T H E
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BY CHRISTY MCDERMOTT
You have heard the word a million times: unprecedented. The word seems to have lost its meaning and weight as we come to the end of 2020 and into “the new normal.” Yet these days right now are the ones that we will remember for the rest of our lives. Living through the COVID-19 pandemic, the biggest racial justice movement in U.S. history, California wildfires, and countless other unremarkable events — 2020 has changed everything. As our lives have been torn apart and slowly stitched back together, we have the power and opportunity to build a new future. This is the change that Raldgine Beauvais is calling for.
Growing up with rigid beauty standards, it was difficult for her to feel confident when she didn’t fit the image of a skinny, white, blonde girl. With that feeling like the epitome of beauty at the time, the emphasis that she is not that girl was inescapable. “Going to school and seeing that, going to social media and seeing that and seeing that in my town — it gets to you. You think that’s the beauty standard and I don’t look like that. That played a big role in my self-esteem.” It wasn’t until her senior year of high school that her outlook on life began to change. She took a current events class that highlighted the imperfections in the world around us.
where they grew up, and she gained a broader perspective on what it’s like to be Black in the U.S. “Obviously kids would say the N-word and say things about Black people, but as for someone just coming up to me and being disrespectful, I’ve never really felt that,” she says. “I’ve talked to people who’ve come from the inner city and everything, so that really opened my eyes.”
Having more diverse friends led to a range of new experiences and conversations. This gave Raldgine a place to openly discuss problems of racial inequality with people who also wanted to make a change. This desire for change was put to the test during the COVID-19 pandemic and quarantine.
“We talked about racism, sexism, homophobia, terrorism and ISIS — just having my eyes opened to the world CATALYST FOR CHANGE Raldgine grew up in a small town as one of the drastically changed my views,” she says. “That’s when few Black students in her school. Throughout I started becoming more vocal about racial injustice. As Raldgine left school for spring break, she never middle school and high school, this isolation That’s when I started forming my own opinions and would’ve expected to remain home for the rest of the took its toll on her. While she had her two Black filling my social media feed with things going on in the year. With the COVID-19 pandemic quickly spreading friends, being in a predominantly white school world. I just really want to help people, so I want to be and sending everyone to quarantine, Raldgine embarked led many to brush her and her friends off whenev- updated on what’s happening.” on a whole new journey. er they’d discuss “Black problems.” Filled with compassion and empathy, Raldgine realized “Coming back home from college was a very different She specifically recounted a time when students her calling in life is to serve others and help those in experience, especially during this time of transformation from her high school created a racist Twitter need. She decided that she would study behavioral scithat I was having,” she says. “I was just thinking about account that pretended to sell slaves. The account ence in college and eventually open up her own clinic. how I was in high school and how I am now, and it was was ridden with racial slurs and followed the such a big change.” Black students from her school. When the A FRESH START students who created the account were exposed After growing so much in college and having a newand reported to the school, they received a stern In order to make her dreams a reality, Raldgine came to found self-confidence, she knew she needed to keep talking-to — nothing else. Penn State to study biobehavioral health. As soon as she going. After feeling tied down to her old ways, she knew stepped foot on campus, she noticed a striking difference she needed to do the one thing she said she would never “That’s when I realized that it sucks being alone from her hometown. do: the big chop. After years of growing her hair long, and being by yourself while going through that perming it and straightening it, she knew this was somephase where kids will just say the N-word because “Coming to Penn State, it was honestly a culture shock for thing she needed to do for herself. they think it’s funny, but you just can’t do anyme,” she says. “Even though Penn State’s still a PWI [prething about it,” she says. dominantly white institution], there were definitely still “I wanted a change and wanted to put a new foot forward, more Black people than basically I’ve seen in my life or so I cut my hair really short,” she says. “I feel like that Raldgine felt this isolation beginning to affect her at least in my town … Most of my friends were people was a cultural reset for me. Cutting my hair was just me mental health. of color my freshman year which was really cool. That taking my power back into my hands. In that moment was my first experience being surrounded by people that was when I really, really started advocating for racial jus“During high school, I just had really low self-eslooked like me. That’s when my self-confidence really tice and honestly everything else going on in the world teem,” she says. “I just didn’t really see myself as went through the roof.” — homophobia, sexism, all that stuff. It made me want to beautiful or my skin color as beautiful. I wanted live in a place where everyone is accepted and no one is to fit in so badly with everybody else, and it just Having supportive Black friends meant everything to above each other.” got worse and worse.” her. Even if they weren’t from the same area, they shared their Black experiences. She’d listen to their stories of After letting go of her old self, she knew that there was GROWING PAINS
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