You Can B Bold -- Hilary Yeboah ('21)

“Hi my name is Hilary Yeboah and you can be bold.”

“I picked the word you can be bold because when I first came to this country at the age of nine, I was the shyest girl around. This was mostly because I really did not speak a lot of English and I let that barrier as well as the cultural background stop me from doing all that I could. My guidance counselor [in high school] saw that I was struggling so she sat me aside everyday after school and helped me break that barrier. She pushed me to be the boldest that I could be.

Then I came to Bentley and I really fell in love. My parents brought me here because they wanted me to have a career and be able to graduate college like they never did and I felt like Bentley would be able to help me with that. So through that, I was able to know that Bentley was where I wanted to come. I decided to make my mark by working really hard and trying to show others my passion.

I was able to find NABA(National Association of Black Accountants) and ALPFA (Association of Latino Professionals for America) and these orgs are to help students of minority foster themselves and see the opportunities that are available to them. [During] my sophomore year, NABA started to get smaller, and someone had to step up to take on the role of President for NABA. Because of how NABA had shaped me and how much it had done so much for me, I decided to be bold and take on the position.

In the summer, as I was getting ready for [my new position within] NABA and posting on my LinkedIn, a Microsoft recruiter saw my account and she was like, "I see that you're President of NABA, you should know our CFO loves NABA and often goes to NABA events." She directly messaged me on LinkedIn and said that just because I was in NABA and she knows the purpose NABA has for people, she wanted to offer me a first round interview for Microsoft. A week later I got a call that I got a finance rotational internship at Microsoft for next summer.

I believe that students should really get themselves [involved] in orgs because not only is there the opportunity to learn and to grow but there’s an opportunity to meet someone that you never would have known. Through all the orgs that I’ve met, I’ve met some of my closest friends. I was able to find a family, I was able to find people that actually share the same interests as me and people that also want to learn and grow as I do. You never know who you are going to talk to. Through NABA, I was able to get an opportunity for this summer that I don’t think I would have gotten if I wasn’t in NABA.

To others, I would say be bold in your actions and be bold in your impact.”