IKeya Bell

My career path was shaped by my lived experiences through high school. I attended an all-girls Catholic school that was very strong with education and sisterhood. Being a first-generation Black college woman, they showed me the ropes and equipped me to go out in the real world. I started off in healthcare right out of undergrad, working in hospice at a hospital. I realized it was not something I really wanted to do - I feel like I just kind of followed in my family's footsteps since they were in healthcare. The healthcare field is very stressful and kind of depressing, especially in hospice where I was coding and meeting patients. I just couldn't do it. A family member suggested I try teaching, and though I was hesitant at first, I ended up falling in love with it. I've met so many amazing kids along the way. During that time, I was getting a certification in mental health and cognitive behavioral therapy, which helped me grow stronger relationships with my kids and understand them on a deeper level, because a lot of these kids come from broken homes and have issues themselves. I became like the big sister or the auntie to these kids, other than just being their teacher. Once I saw that I was good at it and the change I was making, I just wanted to keep going. This led me to get my master's degree in business administration so I can open up my business and tie it into helping kids in the education world. Right now, I'm getting my doctorate in professional leadership with a concentration in health science, doing my dissertation over first-generation Black college women and the identity issues that they face in education. I try my hardest to work with freshmen and girls in high school to instill in them what was instilled in me.