Being my own advocate never really applied to me until I went to college. I never ran into problems where I had to figure them out on my own. I always had my parents to help me with any problem life threw at me.

I have recently learned that if I don’t start advocating for myself, nobody is going to care or listen. On that note, I’m going to tell you a story. As many of you know, I have a gluten allergy. And at Merrimack, we have a dedicated kitchen for people with severe allergies such as nuts, dairy, and gluten. Well, when I came to school in the beginning of September, there was absolutely nothing in the kitchen. Okay, there was bread, but there weren’t muffins, wraps, snacks, etc. for the students to eat. After coming into this problem, I realized I needed to speak up. The school has the tools to buy food for the kitchen, but nobody spoke up about the issue.

Long story short, I eventually emailed SGA about the problems I was coming into with the lack of food in the kitchen. They emailed me back promptly and within the next week, the kitchen was fully stocked with foods myself and other students with allergies could eat!

This may not seem like a big deal to some, but to me, this was major. I could finally eat a gluten free brownie!! (which is a very, very big deal).

This moment in my life was a life lesson for not only myself but for my peers as well. I have learned that it's vital to always advocate for yourself because nobody else is going to. People are not mind readers, so if there is a problem, speak up!