under Brandon Fleming, Assistant debate coach at Harvard University. Through my time in this program, I was quickly able to realize that it encompassed so much more than debate. I was able to learn that its goal was to provide access and opportunity to minority students that wouldn’t traditionally be presented to them in order to encourage underserved youth to be scholars. The program’s motto, “scholarship meets culture” sought to teach us that its okay to be academically inclined while also being proud of our culture and heritage. It was by being a part of this narrative that I wished to expose to the youth in my community the ability to be inspired to be great through service and academia while also being proud of where they come from.
As Student Body President of my class, I was able to spread this message through workshops we designed as students of the program that targeted Metro Atlanta students and provided them a glimpse of the “Harvard education” we received through our time in the program. By hosting these workshops that involved a hundred students from around Metro Atlanta, we were able to teach them about the power of public speaking and debate and using their voice to create a positive impact in their community. As such through my participate In the program, I have also been able to attend and/or speak at Democratic National Conventions, Georgia Legislative Assemblies, and even give a keynote at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
By serving my community through HDCDP I was able to find a purpose for myself that embodied my own definition of being great. It was this purpose that led me to have the courage and drive to achieve anything I set my mind to, including being accepted in Harvard University’s Early Action class of 2023. In the future I plan to attend law school at Harvard and use the tools that I learned to invest back within my Atlanta community in hopes of making a positive impact and inspiring the next generation to also be great through service.
We’d love to hear more about what you do.
I serve as one of the student representatives of the Harvard Debate Council Diversity Project, a nationally acclaimed pipeline program that recruits, trains, and matriculates Metro Atlanta black youth into a prestigious summer debate residency at Harvard College. HDCDP has become known for positioning students of color for post-secondary admission into the highest-ranking universities in the nation. The end goal of the Harvard Diversity Project is to promote educational equity by creating opportunities for underserved youth to gain exposure and access to academic training that will distinguish them as top candidates in the college admissions process. According to Bloomberg, Atlanta is currently ranked among the most unequal cities in the United States of America and has one of the highest needs for minority development. Furthermore, the inequality gap extends far beyond Atlanta. African-Americans, in particular, are still fighting to gain a level playing field in society and are underrepresented in many of the country’s leading academic, social, and political institutions. Harvard Diversity Project exists to strategically provide exclusive exposure and educational opportunities to underrepresented students. This will make them more competitive by providing a distinct advantage in the college admissions process, widening their pathway to success and placing them on a trajectory to become social leaders, activists, and entrepreneurs.
The program is known for sending 25 African American students to debate at Harvard University’s Debate Tournament during the summer of 2018 and winning during the first year of the program’s existence.
Is our city a good place to do what you do?
In my opinion, Atlanta is the perfect place for a non-profit such as the Harvard Debate Council Diversity Project because Atlanta is a city that has the issue of educational inequity and providing underprivileged and underrepresented minorities opportunities, access, and resources. Thus, this program seeks to address this inequity by giving opportunities to underserved youth to be leaders in their communities which is why pipeline programs such as this are important and needed especially in places such as Atlanta. It is because of this fact that Atlanta would be a great place for people starting out programs and businesses that seek to address educational inequity.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://harvarddcdp.org/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/HarvardDCDP/
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