Aaliyah Rapping, SGA President

Senior Aaliyah Rapping was the Student Government Association’s (SGA) Executive Class President. Her dedication to student government began during her freshman year.

“When I first joined, there were a lot of black women in the organization,” Rapping said. “It definitely felt like a very welcoming environment for me as a black woman, to come in and learn leadership skills.”

Aside from SGA, Rapping participated in a variety of activities throughout her high school career, from mock trial to track and Black Student Union.

“I would tell my freshman self to enjoy every moment,” Rapping said. “Because even the times of stress … take that time to reach out to the people around you who are going through the same thing. Connect with them, and realize that [at] the end of the day… you’re doing everything you do because it’s what you love to do.”

Rapping will be attending Howard University. She was attracted to Howard for the community it has and for the community she hopes to foster there. 

“Choosing to go to an HBCU, Howard University, was extremely important to me, because what better place for me to learn about my people, than a place that was historically for my people,” Rapping said. “Being able to go to an HBCU to study psychology [will help me to] be able to learn what is hurting our community, and what I can do to help my community.” 

Rapping has learned a lot from her experiences with Midtown’s diverse community.

“Our school is filled with people that are from different races, ethnicities, socioeconomic backgrounds; so, being in a space where we’re all in a community together has truly opened my eyes to the diverse types of people there are,” Rapping said. “There’s diversity within diversity.”