The eldest of three siblings, Bernice Meja was born in Durham, North Carolina, and lived there till age 6. That’s when her dad and mom, who immigrated to the U.S. from Zimbabwe, moved the household to Canada for brand spanking new alternatives.
Her dad and mom valued schooling, and Meja was a decided and concerned scholar. “I simply like to be taught. I used to be very a lot a nerd — the standard youngster of African dad and mom who pushed schooling,” she stated. “They at all times informed me the worth of it and the way it provides me entry to something I would like. I at all times had that mindset of, if I strive exhausting sufficient, I do all my research, I can obtain something.”.
When selecting a university, Meja wished to return to her birthplace. She was thrilled to be accepted by Duke College. She meant to check medication however realized after her first semester that her coronary heart wasn’t in it. She selected to double main in physics and philosophy as a substitute.
“Duke was a humbling expertise. The highschool I attended didn’t have IB or AP courses. So diving into physics and Duke math — and simply navigating being a first-generation scholar — it was a whirlwind.”
When she joined the Eno River Rugby Workforce, she met a doctoral scholar who invited her to change into a lab assistant. “That individual actually helped me develop in my confidence, impressed me to hunt assist, and believed in my abilities as a scientist and a researcher. I began in search of mentorship. I actually worth speaking to different folks and listening to about their experiences and the way they navigate academia.”
As her senior yr approached, she thought-about going to graduate faculty or taking a niche yr and returning to Canada. However after commencement, she joined the Duke School Advising Corps and spent the following two years working in a rural North Carolina highschool, serving to college students find out about and apply for faculty.
“It gave a lot perception into social points and programs which might be in place that don’t work for those who are immigrants, which might be underrepresented,” Meja stated.
The belief that info will be exhausting to search out and navigate, and the impression that may have on folks’s lives, sparked her curiosity in how info is offered. Meja found a ardour for fixing damaged programs and the sphere of knowledge science.
She selected to check at Carolina’s Faculty of Data and Library Science as a result of its Grasp of Science in info science program is extremely ranked and versatile. She was additionally within the specializations provided.
At Carolina, Meja is an American Library Affiliation Spectrum Scholar, a recipient of the Julia Blixrud Scholarship from the Affiliation of Analysis Libraries, and an Fairness Fellow, mentoring first-generation first-year college students. She can also be a graduate assistant within the Kenan Science Library Makerspace, the place she found the enjoyable of tinkering and making.
For profession recommendation and steering, Meja sought out Lori Haight, the varsity’s scholar companies director. Haight inspired her to speak to college with expertise in human-computer interplay and consumer expertise. They, in flip, inspired her to attend the Triangle UXPA UX Y’all convention, the place she networked with a number of professionals. One was a venture designer from WillowTree, and this summer season, she’ll be an intern at that firm.
That’s how issues work, Meja found. Once you ask for assist or info, folks reply.
“Out of the 50-plus people who I reached out to, there might need been one one that didn’t wish to speak. Everybody has been so open and good and type and resourceful.”
