BUFFALO, NY — A rising artist from Buffalo's East Side returned to her alma mater Friday to uplift and encourage students.
A.I. the Anomaly or Aitina Fareed-Cooke is the poet laureate of Buffalo and visited the Academy of Visual and Performing Arts.
Students were able to ask Fareed-Cooke about her career and art.
"It's inspiring to see how our school put in all the work and taught her and where it brought her in life," said Aniyah Carter an 11th grader at Performing Arts.
Fareed-Cooke hopes the students realize the moments they spend inside the building on Masten Avenue can help set them up for success down the road.
"We may not realize it now, but they give us that guidance for the future. And like that's gonna be me one day," said Nania Francis, 11th grader at Performing Arts.
For Fareed-Cooke, showing the kids they too can be successful.
"They need to see it, they need to see us, that there is someone who can exist, be professional, financially stable and committed to the community," said Fareed-Cooke.
Students say watching an empowered woman who graduated from Performing Arts puts their minds at ease.
"After the blood, sweat, and tears put into all that hard work, it shows that you can do it, and you'll get there one day, it won't be easy but it will happen one day," said Francis.
