In a small room in Kidder hall off the north end of Oregon State University's campus, Kadijah White, a student in Human Development and Family Sciences department, unveils her childhood story and the challenges she came across along the way. With a small audience of 14 people comprised of students, faculty, and professionals, White promotes the concept of "change" and the many different ways people handle it each and every day with her own personal story.
So what does change mean to Kadijah White?
"Doing something today that you didn't have to do yesterday, something as simple as opening the door for someone" said White. Whether it is involuntarily or voluntarily, White makes key points on what change can do to anyone at any age.
For White, it wasn't a walk through the daisy field when growing up as a child. With no father around, and a mother who spent more time away from her five kids, White found herself taking on responsibilities most children wouldn't imagine. It wasn't until White's mother left her and her siblings that "change" was going to be the ultimate factor White had to overcome.
"I would come home from school sometimes and my stuff would be packed, ready to move to a different foster family somewhere" said White.
White knew all she could do was push forward and do the best she possibly could to get a good education and found that school felt more comfortable than home.
"I used to do all my homework at the school because school helped me feel like I was a part of something, and that was really important to me" said White. Some people in the crowd nodded heads in agreement with White.
It wasn't until her sophomore year of high-school when White introduced her biggest challenge she has faced so far. She was attending South Salem high-school at the time and came home from school to a strange woman who she had never seen before. It turned out that this woman was her aunt on her father's side, and had plans for White and her siblings to live in Austin, Texas with them.
"I couldn't believe it, I was doing so well in school and everything was starting to feel normal" said White.
White had enough determination to see through this challenge, and in the end, couldn't be happier because these people provided shelter, food, and most importantly love. White had never experienced this before, and set out to accomplish bigger and better things by thriving in school.
When White finished out high-school in Austin, she had been accepted to Oregon State, Oregon, Baylor University, as well as the University of Texas. Reiterating that she wouldn't be who she was today without the motivation of change in her life, White moved back to Oregon and went to school at Oregon State.
"Baylor was a pretty good choice for school, but it was also very expensive, and there was something about the people at Oregon State that made me feel like I belong."
Finding school as an outlet, White demonstrated to the crowd that "change" isn't all that bad depending on how you handle it. After growing up through this life challenge at a young age White felt without it, it wouldn't have made her the motivated woman she is today.
White wanted her crowd to leave knowing that "the little things matter in life" and certainly left an impact on a motivated group of people.
At a Glance:
Who: Kadijah White
Where: Kidder Hall 202, Oregon State University main campus
When: 2:30-3:30pm/ 2 March 2016
Why: Flourishing @ OSU Lecture Series
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