U.S. Olympic fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad realized early on that her appearance affects how people judge her as a person.
But Muhammad doesn’t care, she told the large crowd that attended her lecture in Heritage Hall of the HUB-Robeson Center Thursday night.
“I’ve always been a person that does my own thing and walks to the beat of my own drum,” Muhammad said. “I don’t have time in my life for negative people.”
Muhammad, who is Muslim and African-American, was invited by Penn State’s Student Program Association to speak as a part of its Distinguished Speaker series.