February is dedicated as Black History Month, honoring the triumphs and struggles of African Americans throughout the U.S. For this year’s black history month, I will be honoring one of my best friends, Tinuola Adebukola. Tinuola is currently a senior at Whitney Young and will be attending Washington University in St. Louis in the upcoming fall season.

Tinuola has one of the biggest hearts on the planet. I recall how shy I was my freshman year and how difficult it was for me to put myself out there. Tinuola saw this and approached me first, and with just a few words from her buoyant personality, she was able to bring me out of my comfort zone. She treated me as if she had known me for years, and to this day she remains the same uplifting and inspiring individual that she was when we first met.

Her personality is not only limited to her kindness: she possesses a type of wisdom that spans several subjects. She taught me that it was a waste of my time and energy getting angry, upset, or so irate that I allowed myself to be controlled by my emotions. She was always calm, patient, and tempered when faced with people who were less than pleasant to be around. I learned from watching her deal with the situations life would present that as long as you gave everything you had to give and never quit, you could never be defeated.