Salwa Mohamud
Salwa Mohamud is a third-year student majoring in biology, society and environment at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities. She is also working towards a minor in leadership. Because of her service and leadership at the university, she was recently awarded the President’s Student Leadership and Service Award.
“My parents taught me the value of education growing up. They didn’t end up going to college — they barely even finished high school. It was always important to me to just go to school and get the highest education possible, which is why I plan on going to dental school and being a dentist who serves a community.
I am the oldest daughter of the family and I have an older brother. He’s also getting his college degree right now. I also have a sister who’s enrolled in this school, too. The three of us are all attending here and we plan on being in school for a while. It’s good to have that community. We could all support each other. We all see each other around sometimes and it’s a good feeling to see your siblings around in school in the same setting as you are.
When times are really challenging, I have to reflect back and be like, ‘I am doing this for myself and I carry my parents’ and my family’s weight on my shoulders,’ and I have to think, ‘You gotta be successful because you’re putting yourself in a situation right now where you’re gonna be successful in the future and college is gonna help you do that.’
I was selected for the President’s Student Leadership and Service Award here on campus. It’s used to recognize accomplishments and contributions to student leaders at the University of Minnesota, given to students with exceptional leadership and service to their own communities and also the community here at the U. That award just sums up all of the stuff that I’ve been doing here on campus and how I am trying to be of service to others and service to my community and to the UMN community as a whole.
It shows that I’ve come here not knowing anything about the U and not knowing anything about the people and the resources that I’m able to get. And just being given that award just shows the efforts that I’ve put in to learn about the community, to learn about the people here and to learn about all the resources that I’m being given and to also acknowledge the people who are behind me, the people who have shown their support towards me, especially the MCAE office, the Presidents Emerging Scholars office.
As a first-gen, nobody is paving the way for you. You’re the one who’s paving the way for yourself and I wish people recognized that. I wish they recognized the effort that’s being put in.
I’m opening doors for my family, for my siblings. It just shows the sacrifices and the challenges that my parents went through for me to be in this position that I am in today. I’m very grateful, even though it does come with its own challenges and its own problems, being first gen.”
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Interview by Fiona Curran