Everybody deals with the challenge of balancing school and extracurriculars, but for Jayda Austin, the process has been about finding herself through it all.
Austin, a third-year student at SUNY Old Westbury, is active in several on-campus organizations. She serves on the executive boards of the Black Student Union and the All the Right Moves dance team, and she also works as an orientation leader.
“I’m involved in a lot of things, but I also dread the fact that I’m involved in a lot of things because I like solitude,” Austin said. “But I do try to maintain a social life, because you’ve got to put yourself out there.”
Being involved in her community has always been something Austin was naturally drawn to.
“I did step, I was in dance, I was in cosmetology club, I was in choir club and I was also a student ambassador because I would go to the district meetings for my grade,” Austin said of her high school years.
However, during those years, COVID-19 made Austin less involved because of quarantine and remote learning. After graduating, she wanted to make sure that did not continue.
“You don’t just want to be going to class and going home, so I wanted to put myself out there in that kind of space,” Austin said.
Austin returned to dance in college through All the Right Moves, and it helped her rediscover qualities she knew were still there.
“It taught me leadership and dedication again,” Austin said.
Austin then joined the Black Student Union out of a passion for the Black community and to connect with student leaders, which opened the door to more opportunities.
But alongside those opportunities are the internal struggles she faces as a student balancing many responsibilities across different campus organizations.
“I’m scared of saying I can do something and then not doing it the way people expect,” Austin said. “And my biggest fear is not accomplishing my goals. I struggle with self-doubt, and when things get overwhelming, I just want to quit, even if it’s something small.”
However, through her experiences in the organizations she is part of, she has learned to work past her self-doubt.
“I wouldn’t say they didn’t change how I see myself,” Austin said. “I feel like they solidified more what I knew about myself. I know that I can handle overwhelming things, and even if I am annoyed and I complain, I’ll still get it done.”
This mindset helps her push through even challenging obstacles, including within the organizations she is part of, like All the Right Moves dance team, with its upcoming May show, which is a team-led performance.
“We’re a little bit on a time crunch, so it’s just a little trying to get the whole vision, especially when you have to cooperate with a bunch of different people,” Austin said. “But that’s just something that we have to overcome.”
With this semester ending and senior year approaching, Austin continues to look forward to the future and growing not only as a student but as a person.
“I’m still working towards me,” Austin said. “I just know that the foundation of who I am is what I’m manifesting, what I’m working toward, and then I’m just excited to see who I become in the next 10 years.”
