After a break from university studies, Destiny Flowers-Fayad came back determined to finish school and leave her stamp on campus.

“After my first semester, I moved out and my grades slipped,” she said. “I had to take a two-year break to repay for the semester I withdrew from.”

Now in her last semester at UM-Dearborn, Flowers-Fayad proudly looks back on her academic accomplishments. Recognized as a James B. Angell Scholar for her straight A’s and a six-time Dean’s List honoree, she has demonstrated that no feat is too large. “I am so proud of myself to persevere,” she said.

Sociology Professor Pamela Aronson, who called on Flowers-Fayad to help initiate her new research project, said she is a leader — both in and out of the classroom. “Destiny combines a high level of academic achievement with a level of campus engagement and leadership that I have honestly never seen in any student.”

Flowers-Fayad said her work as planner of Un.Chain.ed’s human trafficking panel and for the Women in Learning and Leadership’s Take Back the Night in 2018 is an extension of her passion for human rights. Her long-term dream is to teach mental health awareness as a university professor and conduct research.

“With support from faculty, I have been able to become a leader on campus and was able to help others feel supported,” she said. “This is when I knew that I wanted to stay in academia and one day be a professor who provided support for their students.”