As her class’s salutatorian with a 4.6 GPA and the president of a community service group, Fatima Bangura of Richmond Community High School is willing to be a leader in her education and beyond.
She applied to go to Syracuse University in New York, one of the top colleges in the country for communications, which she hopes to major in when she’s finished high school. “I chose communications because I want to … reach the younger generations out there,” Bangura said.
She is also considering some in-state schools, like Randolph-Macon College, Hampton University and Regent University.
She said Syracuse is her dream school and she looks forward to the possibility of a new environment while pursuing her career. “I’m ready for a change,” Bangura said. “I consider myself a very independent young woman so going to New York, it won’t necessarily be a scary thing, it will be like a new adventure and I’m ready to take it on.”
While Bangura indicated on her resume she would like to pursue broadcast journalism, her National Honor Society adviser, Heather Krone, said Bangura would be fit for any writing-based endeavor. Also serving as her Advanced Placement Literature and Composition teacher, Krone wrote in a recommendation letter that she is familiar with Bangura’s writing talent. “Fatima’s written expression is extremely logical and advanced,” Krone wrote. “She really enjoys the creative aspect of writing and has a poetic soul inside.”
But before she takes on a new adventure, she has to make it through her senior year maintaining her 4.6 GPA, a feat that she said sometimes comes at the sacrifice of other parts of her life. “School comes first, obviously,” Bangura said. “Most of these activities do take place in school during lunchtime, so sometimes I’ll sacrifice socializing with friends to go to these meetings.”
Bangura serves as the president of the community service organization Sisters with Intuition group, the treasurer for Key Club and holds three positions in Future Business Leaders of America.
In her Sisters with Intuition group, Bangura leads other girls at her school and they perform different community service projects at other schools and with outside organizations. She has worked at Heritage Preschool Center and Lucille M. Brown Middle School, assisting teachers and students. At Brown Middle School, she tutored students in math and helped with peer mediation. In addition to that, Bangura and the Sisters with Intuition group often volunteer with distributing food to the homeless and help with some church-related activities.
In addition to the projects, Bangura said the Sisters with Intuition group is especially important because it serves as a mentoring body for young African American girls. “Young African American girls … don’t (always) have someone who understands what they’re going through,” she said. She said she hopes the group can provide some guidance for girls who may need it.
“Fatima seeks out programs and learning experiences for academic growth and personal development,” Bangura’s school counselor, Bonita Reynolds wrote in a recommendation letter. “She is very proactive with her educational experience.”
