My name is Wintre Foxworth. I was born in Chesapeake, Virginia. I am a fourth-year student, completing a double major in African-American and African Studies (AAS) and Government, concentrating in American Politics, with a minor in Sociology. I am currently putting the finishing touches on my AAS Distinguished Majors project entitled “Race. Gender, Class and Domestic Work in Brazil.”

In the summer of 2010, I spent six weeks in Salvador, Brazil with Pennsylvania State University’s Program “Culture, Economics, and Language.” During my time there, I became interested in the unique and peculiar way in which racial categories operated. I thought critically about my surroundings and my interactions in various environments, while also negotiating my own identity as a dark-skinned African-American woman. Particularly intriguing was the ubiquitous presence of the black domestic in nearly every home I visited. Upon my return to the United States, I desired to explore this topic in a nuanced way. After much research, analysis, and synthesis, I am graduating with distinction, after completing a thesis engaging this very topic.

In addition to being honored the accolade of Echols scholarship, I am a Walter N. Ridley Scholar. This scholarship, awarded to most academically ambitious African-American students at the university, provides scholars with academic and professional support. I am also a member of the Raven Society at the University. Among my meaningful involvements at the university, I have spent three years as an Office of African-American Affairs Peer Advisor. I served as the 2012-2013 Senior Peer Advisor Tri-Chair, overseeing the program’s efficacy. Since my first semester in the fall of 2008, I have volunteered with Madison House in both the Daycare and Cavs in the Classroom program. I served as the Program Director for Barrett Early Learning Center in the Daycare program this past school year. I have also served as an educator of the University Judiciary Committee and a member of the Outreach Student Admission Committee, whose purpose is to increase diversity in the incoming student body.

Following graduating on May 20th, I will serve as a 2012-2013 Teach for America corps member in Atlanta, Georgia teaching elementary school with Dekalb County Public Schools for two years. Upon completion of my teaching commitment, I will pursue some form of graduate studies. I am currently undecided about which degree (PhD, JD, or MPA) will nurture my talents best.