Habiba Mustapha, WMUL-FM Staff & Host of Heart & Hustle
What does it really mean to be free as a student?
You get to choose your classes, your clothes, and maybe even your career. You finally leave home, enter a new city, maybe a new country. To the outside world, this looks like freedom. But for many students especially international students or first-generation students, that freedom comes with invisible weight.
I call this quiet tension “free but not unburdened.” It’s the theme of this week’s episode of Heart & Hustle: The Student Frequency, where I reflect on the kinds of emotional burdens students carry, the ones that don’t show up in transcripts or GPAs.
One story that stayed with me was from a friend who’s field of study was education, not because they were passionate about teaching, but because their parents couldn’t achieve that dream and passed it on. “Sometimes,” they said, “I feel like I’m living a life that isn’t mine.” And I felt that.
When I thought about their interests the way they lit up when talking about that, I realized how common this is. So many students end up in majors or careers they never chose, not because they lack ambition, but because their choices have always belonged to someone else.
This week’s episode aired during Juneteenth a day that reminds us of freedom’s complicated legacy. Even after slavery was abolished, many Black communities were left to navigate survival under systems designed to limit them. The chains were gone, but the weight remained.
In a similar way, many students today are told, “You can be anything”, but silently reminded, “Just don’t disappoint us”. You can speak but must filter your truth. You can pursue success but not joy. You can get a degree, but maybe not in what you love.
So, what do we call that? Is it truly freedom if it comes with shame and guilt?
This is why Heart & Hustle is here to give voice to the voiceless. Not just to air these stories, but to validate them. Because not every story makes it to the dean’s office but here, they make it to the mic.
Here’s what I want every student reading this to know: You’re not selfish for wanting to be yourself. You’re not wrong for choosing peace over pressure. And you don’t need permission to live a life that belongs to you.
If this resonates with you, tune in to The Student Frequency every Thursday at noon on WMUL-FM.
Want to share your story? You can do so by filling out this form: [https://www.marshall.edu/wmul/music/heart-hustle-the-student-frequency/].
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Because behind every student is a heartbeat and every heartbeat has a story worth telling.
Habiba Mustapha is a WMUL-FM staff member and host of The Student Frequency, a show exploring student life, identity, and emotional well-being through storytelling, music, and shared experience. Reach her at mustapha1@marshall.edu.