Hailing from a small town in Southwestern Pennsylvania, Elise B. Michaux has always had a genuine interest in people. Following all of her school years, that interest has since become a passion. As a senior in a predominantly white high school, Elise was captain of her basketball team and president of three clubs, one of which was student council. She was then persuaded by classmates to run for senior class president. She won though she had only submitted her name a day before the elections were held. “People saw my leadership abilities before I realized I had them,” she says.

Elise felt academically unprepared to attend college. She thought she would start off at community college as other members of her family had, but instead she was accepted and went on to study at Slippery Rock University (SRU). Wanting to mainly focus on her studies, Elise did not take on many leadership roles, but the one she did take on stole her heart: A first-year mentor. This position required Elise to foster first-year (freshmen) students on how to be successful in their transition from high school to college. Through this role, Elise fell in love with the development and growth that she saw in her students and even more so in herself over the four years at SRU. A mentor of her own made Elise realize she could do this for a living, which led Elise to switch her major from Secondary English Education to English Literature.

Elise stayed right at home for two more years at The Rock and completed her graduate degree in Student Affairs in Higher Education. Now working as a Director of Student Involvement at Seton Hill University, she is still mentoring students with whom she has come into contact over the years as an educator.

Elise’s love for writing and fascination with people have collided. She takes very often to her blog to express herself about current events within the American and particularly the black culture. She is now looking for opportunities to begin sharing her story and the small steps we can take to begin changing our culture. “Our culture is influenced by too many of the wrong things and it is time we take back our right to think independently! My generation is indeed the future and it is time to flex our collective positive muscle,” she says.