Growing up, we are told we have a single purpose and must fall into this perfect line in order to be successful: get through high school with perfect grades, be involved in a variety of extra-curricular activities that will supplement our future career, figure out that career, graduate with honors, and go off to a university with everything figured out. Of course it doesn’t stop there, but by now we’ve been forced onto this path with the idea that deviation automatically means failure.

I, however, was not put on this earth for perfection, nor was I meant to have a single purpose to fulfill. I was also not put here to fail. I was put here simply to be human.

My name is Ami Sherman and I am currently a Sophomore at Boise State University pursuing a degree in English Rhetoric and Composition with a double minor in American Sign Language and Gender Studies.

My ultimate goal, both through my studies and professional career, is to break this idea that those who are different are automatically bad or a failure—in many regards, not just in an academic setting. I want to find new ways to change society’s perspective. Three critical areas of focus that will help me accomplish this are through research, creative thought and innovation, and through actively demonstrating the importance of cultural exploration.