Q: Where are you from? (city, state)
A: Kinshasa, DR Congo
Q: Why did you choose Kirkwood?
A: After I came in the U.S. back in May 2017, I was not speaking English and for me Kirkwood was the best place to start with everything and also because it is one of the best community college in Iowa.
Q: What is your major and how did you choose it?
A: I always wanted to become a doctor and also to be an informaticians, so it wasn’t easy to pick a major, so based on my two passions I chose to get my Associate of Science and pursue a bachelor degree in Health Informatics by staying in a medical school track, so I can work in both field at the same time and helping the health care system.
Q: What has been your proudest moment at Kirkwood?
A: Every single moment that I had in Kirkwood was memorable. I’ve never thought about being named in anything and being called in anything because of my English, but every time that I was called or named on something that was the proudest one for me after all the struggle.
Q: What are your plans after Kirkwood?
A: After Kirkwood, I’m planning to pursue my goal to get my bachelor degree.
Q: What inspires or motivates you?
A: The thing that inspires me most is the life of Jesus Christ, how he suffered to achieve his glory which taught me that the path won’t be easy if I want to achieve anything in life and also my family in Africa motivates me more as every time that I think about them, I always wanted to do more and make them proud
Q: Tell us about who you are outside of Kirkwood – hobbies, family, other interests, etc.
A: Outside Kirkwood, I’m a Christian, and I love to share the word of God with others and try my best to live according to that. I wish my family was here, but I’ve met new people here and make new family here which I’m proud of. I spend most of my free time reading new things, taking some online classes like in Coursera, edX, and also helping others.
Q: What does be named an Outstanding Student mean to you?
A: For what I know so far is that every single nomination pushes me to become more responsible, I remember being amazed and speechless when I saw the message because I wasn’t thinking about it, but being named an Outstanding Student pushes my limit higher and give me the sense of working harder than before whenever I will go and make Kirkwood proud of this title.
Q: Is there anything else you’d like to add?
A: I’m so grateful to God for everything that is doing with me and also grateful to Kirkwood Community College as a whole to all the professors, students, and staffs as they all contribute to my development. I couldn’t make it without them helping and encouraging me. I have to work full-time to help my family back in Africa and also go to school at the same time, it was an intense battle that I was fighting from my GED to my AS, and Kirkwood as a whole played a major part of my achievement and I’m so proud of being part of this family.
Categories: Outstanding Students
