Blkgradstudent 2.0

I find when a chapter closes, a new one begins, but what happens between the chapters? That is what this post is about, the in between and the next chapter of Blkgradstudent.

At the end of 2023, I attained my master’s degree from Carnegie Mellon University, closing out a chapter of life. This blog was created as a method to share my graduate school journey with the world. My hopes were to inspire the next generation of Black grad students to pursue their master’s degree. Through the original journey of this blog, I found myself writing bi-weekly blogs, and recording podcast based on them.

But, in 2022, I was tapped into a higher purpose, to restart the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) Seattle Professionals Chapter. While working full-time, running the chapter, being a grad student, & being engaged, something had to be dropped. Unfortunately, that was Blkgradstudent. While I still wanted to write and record, but it was a choice I had to make to ensure the success of my non-negotiables.

During my time writing, I was able to find and feel connected with the grad school community through social media. I was able to collaborate with some of my peers there to share my advice. I was able to have a voice as an introvert, and that feeling never left me. So, done with grad school, and stepping down as the Chapter President of NSBE, what would become of Blkgradstudent?

A platform I created and cherished which reflected an older chapter of my life. It was time for a rebrand, but what? The answer would come from years of doing something that I had a passion for, mentorship. I have mentored people for years, but in 2020 that ramped up in scale. Not only did it ramp up, but the people who I gave my time to, were seeing results.

That’s when it hit me, Blkgradstudent, could be a platform to develop others through mentorship. This is something there is an obvious need for, and it’s something that my mentees value from me. That’s when the idea to rebrand Blkgradstudent to focus on mentorship happened.

If I was going to do it though, it had to be something that I could charge for, but it was low cost. The reason why, I believe a mentor should be accessible, but I also believe my time has value (Cost also is a deterrent for those that aren’t really looking to progress). Overall, I want to build this out as a business, starting with just me. Then eventually, hiring other mentors so others can profit and benefit from it too.

So, what is Blkgradstudent 2.0? It’s a mentorship business that offers programs to accelerate early in career professionals becoming high performers.

If you’ve read this far, and you know someone who would benefit from this, I’d welcome you to share this with them. I know it’s hard to become a high performer, but with the right mindset & mentors it’s something I believe anyone can do.

Written by Demetri Wilright (founder)