Hannah Ihekoronye is a fourth-year journalism student from St. Paul, Minn. She was a peer mentor for the President’s Emerging Scholars (PES), and she co-runs the Minnesota Daily Alumni Association Mentorship Program.
“Last year, I was a peer mentor for the PES program. We always had Friday meetings. There was one Friday, I was just exhausted. That semester, I was working three jobs. I started reflecting on my experience, and I was wondering why college was so much harder for students of color. Why is it a consistent struggle? That’s been a recurring theme for me since high school. I used a quote by Nelson Mandela in my admissions statement, and it was, ‘There is no passion to be found playing small – in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living.’ So that’s what I went into college with. I didn’t settle. It’s been four years, and now I’m exhausted.
I’m always thinking about the experience of people of color and making it better. I’m passionate about journalism. I love what it can do and where it can take us. In the future, I would love to have roundtables, or produce events that break down policy. I was on TEDx UMN, and we produced annual TED Talk events. I would love to produce events and moderate debates with speakers breaking down policy, and community members in the audience can ask questions. Having people converse about how things impact their lives would help experts or politicians who are trying to create the best bill or policy. I feel like it’s better communication between all levels.
[What keeps me going is the] intuition of knowing that I’m gonna be okay. That and my faith, my family and my work. Also music. I’m a huge Prince fan, I love 70s, 80s and 90s music.”
Interview by Shannon Doyle