Alexis Grant-Panting is a current PhD student in the Department of Sociology at Texas Woman’s University in Denton, Texas. She is a scholar-activist with a passion for helping young people who come from marginal backgrounds. Her research and practice draw on her experiences as a Black woman, a first-generation student, and a mother. Her research interest focuses on rural communities, education, teaching and pedagogy, and public sociology with a particular focus on the experiences of people of color, mothers in the academy, and inequality. She has worked in rural schools from K-12 to higher education for over 10 years. Alexis serves as the graduate student representative-elect for Sociologists for Women in Society and serves on the Graduate Student Council for the Association of Black Sociologists.