About a year and a half ago, I saw a flyer on the door, as I  was leaving my history class, for a Pre-College Program in Early American History with The College of William & Mary in Virginia.
Having grown up in a household with parents who took us to Gettysburg and Williamsburg on vacations, and with brothers who were always playing Lewis and Clark after being inspired by the Ken Burns documentary, naturally I was interested in this program.
I have always had an intrest in Early American History, when I was younger, it spoke to my interest in civil rights, hearing about the founding fathers fight for liberty and freedom. When I was older, I became interested in learning about those who did not have freedom and liberty throughout American History.
The essay I wrote for the program was about my interest in James Forten, a free black man from Philadelphia who fought in the revolution, eventually owned his own business where he payed black and white workers equal wages, invested in black authors and journals of the time, and married a Native American woman who was a member of the first conference ever held in the U.S., regarding rights for women of color.
After learning about this incredible man, and being a person of color myself, I was inspired to teach people about him, so I introduced the students at my school to him by reading his speech in front of the Congress of Pennsylvania calling for abolisionism during Black History Month.
I love history and am constantly looking to learn about those who fought for freedom, white, black, brown, free or enslaved, famous or unknown, and I look forward to learning about those people this summer, who shaped our nation defied all odds held against them.