Courtney Bardouille, a junior at Cardozo, balances quite a lot on her place. Not only is she in the law program, she is also a Gateway scholar, track runner, small business owner, and does a handful of extracurricular activities alongside this.
As a busy student, her path here at Cardozo has not been easy. But, her hard work and likability has gotten her through.
Bardouille transferred to Cardozo in her freshman year from WJPS, coming to the school to try out and land a spot on the track team. At WJPS, she was part of a track club, and her previous coach saw her excellence and recommended the transfer to Cardozo.
Originally, Bardouille struggled to fit in when she first transferred. “Everybody already had their friend groups, you know, in my grade,” she reflected. “So, it was hard to kind of find the community where I could be myself. So I was very quiet.”
Soon enough, she spoke to Ms. Allred, one of Cardozo’s guidance counselors, and joined the Gateway program. Because of its tight-knit community and inclusivity, with the ability to grow with your peers instead of competing with them, she was able to find a group of friends. Despite Bardouille having bad “imposter syndrome” and doubting her ability to be a part of Gateway, she found her path.
As a student, Bardouille loves to challenge herself with honors and AP classes, especially aftering seeing that there’s not a lot of minority representation in those classes. Gateway gave her that confidence to be okay with being the odd one out, because at the end of the day, she knows she worked hard for her spot. Bardouille found it important that Gateway opens so many doors that wouldn’t be there if she wouldn’t have joined the program.
As a track runner for three years, Bardouille finds the most beneficial part of the sport is the discipline it has built for her. Prior to being a track runner, she explained that she lacked commitment. Track taught her to be structured and how to show commitment everyday. Bardouille even sees herself continuing track in college and even running marathons in her future.
Outside of classes, Bardouille is part of the Black Student Union. “We just talk about a lot of things in the media that portray black men and black women or the black community,” she explained. She is also the vice president of the Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority. Bardouille is also a PA for Ms. Clark, one of our assistant principals. “ I just really help with filing and with decorating all the bulletin boards,” she said.
During her time in high school, Bardouille even gained her paralegal certificate, meaning she can work for a law firm part-time. She won the NAACP ACT-SO writing competition on the local level and she is also a representative for the law program for Cardozo.
Bardouille is also an entrepreneur, owning a small business where she sells crocheted items. Originally, her grandmother was teaching her, but once COVID came around she picked it up again and discovered that she crocheted better with her non-dominant hand. She learned how to crochet from YouTube videos, and started selling masks during the pandemic. After that, she decided to keep her business running.
Along with her many priorities, Bardouille always makes sure she makes time for herself. Music is very important to her, it’s a distraction from the stress that she carries. Naps are like a religious practice for her, as well. She’s not herself without a daily nap, and Fridays are dedicated to her self-care.
“I order sushi and I get a slushie and I watch ‘Scandal’ all night,” she said. Bardouille finds it important that no matter what life has in store for her, she can always take a break and relax.
Long-term, Bardouille’s career goal is to become a judge and eventually land in the Supreme Court. She wants to represent those that step into the courtroom that are of color and a minority and give justice where justice is needed. She expressed how there’s a lot of colored people in jail for crimes they didn’t do, but can’t speak up for themselves because of the situation they are put in.
Bardouille wants to be the change in a broken world and give security and reassurance to black individuals. But, overall, her story of why she wants to become a judges comes from a young age.
“When I was in dance, I got accused of hitting a girl over the head with a water bottle and that was the farthest from the truth,” she explained. “And even the girl that said that, that they got hit by me, said she didn’t hit me. But, it was because of the color of my skin and because it was a predominantly white institution.”
Bardouille is looking to attend an HBCU, with the three plus three program. “I want a tight knit community of people that look like me,” she said. She’s also looking into bigger schools because she’s a social butterfly and HBCU will give her that. She wants to major in English, and then go to law school. 20 years from now, she sees herself in D.C. working for the U.S. And, later, “I do want to start my own law firm for women,” she said.
Before leaving Cardozo, Bardouille wants to make sure that she leaves her mark. She works towards making the staff feel appreciated and creating a traditions for Gateway, but in the future, wants to come come back and give speeches to future Gateway scholars.
