Wumi Ogunlade

UC Santa Cruz, Class of 2025 - Double Major: Critical Race & Ethnic Studies, Legal Studies
Paly, Class of 2024

Updated March 2025

Q: What was your experience going to Paly?

A: I transferred to Paly from Oak Grove High School in San José my junior year. Then a couple months later the pandemic hit so it was really hard to navigate Paly, especially because I came from a more diverse school, and also because Paly is more academically intensive. I was struggling a bit because I was taking three AP classes. I was just trying to navigate balancing everything. But it was also nice because I was taking AP US History and AP Language, and the teachers, Mr. Bungarden and Ms. Launer, were really nice and really helped me through that transition. Ms Launer connected me to mental health resources, which was helpful.

Initially it was just really hard to connect to the community there but then I joined Black Scholars United and it was a great space to connect with others. As I was getting acclimated to school, Covid hit and so I had to switch to online school. A quarter of my junior year and most of my senior year was spent online. When we came back, everyone was really happy to actually be back at school. Going to Paly really prepared me for college academically. It taught me to be able to balance a lot of things.

Q: How did you first hear about RTE?

A: I was connected to it through an application that we did for scholarships my senior year. I remember frantically looking for scholarships because I knew that I wouldn't be able to go to college unless I had a good amount of scholarship money. During advisory [class], they had us fill out a scholarship application for low income students, so I filled it out, but I also applied for a couple of other scholarships on my own.

Q: How has RTE impacted your life?

A: It's given me the opportunity to go to college. In addition to my other scholarships it has definitely helped me get through college. I don't think I would've been able to survive the amount of loans I would've had to take out, as the daughter of a single mother who immigrated here from Nigeria, I don’t have anyone who could help me with paying for college. But also, it has given me the opportunity to have a normal college experience like other people instead of having to work multiple jobs. It’s given me the opportunity to not have to overwhelm myself. Instead I work more to cover personal expenses.

Q: What type of guidance do you get from your mentor [Grainger Marburg]?

A: Grainger provides constant encouragement - he's always reassuring me that if I need anything, to let him know, and he checks in on me regularly. At times college has been isolating so it’s nice to have someone who has your back, it makes me not feel alone. We communicate by text at least a couple times every month. He makes sure I know about RTE events and he reaches out to me to see how each quarter went.

Q: How did you decide where to go to college?

A: I didn't want to be too far from home but also I wanted to get a good education, as I want to pursue a graduate degree after college. That’s how I decided on UC Santa Cruz which is not too far but also not too close. I'm double majoring in Legal Studies and Critical Race and Ethnic Studies.

Q: What has college been like for you? Have you faced any challenges or had any notable successes?

A: It's been an experience where I developed into a person and I found my own personhood. College has been really great for me. I had been in a tiny little bubble my entire life and being able to get out of that and really explore what I like and what I don't and have that independence definitely made me grow as a person. I took on a lot of extracurricular activities at college: I was a part of student government and then eventually in my fourth year I did student union assembly, which is our overall undergraduate student government. I did moot court, Lobby Corp where we talked to local and state politicians about certain bills that would help improve student life on campus. That was one of my favorite clubs to be a part of. I was also a part of the black student union as the external community outreach coordinator.

College had its challenges as it was hard to navigate because I didn't really have my mom tell me what to do or what not to do. Also, I think in a space that is predominantly white and Asian, it's really hard to feel like you belong, so I really needed to take space to adapt. But being a part of many clubs helped me realize that I could belong. One achievement I’m proud of was running for the vice president of diversity inclusion for the student government my junior year for the entire student body of 17,000 students and actually winning! I served this year and it has been a very interesting position and we've been able to do a lot of good work like talking to the administration about student issues. Being in a position of power allows me to actually implement change and so it was very nice to have served my community.

Q: What is your goal for after college?

A: I plan to go to law school in the fall. Though I’m still waiting to hear back from some schools, I’ve been accepted to University of San Francisco, Santa Clara University and UC Davis. I'm most likely going to be going to UC Davis in the fall. I’m still working on figuring out what type of law I will eventually practice but I definitely am interested in the public interest arena.