I don't regret looking at the email Mr. Joseph sent me one Tuesday night. I took a look at the email which was titled “Queen Geniuses 5th Annual Conference”. I had no knowledge as to what this was about but I was interested, not just for the community service, but also for the food. I decided to sign up for it because I didn't have anything planned that Saturday. When I arrived at Medgar Evers the setting got me so excited. The bright purple and gold balloons and the drawings everywhere, I was very interested. While waiting for the conference to start Ms. Regine Roy (Founder of QG) came and greeted us at our table. At first I'm like “oh hey” not knowing who she was, let alone knowing that she was behind this grand event. We had a quick chat and she told us to refer to her as the Head Queen and each other as Queens because we weren't allowed to call each other anything other than Queen. When the host started and introduced Ms. Regine Roy “The Head Queen”, this is when I knew this was where I belonged. Her energy made everyone feel very welcomed!

Ms. Regine Roy is a 30 year old woman who had accomplished a lot, she is very successful, smart, beautiful and I honestly look up to her. During her speech it made me realize that everything is possible and I can say that Ms. Regine is very inspiring and her work should be showcased all around especially at my school (AMS III). It made me realized that women are capable to do any and everything that a man can do. We shouldn't stop ourselves on what society thinks of us or tells us what we can not do. She said “ in order to be whatever you wanna be, you have to think deep and hard on what you think “it” is and think about it every time things gets hard”. Ms. Regine shared with us that her “it” is changing every time she evolves and it changes into something even better.

At the conference there were various guest speakers who were very inspirational including the State Senator Kevin S. Parker. After leaving this conference it had me thinking hard about my actions and who I am as a person. I believe that Ms. Regine should be a part of my school culture, at least once a week because she can open new doors for us girls and encourage us. She can also share tips with us as to how to be successful and reach for our “it”. I think this would really benefit us young women at AMS III before we are cast out into the real world (college, careers, etc.). We should have a role model to whom we can connect with on a higher level. With the way this world is set up, especially now, we as women still fight for equality and men can walk over us but that's not the case. We are stronger than ever and can overcome any and everything.

Nya Jean
11th Grader at AMS III