Zaya Wade Says College Is Hard and Freeing at 19
zaya wade says being away from Dwyane Wade and Gabrielle Union during her first year of college is hard. She says the distance is also making her more outgoing, more social, and more comfortable striking up conversations with people she has never met.
Translatable Ball on May 30
“Being away from your parents is hard,” Zaya said at the second annual ball for Translatable on May 30. She added, “It’s really hard but also it’s exciting and it’s fun and it’s freeing and I think I’ve learned to get out of my shell a lot more and be more sociable.”
She also said, “And I feel like I can go up to people that I’ve never met and just strike up a conversation,” before adding, “and I think I’m just starting to connect with people more and I think that’s what college is about is just connection.” That is the sharper read here: the adjustment is not just emotional, it is changing how she moves through a room.
Dwyane Wade’s tuition warning
Zaya said her father kept the advice simple before her first semester: “My dad told me not to mess it up,” and that he reminded her “that he is paying tuition, and it is expensive.” She said, “And I would hope that I am doing that.”
She described her current routine as a balance between structure and independence: “I’m just trying to focus on doing my classes but also having fun and understanding more about myself as I’m growing into my individuality as an adult,” she said. “But really just taking the time to understand the difference between school me and friend me and real me and just really enriching all of my individual experiences.”
Family support and space
Translatable, the non-profit Zaya and Dwyane Wade started to create a safe space for LGBTQIA+ youth, gives the story another layer. Her college move comes after years of public family attention, including her coming out as transgender in 2020 and her earlier comments last February about her father’s acceptance.
Last February, she said, “As an African American male, to be so openly and outwardly accepting,” and added, “Because honestly, him being raised in a traditional Black household in Chicago…the culture there isn’t very queer-friendly.” She said then, “I hope that it will continue to inspire people to allow themselves to learn and understand queerness before bashing it.”
The practical read is straightforward: Zaya is not stepping away from family support, but she is learning how to carry it from a distance. For a first-year student, that means classes, friendships, and identity are all moving at once — and she sounds ready to do the work.
