5 minute read
Petrina Robin
Petrina Robinson
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Toyloy Brown III
Petrina Robinson is a sophomore entrepreneurship major at Quinnipiac University. Besides being a student, she is a Resident Assistant (R.A.), a student worker at one of the school’s residential life desks, an intramural sports referee, the event coordinator of the Black Student Union, the treasurer for the club NaturallyMe and a member of Montage, the literary journal club. For a student who has spent just over two years at Quinnipiac, Petrina clearly has made an effort to be an active member of the university’s community. However, the ability to get involved in multiple clubs and juggle various responsibilities was not something she could have predicted a year ago. Prior to being an incredibly engaged student, Petrina was a freshman who had periods of loneliness and a difficult time forming meaningful connections with people at Quinnipiac. “My freshman year, especially, I felt really really lonely as a Black student,” Petrina said. “I just felt alone, a lot of times I was doing things along (the majority of students’) culture and not my own. So the way I greeted, (even) the pitch of my voice was a little higher. I don’t know why I was trying so hard to accommodate and nobody ever tried to accommodate (for) me.” Her unique upbringing, which was different from most Quinnipiac students’, is partly responsible for her confusion. Petrina was born and raised in Jamaica for 10 years before she moved to Hartford, Connecticut. Similar to her rocky start at Quinnipiac, she did not adapt immediately to living in the United States, but eventually settled in. As a high schooler, Petrina continued progressing academically and discovered the value in engaging in programs and internships outside of school. In the 10th grade, she joined this program called Project Ready that taught her and other students essential skills, such as how to budget money and how to perform in job interviews. Petrina eventually became a Project Ready intern, assisting the program with secretarial work, something she found great pleasure in. “I was their intern and (it) turns out I really love organizing and paperwork, and just all that desktop stuff is exciting to me,” Petrina said. “A lot of people are like, ‘that is so boring,’ and I’m like, ‘I freakin love it.’ And that’s when I started working with students.” After her experiences at Project Ready, Petrina continued interning elsewhere. She found a particular interest in getting involved with younger children when working at places like the local Boys and Girls Club. Having these experiences helped confirm her passion for helping young people after seeing how she can make a difference. “I want to give people little skills that I know will take them further,” Petrina said. “My goal is to be a social entrepreneur. And what I want to do is build a school program that helps kids.” Along with her hopes of starting her own business and after-school program, Petrina dreams of possibly creating a school that is dedicated to giving young people life skills that prepares them to take on the real world. Before this dream is realized, though, she had to find a place that could help her one day attain those goals. Petrina chose Quinnipiac mainly because she was impressed with the school of business. She also found the campus “pretty” and after touring the university, she felt confident that it would be a place she can envision herself being successful. Petrina does admit though that she imagined Quinnipiac to be a bit more racially diverse based on the statistics she found online. Petrina realized how challenging it was for her socially to engage people in a meaningful way. This progressed to a level where she felt internal pressure to change the normal way she spoke. She would routinely engage in small-talk conversations with people because there wasn’t any common interest or experience she found with people. “I was always in customer service mode when I was talking to people and it was just so uncomfortable,” Petrina said. A specific example of an uncomfortable social interaction is when one of Petrina’s white male friends greeted her and without permission grabbed her hair explaining how much he loved it. Although these varying forms of microaggressions are plausible to occur again, a huge shift happened when Petrina participated in the Students of Color Retreat in the second semester of her freshman year. Petrina and several other students spent a weekend at Camp Jewell in Colebrook, Connecticut. There they developed leadership skills, had meaningful conversations and built bonds. This was the experience that helped her form a real group of friends that she enjoyed spending time with and can be herself around. “That was a big change for me,” Petrina said. “That helped me so much. (Before the retreat) I was like ‘man I don’t know if I could stay here.” Petrina considered transferring prior to the retreat since she had not been able to build true connections with people. Fortunately for her, the retreat happened, and she steadily found her footing at Quinnipiac. “(After the retreat) I was like ‘OK, I have some ties to the community now,’” she said. “I feel comfortable enough now to join these clubs and participate. That retreat was the happiest I’ve been my freshman year.” Now a year later in the second semester of her sophomore year, she has a lot on her plate. It’s not only impressive that she attained these positions, but that she is able to handle all these things. What helps her keep her sanity is scheduling things at least 30 minutes apart so she can rest a bit instead of doing things consecutively. Petrina also is able to maintain her busy weeks by “keeping it pushing.” “You just think ‘let’s just get this done because this is a part of the little things you have to do to achieve your bigger goal in life,”’ Petrina said. “I am pushing hard for something greater and you just run on that. I always say that, just keep it pushing. If somebody asks me ‘what are you doing’ I’m like ‘just keeping it pushing.’
