By Sian Wilkerson

Six years ago, Hilda Quansah came to Virginia Commonwealth University as a biology major on a pre-medical track. In May – after a few false starts – she will graduate with a degree in social work, feeling that she finally found where she belongs.

Quansah, who grew up in Fredericksburg, has African roots: Her parents emigrated from Ghana. She said that “success in those cultures is like doctor, lawyer, engineer – any of that.”

But as early as her first semester at VCU, biology didn’t feel like the right fit. She wasn’t enjoying her science or math classes, and she frequently wondered how she would keep going for seven more years through medical school.

Ultimately, Quansah decided to switch majors. And then she switched again. And again.

All in all, she went through four majors before finally finding her place in the School of Social Work. Once she committed to her new major, she was struck by how effortless the work seemed after years of forcing herself into a mold that didn’t fit.

“I was like, ‘I can’t believe this is how college [can feel],’” Quansah said. “I didn’t know college could be easy, but that’s how it felt because I was studying something I actually wanted to study.”

Still, even after finding social work, the road wasn’t always smooth. Quansah, who is in recovery, struggled at points to balance school with her health and well-being.

“I remember being at wit’s end,” she said. “I was like, ‘I’m finally in a major I like, and I just can’t do it.’”

Then she found Rams in Recovery, part of the Division of Student Affairs, which provides support to students both inside and outside of the classroom as they navigate their recovery. Early in her sobriety, Quansah reached out and received resources, including a room in VCU’s Recovery Housing.

“If I didn’t have [this program], I 100 percent guarantee I would not be graduating in May,” she said. “The mindset [I had] and the point I was at when I finally reached out was not good. But they gave me hope.”

During her address as the undergraduate speaker for the School of Social Work’s commencement ceremony this year, Quansah will highlight her journey and its “many bumps and barriers.”

“One of the key things I’m talking about in my commencement speech is how comparison is a thief of joy,” she said. “We are all on our own journeys, and that’s something I wish I could go back in time and tell my younger self [when I] compared myself to my peers and other people. But I’m so grateful I had to experience it, because it shaped me into who I am today.”

In addition to her studies, Quansah is a student coach with ACE-IT in College, part of the VCU Rehabilitation Research and Training Center. This summer, she will take classes to become a peer recovery specialist with Rams in Recovery before beginning the master’s program at the School of Social Work in the fall.  

Now that this stage of her journey is almost over, Quansah said it still feels surreal.

“This degree isn’t just mine – it’s for my family and for my ancestors,” she said. “It’s also hope for other Black women, other first-generation women, other people who identify with me. They can do it, too.”