When Serving Leads to Transformation: Azana Mack ’27

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Azana Mack ’27

Azana Mack ’27 grew up with a strong desire to help others. “I’ve always had a passion for fighting against injustice,” she said.

This passion ushered her toward her desired profession. “I think there’s always been a really big advocacy side in me, and law is a great way to lean into that,” Mack said. “I’m specifically interested in criminal law or civil rights law. I love understanding the mind, which helps with understanding why people commit the crimes they do. I also love civil rights because I want to defend people’s rights when they’re violated by the law that’s supposed to protect them.”

With her passion for understanding people, Mack knew she wanted to major in psychology. After taking an anthropology class at Wheaton, Mack quickly fell in love with the field and selected it as her minor, while also deciding to pursue a pre-law certificate.

Her desire to help and serve others presents itself in the ways she is involved on campus, which include Orientation Committee and the 1-2-1 program, a mentorship program for students of color housed in the Office of Multicultural Development. Orientation Committee was the first student leadership opportunity Mack stepped into on campus, which felt scary to her at the time. “It was super intimidating to join a team filled with several upperclassmen who had more leadership experience than me,” she recalled. “But that really did shape me as a student leader for the rest of my time at Wheaton.”

Mack, who served in various leadership roles throughout middle and high school, began to see leadership in a new light thanks to the committee. “Instead of prioritizing our ideas or agenda, we prioritized what was truly best for those we were serving, the freshmen,” Mack said. “That student organization will always be impactful for me because of the way it taught me to intentionally serve humbly and make people feel valued, seen, and understood.”

The opportunity to mentor freshmen women of color through the 1-2-1 program made a significant mark on Mack’s time at Wheaton. Mack wanted to give freshmen women of color the same support and friendship she received from the Office of Multicultural Development and through 1-2-1. “It was very heartwarming to be able to connect with girls who have experienced some of the same struggles I did when I first came as a woman of color on campus,” Mack said. “I was in a position where I could listen to their stories and encourage them since I went through many of the same experiences they were facing. They were going to be okay because I was okay.”

Through her leadership roles, Mack has developed friendships with those she has served alongside and with those she has served. “I’m still friends with every single person on my Orientation Committee team, as well as freshmen I connected with during that time,” she said. “And, in addition to being friends with my former 1-2-1 mentees, I’m still in touch with my former 1-2-1 mentor and the girls who were mentees alongside me when I was a freshman. I’ve been able to be part of this generational experience, which I’m really thankful for.”

Mack is also thankful for the ways her faith has transformed throughout her time as a Wheaton student. “I’ve seen so many different qualities of the Lord through the organizations I’ve served on,” she said. “Spiritually, I’m such a different person than I was when I first came to Wheaton.”

The person she desires to become in the future has changed, as well. “I don’t want to be the best lawyer just for the sake of being the best lawyer, nor do I want to walk over people to be the best, as society would tell me to do,” said Mack. “I want to be the best lawyer because of the impact I can have on people, which will only happen if I rely on the Lord and who he has called me to be.”

If Mack had not joined Orientation Committee and 1-2-1, Mack believes she would not be the person she is today. “Both experiences have taught me how beautiful it is to have relationships with people who are different from you, and gave me relationships I will always be grateful for,” she said. “My time at Wheaton has also taught me that with whatever you do, do it in full surrender to the Lord and with your whole heart.”

Azana is a student ambassador for the Wheaton Fund. To learn more about our student ambassadors, visit the Wheaton Fund webpage.