Kayla Blanchard '22 Will Attend UGA for Graduate School on a Full-Ride Scholarship

The beauty of the Queens campus is what initially captured the attention of Kayla Blanchard ’22 when she was touring colleges. Now, the Charleston, South Carolina native is leaving Queens captivated by history and gearing up for her teaching assistantship at the University of Georgia where she will attend graduate school on a full-ride scholarship.

Blanchard’s childhood planted the seeds for her interest in culture and history. Her father was in the military for 20 years. She was born in Anchorage, Alaska and she spent most of her childhood in Germany. Blanchard believes her time reconnecting with extended family in Charleston, before coming to Queens, helped her reconnect with her own identity.

“I did my capstone for the history department on the spiritual practice of Hoodoo in the low islands of South Carolina and Georgia and how it impacts Christianity and our perception of Black Christianity today,” she explained. “I hope to continue my education by getting my Ph.D. in history and my dream would be to return to Queens as a professor one day. Ultimately, I would love to teach African History or Black History in Southern America.”

Blanchard feels her history degree honed her critical thinking abilities and writing skills. During her time as a Royal, she interned at the Habitat for Humanity where her supervisor also held a degree in history. From that experience, she discovered how versatile her major is as it lends itself to a variety of fields.

Blanchard is grateful for the Vandiver Center for Career Development and Writing Center at Queens. She relied heavily on these two offices on campus to help her navigate the graduate school application process. She’s certain that the assistance she received crafting both a professional resume for job applications and a resume catered towards academia was crucial in painting herself as an exceptional candidate for the various roles she applied for.

Outside of the classroom, Blanchard enjoyed her involvement in L.E.A.D. (Learn, Empower, Act, Diversify), and the Student Government Association.

“I am the co-chair of L.E.A.D., which is a minority and first-generation focused mentorship program here at Queens. We recruit first-year students and match them with someone who has similar interests to them,” she explained. “I am also Commuter Senate in the Student Government Association which has been a great opportunity to grow in leadership.”

As Blanchard says goodbye to Queens, she hopes it is simply a “farewell for now” as she continues her education.

“I am going to miss the small close-knit community at Queens,” she said. “Everyone is so open and welcoming here and that has been so special.”