Samara (Kudzai) Kapurura (Lee Pellegrini)
Hometown: Salem, Ore.
Major: Economics; minor in African and African Diaspora Studies
Notable Activities/Achievements: 2022 Martin Luther King Jr. Scholarship; America’s Best College Poet competition winner (2021); delivered two TEDx Talks; Undergraduate Government of BC presidential candidate (2022); Thea Bowman AHANA and Intercultural Center ambassador; Magis Civil Rights Immersion Trip; Courageous Conversations facilitator; Black History Month Opening Ceremony co-chair; student co-leader for Jamaica Magis Service Immersion and Arrupe South African service programs; two-time Ever to Excel Award recipient; Morrissey College Order of the Cross and Crown honor society.
Mentors: Michael Davidson, S.J. (Thea Bowman AHANA and Intercultural Center; Montserrat Coalition); Danielle Date (Lynch School of Education and Human Development); Richard Paul (African and African Diaspora Studies Program); Emily Egan (Campus Ministry); Richard Mapeza (Thea Bowman AHANA and Intercultural Center).
Post-Graduation Plans: Considering job offer or graduate school; long-term plan is to go to law school.
Kapurura has embraced her bicultural identity as the daughter of Zimbabwe natives who immigrated to the United States a year before she and her twin sister Kundai were born. Nourished by a strong family faith, she shares her observations about herself and the larger world through the written and spoken word, and in a variety of contexts—from poetry competitions to TED Talks to intensive group discussions. She’s found Boston College to be the ideal place for her to realize and gather her strengths while traversing the challenging path of a first-generation college student.
In the last four years, you’ve been chosen as America’s Best College Poet and given two TEDx Talks (both on YouTube). Was this how you envisioned college life would go?
Not necessarily [laughs]. I came into college from an underprivileged background, and as a big believer in the idea that if there’s an opportunity right in front of you, do your best, jump for it. If it’s for you, you’ll prosper; if it’s not, that’s OK, you move on. So I’ve been very active and enthusiastic, trying to put myself into an opportunity if it feels right for me, and things have worked out for me, thankfully.
Why did you choose BC, and how do you view that choice now?
I knew I wanted to be in a more populated area than where I grew up, so I looked at colleges in places like Boston and New York City, and BC was among the ones I researched. My mom grew up Catholic, and in my family we grew up Christian, so that aspect of BC appealed to me. But it was so interesting to learn more about BC’s values and the idea of Jesuit education—of being fully transformed, not just academically but spiritually, and your morals are shifted and molded not only in a way that makes you a smart person but a good person in society.
After four years, I have an even better sense of why BC was a good fit. Conversations about justice and spirituality come up in all sorts of subjects and all sorts of spaces. The retreat culture at BC is amazing, too; it’s a really nice refresh from when you’re, say, in the middle of a calculus exam: Why is this important to you? What else is going on in your life? What are the things that you’ve been through and how do they relate to others?
BC has been such a great place to grow fully and become elevated not only intellectually but as a person.
You’ve had your share of successes, but you ran as a candidate for UGBC president and lost. What did you take away from that experience?
I’ve had some satisfying individual achievements, but what I realized in running for UGBC is how important it is to have a strong team with you. I think I was used to running fast and running alone, and here the question was, “How do we work together to achieve this goal?” I learned the importance of being able and willing to lean on others and delegate responsibility.
You have to be flexible. Like I said, if the opportunity comes along, you take it—but it’s also important to be humble and say, “It didn’t work out.” Learn to accept life as it comes.
Your first year at BC was, of course, marked by the COVID-19 pandemic. How do you remember that time?
It was very emotional, very bittersweet. I recall the chaos, the sadness, packing up to leave, hugging friends, wondering when we might come back. There were so many resources on campus—tutors, libraries, dining halls, the gym—that I’d come to rely on, and although my teachers were accommodating and understanding when we switched to remote learning, I missed just being physically in college. At the same time, I’d worked so hard that year, so it felt good to go home, be back in my house and with family—although, being on the West Coast, I had to start the school day three hours earlier.
Then shortly thereafter came the George Floyd murder and its aftermath, which led to BC starting the Courageous Conversations Toward Justice program—in which you participated as a facilitator.
Courageous Conversations was an amazing platform to talk about racial dialogue and all of its complexities, whether about health disparities, incarceration, critical race theory, or joy in artistic expression. It was just a really safe and progressive space to talk about any and every thing, and so necessary.
How does being a first-generation college student influence your overall identity?
You have to be a pioneer and a risk-taker. Kundai—who’s a product design major—and I are a good support system for one another, because there are moments when you’re lost and confused—you didn’t get the grade you hoped for on that exam, or you’re just tired—and you feel like you’re not making progress, when in fact there’s a lot of progress being made. You have to have a lot of strength, because you always have that goal in the background. You have to say, “I will wake up for that 8:30 a.m. class!”
You just have to recognize that these are the inevitable challenges that come with the burden of being the first to do something. But you also have to realize that the hard work does pay off: When I get discouraged, I look back and I can say, “Kudzai, you’ve been able to be all these things you didn’t even know were out there, and that’s because you put yourself in that position, even when you were so tired.” It’s been hard, and it’s been real, and it’s been such a transformative experience.
Your long-term goal is to attend law school. Why?
I feel really called to social justice and advocacy. The legal field, even in all its technicalities, just intrigues me. I like storytelling. I like investigation. I like rights and wrongs—that’s in part why (being an econ major), I like math, because there are specific rules you follow.
Sean Smith | University Communications | May 2023