Brooklyn Kemp, a California native, is heading out of the swift gates of N.C. A&T and into the “real” world, filled with a prosperous journey ahead of her. 

Kemp traveled more than 2,000 miles from home, leaving her parents and her dog, a morkipoo called Teddy. She always wanted to attend an HBCU and decided not to apply to any four-year California school. 

“When I toured N.C. A&T I really enjoyed the space, the community, and most importantly the people; it felt like it was a good fit for me,” Kemp said. 

 Kemp did not come to N.C. A&T empty-handed as she attended a local community college and graduated with an Associate in Arts in sociology while maintaining a 4.0 GPA. 

Jumping right into the A&T spirit, the graduating senior was accepted into the honors college in her first year. She went on to become president of the Sociology and Social Work Society, leading her to participate in an abundance of service opportunities while making connections with like-minded individuals. 

Kemp did not stop there; she also worked at the recreation center for two years as a fitness lead focusing on student events around campus. Her role at the center led her to find her “Aggie love story” with graduating senior Kamari Manns.

“Finding my Aggie love story was definitely not what I planned, but I would say it was one of the best things that enhanced my college experience. I was able to find someone who truly was willing to understand me on a completely different level,” Kemp said. “We both originally did not plan to be together, but we prayed about it separately and of course God decided we needed to be together and we’ve been striving ever since.”

During her time at A&T Kemp has grown a lot as a person and will be taking many lifelong lessons as she moves through her journey. 

“I’ve grown in many different ways – I would say the biggest is I’ve grown into a better version of myself in terms of being very independent and determined. I would say my resilience has built throughout the two years of me being here,” Kemp said. “I’ve been able to learn more about myself and be able to make better decisions to truly grow and be great.”

Although the graduating senior accomplished a lot, her journey has also faced the difficulties of having to come in as a transfer student.

According to Kemp, she had to adjust to the social life at N.C. A&T has to offer and learn how to advocate for herself while trying to access the same resources other students got handed to them. 

“When you’re a transfer student you come with previous credits compared to freshmen, and it is hard when you don’t have the same resources and activities to prosper,” Kemp said. “You kind of have to do a little extra work and I would say that I persevered through that because I didn’t let my time here hinder what I wanted to accomplish.”

However, through this experience, she shared she was able to strengthen her relationship with God and find connections through her church community. 

The sociology student said one of the biggest things she will miss about school is the sense of community; the feeling of belonging and her professors. 

“I enjoyed my professors, they were great teachers and always found a way to connect our curriculum to everyday life and it made me enjoy my major and what I was learning,” Kemp said.

Kemp took advantage of all the connections she made at A&T, landing her an internship at Chick-fil-A Headquarters in her first year at the university as the diversity and equity inclusion intern under their talent acquisition team.

Kemp’s journey will not stop at Chick-fil-A as she would like to obtain a Master’s degree.

“I would like to pursue my Master of Science in organizational and development to help nonprofits and Fortune 500 companies,” Kemp said. “I have hopes to create my own nonprofit to help youth leadership and development.”

Kemp emphasized the importance of networking and how A&T allowed her to prosper in the direction of her goals as a sociology student.

“It’s important to establish really strong relationships within your department, also being intelligent when it comes to networking because you never know what type of opportunities can come to you knowing somebody,” Kemp said.

As she waits for her final plan, Kemp is eager to walk across the stage and flip her tassel to the other side.