{"id":2180,"date":"2026-02-23T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-23T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.monroecc.edu\/news\/?p=2180"},"modified":"2026-02-20T14:37:51","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T19:37:51","slug":"powerful-poem-leads-to-nationwide-recognition-for-mcc-student","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.monroecc.edu\/news\/2026\/02\/23\/powerful-poem-leads-to-nationwide-recognition-for-mcc-student\/","title":{"rendered":"Powerful Poem Leads to Nationwide Recognition for MCC Student"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Photo

Stella Cass-Adams-Johnson<\/p><\/div>\n

The Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society named Monroe Community College student Stella Cass-Adams-Johnson as one of its four nationwide 2025 Reynolds Scholars. Stella\u2019s poem \u201clittle black girl\u201d was chosen among more than 3,200 entries and is featured in the 31st<\/sup> edition of Nota Bene<\/em><\/a>.<\/em> Nota Bene, <\/em>first published in 1994, <\/em>is the only literary anthology showcasing excellence in writing by community college students. Award winners also receive a scholarship.<\/p>\n

Veronica: Your poem is powerful. How did it \u201ccome\u201d to you?
\nStella: My poem \u201ccame\u201d to me late at night when I was scrolling on Instagram. I had seen yet another hate comment on yet another post, going on about how \u201cBlack women shouldn\u2019t wear things like that\u201d (the \u201cthat\u201d in question being the color pink<\/em>). I was overcome with the memory of how many times I\u2019d been told I couldn\u2019t be something just because I was Black, and how many times I felt isolated and alone in a world I loved so much. I wrote it as a letter to my younger self: the girl who wanted so desperately to be recognized for something other than her skin, to be loved just like anyone else.<\/p>\n

Veronica: What is it you hope people feel when they read it?
\nStella: I want the other little Black girls out there to feel some sort of kinship in reading my poem. We are not alone. There is a place out there for all of us, even in a world that seeks to hide our beauty behind stereotypes and caricatures. And for those who can’t identify with my poem, I hope this serves as a reminder that we are here: beautiful, strong, and important.<\/p>\n

Veronica: What was your reaction when you found out you would be in Nota-Bene<\/em>?
\nStella: I was absolutely astonished when I found out I was chosen for Nota Bene<\/em>. I had submitted my poem spontaneously, not expecting anything to come of it, so receiving the email was a huge mood-booster. I’m so thankful for the opportunity to share my work with an audience, and for the support that Phi Theta Kappa has given me.<\/p>\n

Veronica: Why did you choose to attend MCC?
\nStella: My mom and uncle both attended MCC, and I was looking for a way to save money on my education while still getting the best experience possible. MCC was incredibly warm and welcoming, which stood out to me as an out-of-state student. I couldn’t be more confident in the choice I made.<\/p>\n

Veronica: Would you recommend MCC to others?
\nStella: I would absolutely recommend MCC to others. There are so many amazing people and professors at MCC. It’s because of them that I was able to share my poetry, and they’ve opened the doors to some amazing career opportunities for me. For anyone who is apprehensive about starting college, I would suggest looking into it. You might be surprised how much you love it!<\/p>\n

Veronica: Who inspires you?
\nStella: I’m incredibly inspired by my mother and grandmother. They’ve been role models in my life since I was younger, always reminding me that I can achieve anything as long as I work at it. If it wasn’t for them, “little black girl” wouldn’t have made it out of my notes and into Nota Bene<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Stella, a New Jersey native, will walk the stage in May with an Associate\u2019s Degree in Psychology, which she completed in December. She is currently attending Rochester Institute of Technology with plans to continue on to medical school to become a child psychiatrist. Stella says she chose that field because, growing up, she felt there were few people who looked like her in the mental health field, and she wants to be that representation for others in the future.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society named Monroe Community College student Stella Cass-Adams-Johnson as one of its four nationwide 2025 Reynolds Scholars. Stella\u2019s poem \u201clittle black girl\u201d was chosen among more than 3,200 entries and is featured in the 31st edition of Nota Bene. Nota Bene, first published in 1994, is the only literary anthology […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":718,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,103],"tags":[9,49,126,190,191,192],"class_list":["post-2180","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general-news","category-mcc-proud","tag-mcc","tag-higher-education","tag-monroe-community-college","tag-nota-bene","tag-poem","tag-reynolds-scholars"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.monroecc.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2180","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.monroecc.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.monroecc.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.monroecc.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/718"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.monroecc.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2180"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sites.monroecc.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2180\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2183,"href":"https:\/\/sites.monroecc.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2180\/revisions\/2183"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.monroecc.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2180"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.monroecc.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2180"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.monroecc.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2180"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}