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K.D.: This is Kristen Diehl here with Kanisha Harrell on March 20, 2026, at the Brody ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.D.: Learning Commons for the First- Generation/FLI College Student Oral ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.D.: History interviews. Thank you for speaking with me today, and to start us ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.D.: off, could you tell me where you were born and a little bit about your family? ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.H.: Yeah. So I was actually born in Boise, Idaho, completely different than here. [Laughter] Yeah, and my ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.H.: family, I was kind of jointly raised by my mother and by my grandparents on my ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.H.: mom’s side. So my father has been incarcerated my entire life, and I haven’t really had much interaction with him. But my ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.H.: grandparents, I still go back to them all the time. That’s where, when I go back on ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.H.: breaks, I go back to my grandparents’ house in Boise, Idaho. My mother has since passed away. She ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.H.: passed away my freshman year. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.D.: Oh, I’m sorry. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.H.: But, yeah, super, super close with my grandparents. I ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.H.: have cousins in Idaho that I hang out with all the time. When I graduate, I’m going to law school out there, and I’m ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.H.: actually going to be roommating with one of my cousins. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.D.: Wow. Okay, cool. Nice. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.H.: And then I have two siblings. I have my sister, who I ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.H.: actually she’s my roommate here. She moved out here. And then my brother turns 18 in nine days, which is crazy, but he lives with my ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.H.: grandparents in Boise, Idaho, too. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.D.: Great. Thank you. With your mom and dad, could you speak about what your mother did for a living, or what your ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.D.: grandparents have done for a living, and your father? ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.H.: Yeah, so my father, I have no clue what he’s done. He’s been – I think he was ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.H.: incarcerated in 2006, which is two years after I was born. So I’ve had, like, very limited interaction with him. My mother, she kind of bounced in between jobs, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.H.: because I think for the most of my life, she was jumping between, like travel agent jobs, but she struggled with drug addiction, so her employment was kind of unstable, especially closer to the end of her life. But my ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.H.: grandparents, my grandma, was an in-home nurse for elderly patients, and my grandpa still works. [Laughter] He’s a construction worker. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.D.: Oh, man. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.H.: He’s like partially retired, and gets Social ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.H.: Security, but he doesn’t want to fully retire yet, because he just loves what he does. Yeah, so he works all the time in construction. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.D.: Yeah, I understand that with elderly relatives, the routine is nice, and you’re used to it. And yeah. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.H.: His routine is insane. He wakes up like 4:30 in the morning [laughter] to go ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.H.: to work. I could never. [Laughter] ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.D.: No. [Laughter] Yeah, oh, wow. And could you tell me a little bit about the town or place that you grew up? What was that like? ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.H.: Yeah, so Boise, Idaho is an ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.H.: interesting place. I like to say that. [Laughter] So a lot of people know, Idaho is known for being, like, extremely rightwing and kind of racist, so especially the more rural like Northern Idaho parts. So it was really interesting growing up there, as obviously somebody who’s – I’m half-Black, but I obviously appear to be not white. So it was super interesting growing up there. I think, I’ve had a lot of really interesting encounters, like where people look ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.H.: over their shoulders, and, like, clutch their purses, and stuff with me when we’re in the stores. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.D.: Oh my gosh. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.H.: So that’s super interesting. But I think Idaho is also a really important part of my identity, too, because, like, I grew up, my grandpa is from this place, it’s called Yellow Pine, Idaho. It’s like, way up in the mountains, one-room schoolhouse. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.D.: Oh my gosh, wow. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.H.: [Laughter] It’s, like, a super rural area. So I grew up, like, camping, fishing, going hunting with my grandparents. So, like, the outdoorsy part is, like, a super important part of my identity, too, and it’s stuff that I still like doing all the time. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.H.: But, so, it’s super interesting. I like, I always say I really like the place, I like the scenery, not so much on the people, sometimes. But it’s, yeah, super interesting place. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.D.: Yeah, I’ve never been to Idaho, but I always think of my first the first thing that comes to mind is rural, and, like, outdoorsy with lots of – ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.H.: See, I’m surprised, it’s not potatoes because [laughter] [crosstalk]. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.D.: Oh, that is true. It is known for potatoes. That’s true. Nice. Do you find that when you’re here in Baltimore, like, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.D.: kind of, how do you get outside? Or, like, what avenues do you have for doing outdoors activities in Maryland? ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.H.: Yeah, I honestly don’t really do that much outdoorsy stuff here. I think it’s a little bit more difficult because I don’t have access to, like, the same transportation. I know they have the outdoors club here, but just something I ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.H.: never checked out honestly. But I definitely still do stuff when I go back to Idaho, but here, not really. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.D.: What was your high school experience like? ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.H.: Yeah, my high school experience [laughter] was pretty unconventional. So I went to, I think it was four different high schools. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.H.: So I had, my freshman year, I went to, it was like a super wealthy. I went to high school, mostly in Vegas. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.D.: Okay. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.H.: And it was – my first high school, was Palo Verde High School in Vegas, and it was a super wealthy. One of two five-star schools in all of Nevada. And then ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.H.: something happened with my mother, and then I ended up, like my grandparents came and picked me and my siblings up, and we ended up in a kinship placement in foster care in Idaho. So I went to it ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.H.: was Centennial High School for, like, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.H.: three quarters of the year for my sophomore year of high school. And then my mom regained custody of me, so I ended up moving back to Las Vegas and went to Cheyenne High School for, like, no time at all, for like, a quarter. And then COVID hit. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.H.: So I spent all of my junior year, and, like, most of the quarter that I was back in Vegas, online in school. And then my junior year, I went to Valley High School, and that’s the school I ended up graduating from. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.H.: So yeah, so that’s when I went for my senior year, too. Luckily, my senior year, we were back in person, so I got that experience. [Laughter] But it was really interesting, I think, because we ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.H.: were also facing a lot of housing insecurity at that time, too, especially like during online school. So we were – there’s these buildings called “weeklies” that they have in Las Vegas. So like, you know, when you get a new place, you have to have a lot of money for the security deposit, and your first month’s rent and all of that. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.H.: So for a weekly, basically, instead of, like, paying by month, you pay by week to stay there. And it’s a lot cheaper, but they’re one-bedroom houses. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.H.: So there was a time where I was staying in the weeklies with my brother and my mom. My sister didn’t come back to Vegas, so she stayed in Idaho after the foster care thing happened. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.H.: But we were staying in the weeklies there. It was my brother and my mom, and then my mom had, like, two different friends. There was one time I think there were seven of us in the one-bedroom weekly, so ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.H.: we’re staying there. And obviously, that’s not the best environment for doing school, and online and everything. But I had some really awesome teachers for my online, too. I had, because I had so much stuff going on in my home life, I was kind of slacking in my classes. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.H.: I was taking an honors English class, and there was one point where there was, like, a bunch of assignments that I had missed. And I emailed my teacher, and I was like, “Hey, I know I’m missing all of these assignments. There’s just a lot of stuff going on right now. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.H.: Is there any way you can unlock these assignments for 24 hours? I’ll complete as many of them as I can. And then if I don’t finish them, you can just give me a zero on the assignments.” ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.H.: And he emailed me back, and he was like, “I’ll do you one better. You do this assignment we’re currently working on, and I’ll just exempt you from all the other ones.” And so it was having teachers like that, who, like, really, kind of stuck their neck out for me, I guess, that really helped me with my high school experience, too. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.H.: But – and I had one teacher. Her name is Ms. Jamie. I still talk to her all the time. She comes out. She’s actually coming out for my graduation, too. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.D.: Nice. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.H.: But she was super, super helpful. So, like, close to the end of my senior year, I had to unexpectedly graduate early. I wasn’t planning on graduating early, and I had to graduate under a different diploma. But we ended up getting evicted from our apartment, and so I had to move back to Idaho to stay with my grandparents. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.H.: But like, shortly before that, my mom was arrested, and she was in jail. So it was just me at the house. And my teacher, Ms. Jamie, she knew that we were close to getting evicted, so she came and actually let me put a lot of my stuff in her car, and took it to her house, so I didn’t lose all my stuff when we got evicted. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.H.: So I had some really, really awesome teachers who helped me through that period. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.D.: Yeah, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.D.: just looking out for you, and providing going, like, above and beyond. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.H.: Yeah. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.D.: That’s really nice. And so the school that you did graduate from, that was in Nevada? ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.H.: Yep. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.D.: Gotcha. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.H.: Yep, Valley High School. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.D.: Nice. With changing schools, and a lot of, you know, different, like, housing insecurity, and then remote learning on top of that, did you find time just kind of like, pursue your personal interests ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.D.: through, like, sports or any hobbies, both in or out of school? Jobs? ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.H.: I did a lot of extracurriculars when I was in school. I’m trying to remember what I did. My senior year – well, before my senior year, I did speech and debate. I was diehard speech and debater. I loved it so much. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.H.: So I did it – [laughter] have a funny story about my speech and debate. I did it at Palo, which was the school I went to my freshman year in high school. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.H.: I started, like, I was pre-law, I am still pre-law. I’m going to law school next year. But I went into it, and I was like, I’m going to be a super, super good debater. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.H.: This is what I’m really going to focus on. I ended up. I was kind of awful. [Laughter] My first year of debate, I was really bad. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.H.: I think my first tournament that I did debate, I went like, one and three. I won one round, and lost the three other ones that I did. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.H.: But there’s this event called “Original Oratory,” where you write a persuasive speech about an issue, and you, like, advocate for some kind of solution at the end of it. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.H.: And that’s something that I really embraced, and I kind of really flourished in that environment. I went into high school, like, super anxious and scared of public speaking, and my first tournament was a mess, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.H.: but [laughter] I ended up doing really, really good my freshman year in Original Oratory. I was – so, like, in the national qualifying tournament, the top three people qualify for nationals, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.H.: and then you have the runners up, and ended up placing fourth in that tournament. And nobody from my school had ever qualified for nationals as a freshman. And ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.H.: I was so close. And it’s still, honestly, but so far. But I really loved it. And then I ended up moving to Idaho. And the debate event that I did was Lincoln Douglas, or LD debate. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.H.: And the teacher of speech and debate there was like, “She’s from this super competitive school in Vegas, so ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.H.: if you have any questions about debate, ask her. She’s the one.” I was like, “No, don’t ask me. I suck at debate. Please.” [Laughter] ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.H.: But I ended up going to the first tournament. And for some reason, I was really good, and I ended up going five and 0, and then went to semis in that tournament. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.H.: And I have no clue where that came from, because every other tournament, I was really bad at debate. [Laughter] But I really, really loved it. And I ended up, I was friends with, I think, like everybody on our debate team. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.H.: We were super close. They’re, like, outside events, too. One of my best friends, her name is Bella, we were super, super close there. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.H.: So yeah. And then, unfortunately, when I moved back to Vegas after that, my school didn’t have a competitive speech and debate team, so I couldn’t do it anymore. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.H.: But outside of that, I did, in my senior year, I did Student Council, this thing called “Link Crew”, where it’s kind of like an FYM, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.H.: so they help with first-gen – not first-gen, first-year students when they’re coming in as freshmen. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.D.: First year mentoring? ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.H.: Yeah, pretty much. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.H.: So we get assigned a group, and we help with, like, freshman orientation, and then we meet with them, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.H.: like, I think it was once a month for the entirety of their freshman year, just hosting events, and everything to make sure that they’re acclimating to the high school environment. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.H.: So I did that. And then there was this organization that I was part of called Jobs for Nevada Graduates, and ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.H.: I was the one of the presidents for that organization. And it was a super interesting experience. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.H.: We did, like resume prep. We did – there was this one thing where we came up with a project, and then we pitched it to the city council in Vegas for a grant for it, which was a super interesting experience. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.H.: And then we did, like, other kinds of college prep activities, which I found to be super helpful, because I think the school, Valley High School is kind of – there’s a lot of, like, low-income, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.H.: it’s like a majority minority school. So a lot of the students that I had realized didn’t know anything about applying to college. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.H.: I didn’t know anything about applying to college. I just had to Google everything. I literally Googled “How do you apply to college.” [Laughter] ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.H.: But the Jobs for Nevada’s Graduates class, I felt like, gave access to a lot of resources and coaching in that area that we were really, really missing out on. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.H.: So I really enjoyed that organization. And then my teacher that I mentioned earlier, Ms. Jamie, was one of the instructors for that class, too. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.D.: Growing up, like, speaking with your mom or with your grandparents, did you get a sense of their thoughts on education? ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.H.: Yeah. So it’s kind of interesting. I grew up already, like, pretty good in school. I was kind of always good in school. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.H.: So for a very young age, we knew that I was going to go to college, even though going to college wasn’t the norm in my family. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.H.: Like, my brother, he has recently dropped out of high school. And then my sister, she ended up graduating high school, and then went to cosmetology school. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.H.: So I’m the only person in my family who, like, actually went through college. But we always kind of expected that I was going to go to college. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.H.: And I think for my mom, like it was something that wasn’t really a choice either, like it was just 100 percent expected, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.H.: I think. We originally thought that I was going to go to Harvard. And so, like, forever they’re like, “Oh yeah, my daughter’s going to Harvard.” ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.H.: My granny, she still tells everyone. She’s like, “My granddaughter is going to be the next Supreme Court justice. She’s so good.” ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.H.: Every time we’ll, like, go to the grocery store, and she’s like, “You see, this is my granddaughter, she goes to Johns Hopkins.” ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.D.: Remember her face. Yeah. [Laughter] ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.H.: [Laughter] That’s ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.H.: what she says all the time. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.D.: Aw… ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.H.: And, so, literally, like, I went with her to her doctor’s office to help pick up her prescriptions. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.H.: And the guy was like, “Oh, this is the granddaughter, the one that goes to Johns Hopkins, right?” ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.H.: I was like no Granny. [Laughter] ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.D.: She’s getting you out there. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.H.: [Laughter] ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.H.: They definitely take a lot of pride in it, which I understand, too, because it’s ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.H.: like – yeah. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.D.: So how did you kind of decide to attend Hopkins, and how did your, like, college application process go? ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.H.: Yeah, so that’s actually – [laughter] ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.H.: if I told this story to a lot of Hopkins students, they’d probably like roll their eyes at me. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.H.: But I know Hopkins is a lot of people’s dream schools. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.H.: I personally had never even heard of Hopkins until I got, like, in college application season, they send out, like, recruitment stuff. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.H.: And I got a really fancy one, where they had, like, a notebook, and a fancy pencil and stuff. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.D.: Swag. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.H.: Right. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.H.: [Laughter] I was like, you know, I’ll apply to this place, and applied to them on a whim, knowing, like, absolutely nothing about Hopkins. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.H.: And then I honestly forgot that I applied to Hopkins because I had applied to, I think, like, 13 colleges. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.H.: And I was having a sleepover at my cousin’s house, and it was like, 3:00 in the morning, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:14:56.600 - 00:15:00.460

K.H.: and I was like, “Oh, wait, I just realized applications for this school should have came out already.” ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.H.: So I signed into my email, and it was like, four days after I got the decision. And then I checked it, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.H.: and then I saw that I had a really, really, really nice financial aid package. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:15:10.840 - 00:15:16.000

K.H.: And I was sitting there, and I was like, “Oh crap. I got into this school.” [Laughter] And my cousin was asleep next to me. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:15:16.140 - 00:15:17.390

K.H.: So it’s literally just me, and, like, myself, a celebration. [Laughter] ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:15:17.390 - 00:15:18.640

K.D.: Processing all of ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:15:20.320 - 00:15:20.370

K.D.: this. Yeah. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:15:20.370 - 00:15:24.160

K.H.: Right. [Laughter] And it was really, really crazy, because I, I don’t know, like I was, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:15:24.660 - 00:15:28.820

K.H.: this was after I had applied to, like, all of the Ivies and everything, to all the prestigious schools. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:15:28.940 - 00:15:31.140

K.H.: And I got rejected from Harvard, I got rejected from Yale. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:15:31.280 - 00:15:34.760

K.H.: So I thought, like, my chances of going to a prestigious university were gone. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:15:35.220 - 00:15:38.720

K.H.: And I was laying in my bed, and I realized that I got into Hopkins, and it was really crazy to me. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:15:38.740 - 00:15:43.180

K.H.: And I kind of started crying, like I was just laying there by myself, with my cousin next to me asleep. I’m ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:15:43.420 - 00:15:46.180

K.H.: sitting there crying. I’m, like, and I’m not gonna have to get any student loans. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:15:46.180 - 00:15:50.200

K.H.: I’m not gonna be in debt. So it was super crazy. But ultimately, yeah, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:15:50.240 - 00:15:53.080

K.H.: I think the financial aid package is what secured me at Hopkins, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:15:53.800 - 00:15:56.120

K.H.: but only because I didn’t know anything about Hopkins at all. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:15:56.420 - 00:15:58.780

K.H.: But I definitely really enjoyed my time here, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:15:58.780 - 00:15:58.830

K.H.: too. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:15:58.830 - 00:16:06.500

K.D.: Yeah, so it seems like you learned about it from, like, the outreach and aside from Harvard, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:16:06.600 - 00:16:11.080

K.D.: like, thinking about schools, did you think about, like, regionality, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:16:11.240 - 00:16:15.840

K.D.: like, maybe where in the country you wanted to move, or if you wanted to stay local? Or how did that factor in? ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:16:15.840 - 00:16:19.820

K.H.: Yeah, I originally, because a lot of people talk about, “Oh, I want to stay close to home.” ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:16:19.960 - 00:16:22.960

K.H.: Me, I was like, I want to get far away from home. [Laughter] ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:16:23.740 - 00:16:25.780

K.H.: So most of the stuff I applied to is on the East Coast. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:16:26.040 - 00:16:31.240

K.H.: And I also looked up schools with the best pre-law programs, which, obviously, Hopkins isn’t on that list. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:16:31.480 - 00:16:31.620

K.D.: Yeah, yeah, yeah. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:16:31.620 - 00:16:34.440

K.H.: But [laughter] so I applied to those schools, too. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:16:34.620 - 00:16:39.080

K.H.: Like, I think University of Maryland, College Park, I applied to that one. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:16:39.580 - 00:16:43.820

K.H.: And then one thing, like, my financial aid packages from a lot of the other schools, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:16:43.820 - 00:16:48.820

K.H.: the public institutions that I applied to, fell through because they request verification on your like FAFSA, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:16:49.760 - 00:16:53.160

K.H.: the documents you submitted. And I was not in contact with my mother at the time, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:16:53.160 - 00:16:54.900

K.H.: so I had no way to submit her verification. So ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:16:55.340 - 00:16:58.960

K.H.: I didn’t get financial aid packages from a lot of the schools I applied to. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:17:00.140 - 00:17:02.680

K.H.: But I forgot where I was going with this. [Laughter] ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:17:03.280 - 00:17:06.680

K.D.: No – yeah, just thinking of factors, considering where to apply. And then like, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:17:07.600 - 00:17:07.650

K.D.: where it went. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:17:07.650 - 00:17:12.360

K.H.: Yeah, yeah, okay. But yeah, so I applied to schools like that. And then what else ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:17:14.120 - 00:17:20.420

K.H.: was it? Yeah, I think just mainly, I was originally saying, like, “Oh yeah, I’m gonna live on the East Coast.” ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:17:20.460 - 00:17:23.400

K.H.: That’s where I’m gonna move. Now I’m not going to live on the East Coast. [Laughter] ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:17:23.720 - 00:17:25.460

K.H.: And it’s not because I think the East Coast is bad. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:17:25.700 - 00:17:27.320

K.H.: I just think I prefer the West Coast, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:17:27.500 - 00:17:32.060

K.H.: and I’ve realized that I really enjoy being around my family, and being able to go back and do stuff with them. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:17:32.060 - 00:17:38.700

K.H.: I think, like, while I’ve been living out here, like I can’t go back on breaks. Like spring break, Thanksgiving break, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:17:38.700 - 00:17:43.200

K.H.: I can’t go back because it’s, like, $400.00 for a ticket for a plane ticket, for a plane ticket, and then you’re just there for a week. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:17:43.200 - 00:17:46.660

K.D.: Yeah, I did note, we’re having this conversation during spring break, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:17:46.980 - 00:17:48.150

K.D.: yeah, so thus you being around. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:17:48.150 - 00:17:49.400

K.H.: Yeah. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:17:49.400 - 00:17:50.500

K.D.: Yeah, that makes so much sense. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:17:50.820 - 00:17:55.880

K.H.: Yeah, but it really sucks, because, like, on Thanksgiving, I remember my first Thanksgiving here, it was kind of sad, honestly. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:17:55.880 - 00:18:04.900

K.H.: My roommate was gone, and I went ,and picked up, like, Thanksgiving meal thing from the dining hall, which, honestly, no shade to them, it was kind of bad. [Laughter] ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:18:05.980 - 00:18:10.440

K.H.: But, so, I was sitting in my room with, like, my lunchbox Thanksgiving meal, like, on the phone with my grandparents while they’re ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:18:10.820 - 00:18:17.140

K.H.: having their Thanksgiving dinner. I was like, you know what? I really, really want to move back and be able to actually do stuff like that. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:18:17.400 - 00:18:21.440

K.H.: So I kind of learned that that’s kind of high on my list of priorities now, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:18:21.440 - 00:18:21.660

K.H.: but… ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:18:21.660 - 00:18:25.830

K.D.: Yeah, it’s all, I guess, valuable as just like a learning, like something that you were able to realize. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:18:25.830 - 00:18:28.020

K.H.: Yeah. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:18:28.520 - 00:18:39.220

K.D.: And, so, what was your family’s reaction, your cousin, who was asleep at the time, [laughter] when she woke up, and like the rest of your family, was their reaction when they found out you were going to Hopkins? Had ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:18:39.420 - 00:18:41.360

K.D.: they ever heard of Hopkins? ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:18:41.360 - 00:18:43.280

K.H.: Honestly, they hadn’t heard of Hopkins. I think, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:18:44.740 - 00:18:52.980

K.H.: interestingly enough, I think most people, at least in, like, Idaho and Vegas, that I’ve talked to had never heard of Hopkins before, except for people in the doctor’s office, and he ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:18:53.600 - 00:18:55.620

K.H.: tells them that I go to Hopkins. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:18:55.920 - 00:18:59.300

K.H.: They were like, “Oh, you’re gonna be a doctor?” And I always have to tell them, “No, I’m not. No, I’m not.” [Laughter] ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:19:00.700 - 00:19:05.420

K.H.: But they’ve definitely heard of Hopkins. But I think everybody else that I’ve talked to didn’t know what it was beforehand. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:19:06.180 - 00:19:12.720

K.H.: But my family definitely took pride in the fact that I go to Hopkins, because after I told them I got in, and I was gonna go to Hopkins, they did research on it. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:19:12.720 - 00:19:17.980

K.H.: And now they told me, “Oh, Kanisha, did you know you go to the number six ranked school in the US?” or something. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:19:18.280 - 00:19:23.220

K.H.: So they know about it now. And now, like my little brother, he’ll brag to his friends that I go to here, and stuff. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:19:23.960 - 00:19:25.230

K.H.: So, but, beforehand, definitely didn’t know anything about it. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:19:25.230 - 00:19:26.500

K.D.: Nice. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:19:28.180 - 00:19:38.280

K.D.: Could you describe the first few weeks of your undergraduate experience? So, like, packing up in Idaho, moving to the East Coast, just that whole process? ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:19:38.280 - 00:19:47.740

K.D.: And also like how you got connected with your roommate, like your living situation, and orientation, just like the whole transition process? ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:19:48.300 - 00:19:52.750

K.H.: Yeah, I think my transition was a little rough, honestly. We ended up, my brother and my grandparents ended up driving me all the way across the country here. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:19:52.750 - 00:19:57.200

K.D.: Yeah, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:19:57.400 - 00:20:00.500

K.D.: that’s basically a cross-country road-trip. Yeah. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:20:00.500 - 00:20:02.980

K.H.: Yeah, I think we did it over four days, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:20:02.980 - 00:20:14.360

K.H.: but we finally got here. And I think because it was a completely new environment for everybody, it was kind of a little bit overstimulated, and I just needed to reorient myself. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:20:14.820 - 00:20:24.620

K.H.: But I got here, and we didn’t, like, explore the campus or anything together. Because my granny brought her dog with her, too, and couldn’t bring the dog into the dorms to help me move in. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:20:24.920 - 00:20:28.700

K.H.: And so we didn’t even consider, “Hey, we can go walk around the campus with the dog.” ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:20:29.080 - 00:20:31.650

K.H.: So we came in, they helped me move my stuff in, and then it was kind of a, okay, we’re giving hugs, and then goodbye. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:20:31.650 - 00:20:35.820

K.D.: Wow. Yeah. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:20:35.820 - 00:20:36.780

K.H.: And so it was really rough. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:20:36.960 - 00:20:40.940

K.H.: I had a hard time with that, especially because I’m super close with my family, so, and my brother. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:20:41.260 - 00:20:51.000

K.H.: Honestly, we used to not be very close. Now, I’m super, super close with my brother. And like, he came in, he gave me a hug bye, and I was like sitting there holding in tears, trying not to cry, because ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:20:51.000 - 00:21:02.000

K.H.: I was giving him a hug goodbye. And so I had a hard time with that. And then, everybody, like, in my wing, I was in McCoy in a double, and everybody in my wing was getting together to hang out, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:21:02.100 - 00:21:10.240

K.H.: and I was just not in the mood to do that. But I think I kind of shot myself in the foot a little bit, because I was sad that I had ended up leaving all of my family. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:21:10.420 - 00:21:20.160

K.H.: I didn’t want to go out and hang out with everyone. And I felt like that’s when everyone, like, started building their friendships, and their friend groups, and was gone doing stuff, especially during orientation, when you don’t have classes and everything. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:21:20.760 - 00:21:27.880

K.H.: So, like, when we had all those optional activities and stuff to go build relationships, I just wanted to go back to my dorm room and kind of mope. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:21:28.960 - 00:21:34.580

K.H.: So I kind of missed out on the building of those friendships and stuff, and it made my first year a little bit harder, because ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:21:35.780 - 00:21:43.080

K.H.: I felt like I didn’t really have a bunch of friends. And then my roommate and I, we were fine, but we didn’t get super close or anything. We just occasionally talked. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:21:44.480 - 00:21:52.760

K.H.: But yeah, so I had, like, my first year, the entire time, I was sitting there, like, Googling ways to transfer and go to a different school, because I was just having such a hard time here. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:21:53.020 - 00:21:57.420

K.H.: But I’m glad I didn’t. It ended up getting better, for sure, but I definitely had a hard transition. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:21:58.220 - 00:22:07.220

K.D.: I think I don’t know how common it is, but, I mean, for me, I definitely—I didn’t go to Hopkins—but, like, within the first year or so, was doing that same Google, like, [ ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:22:08.080 - 00:22:12.280

K.D.: laughter] yeah. It just takes a long time to get acclimated. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:22:12.280 - 00:22:15.400

K.H.: Mm-hmm. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:22:15.400 - 00:22:20.680

K.D.: Have you met any other first-generation college students while at Hopkins, or found kind of support in that way? ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:22:21.080 - 00:22:27.960

K.H.: Yeah, I definitely have. I have a friend group now that we go get dinner, like, once a month. We’re going to Philly in two weeks. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:22:27.960 - 00:22:40.380

K.H.: I think pretty much everyone in that group is a first-gen student. And then I’m also a Kessler Scholar , which is other FLI students as well in the social sciences. So I’ve met people through that organization, too. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:22:40.960 - 00:22:48.240

K.H.: But I think in general, somehow. I don’t know how this happens, but I just end up gravitating more towards other FLI students without knowing that they’re FLI students. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:22:48.240 - 00:22:50.640

K.H.: And I start talking to them, and then I realize. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:22:50.640 - 00:22:51.400

K.D.: Yeah. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:22:51.400 - 00:22:55.060

K.H.: So I’ve definitely met quite a bit of FLI students in my time here. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:22:55.060 - 00:23:00.500

K.D.: Do you feel like there’s a good amount of campus support for FLI students? ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:23:00.500 - 00:23:04.880

K.H.: Yeah, yeah. I feel like they have lots of events and stuff. I know my SCAA advisor, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:23:05.700 - 00:23:16.400

K.H.: well, my old SCAA advisor, she just retired over the summer, 71 now, but she helped me with a lot of resources, too, because I would have to, freshman year, we met with them, like every other week. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:23:16.400 - 00:23:29.980

K.H.: And so she helped me with trying to find internship opportunities. She gave me, like, resume tips, connected me to, like, different resources that we have that I would have never known about. Like, VMock for, like, preparing for interviews and stuff like that. So ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:23:29.980 - 00:23:42.060

K.H.: I definitely think we have the resources. It’s just a matter of grasping them, I guess. And then, of course, we have, like, the different FLI events that we have, and the FLI newsletter, where they give updates and stuff like that. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:23:42.060 - 00:23:52.180

K.H.: And then, the Life Design, I’ve gotten a grant through the Life Design Lab, technically twice. One of them was, like, actually through the Life Design Lab. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:23:52.540 - 00:24:00.720

K.H.: And then the Kessler scholars also have a grant, but it’s through the Life Design Lab, too. So I got a grant for a summer experience through them twice, and that’s for FLI students. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:24:01.160 - 00:24:10.240

K.H.: So I thought that was super, super helpful, because without that, because I’m low income, I wouldn’t have been able to do summer experiences in the fields that I was interested in to gain that kind of exposure. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:24:10.240 - 00:24:14.080

K.H.: So I definitely think we have lots of resources to support FLI students. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:24:14.560 - 00:24:29.700

K.D.: Nice. I know you’re going to law school, so what kind of has your major been while you’ve been here, like thinking of that preparation, and kind of what drew you to interest in law, generally, and how have your studies here kind of prepped you for law school? ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:24:29.700 - 00:24:48.720

K.H.: Yeah, so my interest in law started super, super young. I just kind of was always interested, honestly. But I think when it really connected, that it’s something that I want to do for the rest of my life, was in high school, just because I was, like, in an environment where I was, like, constantly surrounded by people who are breaking the law and doing stuff like that. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:24:48.720 - 00:25:00.480

K.H.: And obviously, like, I know these people. These are people I’m close with. I think a lot of times there’s a lot of dehumanization of people who are incarcerated and people who break the law, like, “Oh, you’re a bad person, because you broke the law.” ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:25:00.660 - 00:25:06.520

K.H.: But my exposure to these people, like, very much humanized them, is like, “Oh, they’re just everyday people, and they’re also, like, struggling.” ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:25:07.160 - 00:25:20.880

K.H.: So that’s something that really made me want to pursue law. In the apartment that I lived in, like, right before I graduated, there was somebody there who would come to our house, sometimes, and he was actually on death row, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:25:20.880 - 00:25:30.280

K.H.: but he had been out on parole because of, like, an ineffective counsel situation. So they paroled him. So he was out on house arrest, but he would come over sometimes. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:25:30.660 - 00:25:44.800

K.H.: It’s, like, sitting here talking to this person who’s on death row, and we, like, kind of have a relationship with this person. So it’s like, it very much shows you that all of these people, like, despite all the sensationalism, and dehumanization and everything, these are just human beings, like they’re normal people, too. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:25:44.800 - 00:25:57.640

K.H.: And so it’s something I want to go into public defense, and be public defender. So that definitely played a big role in that. And then at Hopkins, I’m majoring in political science and sociology. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:25:58.680 - 00:26:07.000

K.H.: I came in, I think, I came in dedicated to political science, and then wanted to choose between sociology and psychology, because I was interested in both of them. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:26:07.120 - 00:26:13.240

K.H.: So I took an intro class to each of those my first semester here. Definitely went full in on sociology. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:26:13.920 - 00:26:27.900

K.H.: Honestly, I feel like I like my sociology more than my political science, but I think it’s because my interests in political science are pretty niche in that field, where they’re kind of more common in sociology. So I’ve studied the carceral state. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:26:27.900 - 00:26:38.880

K.H.: And there’s some people who study the carceral state in poli-sci, like Vesla Weaver. She’s advising my thesis this semester this year. So she’s interested in the carceral state. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:26:39.040 - 00:26:52.760

K.H.: But I think a lot of the exposure that I’ve gotten outside has been in sociology, so it’s been something that I super, super enjoyed. And I’m interested in politics, but I’m also interested in, like, racial dynamics, and, like, marginalized communities and stuff like that. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:26:52.760 - 00:26:57.760

K.H.: And that’s something that I’ve been able to really focus on in my studies. So I really enjoyed it. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:26:58.100 - 00:27:02.010

K.D.: Yeah, the intersection of all of these different dynamics. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:27:02.010 - 00:27:03.360

K.H.: Yeah. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:27:03.360 - 00:27:09.840

K.D.: And have you had—you mentioned Vesla Weaver—or any memorable professors, or classes during your time here? ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:27:09.840 - 00:27:21.980

K.H.: Yeah, I have one professor. I absolutely adore her. Her name is Ilil Benjamin. She’s a sociology professor. I’ve taken two classes by her. One was called “Human Rights Activism between Theory and Practice.” ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:27:22.640 - 00:27:35.620

K.H.: And the other one was, can’t remember the exact title, but it was on, like, refugees, immigration, and stuff like that. And both of the classes are super, super interesting. Really enjoyed them. The content is super relevant as well. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:27:36.220 - 00:27:49.240

K.H.: And so the classes were super interesting. But also, I think she’s an amazing professor, and she’s super understanding, and she just has a way of lecturing and making the content important to the students, and it just makes it more impactful. And it’s a really good learning environment. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:27:49.720 - 00:28:02.600

K.H.: So I love her. There’s another professor, his name is Stuart Schrader, also sociology professor. I’ve taken, I think, I’m in his third class with him right now, a grad class on the carceral state. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:28:02.600 - 00:28:08.240

K.H.: And he’s been super awesome. I took a class with him last semester. I think it was, it was the Introduction to Critical Diaspora Studies. And we took a trip to Arizona for that to… ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:28:08.240 - 00:28:13.880

K.D.: Wow. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:28:14.620 - 00:28:21.980

K.H.: …where we worked with this organization called “BorderLinks”. And we were like a delegation with BorderLinks. And we got to go actually view the border. We got to talk with different migrants who had crossed the border, do a bunch of different activities. And that was a super amazing trip. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:28:21.980 - 00:28:29.340

K.D.: Wow. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:28:29.340 - 00:28:30.160

K.H.: So yeah. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:28:30.160 - 00:28:47.340

K.D.: Nice. Yeah. Lots of, like, good classroom, like, experiences. Could you talk about your living arrangements while at school? You mentioned moving into McCoy freshman year. Any, like, on- campus, off-campus housing, different, maybe, neighborhoods that you’ve lived in? ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:28:47.340 - 00:29:02.040

K.H.: Yeah. So I lived McCoy my freshman year, and a double. And then my sophomore year, I had a one bedroom in Homewood, which I absolutely loved, [laughter] because I am still pretty introverted person, so I like to be able to go back to my space, and unwind and be by myself. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:29:02.800 - 00:29:10.720

K.H.: So I really liked that. And then for junior year, I moved off campus. And my sister moved out here to live with me, too, because she wanted to live on the East Coast anyway. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:29:10.720 - 00:29:38.260

K.H.: So I was like, “Why don’t you just come and be my roommate?” So she moved out here. And we were roommates. We lived off of, was it 25th and St. Paul, so it was just down the street. And I liked the location. The place was a little questionable. It was pretty, pretty expensive rent for not a whole lot of space, but I really liked the location we were at. And we’re right next to a Safeway, which is so nice. I ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:29:38.260 - 00:29:42.190

K.H.: could just walk to the grocery store. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:29:42.190 - 00:29:42.240

K.D.: Nice. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:29:42.240 - 00:29:50.060

K.H.: But the environment we had this neighbor, his name was Mr. George, and he would be, like, sitting out on his stoop. And whenever we came out, he’d be like, “Hey, what’s up? How are you doing?” So we’d sit there and talk. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:29:51.680 - 00:30:02.300

K.H.: But then our landlord decided he was going to sell our building at the end of our lease, so we had to move again. Now, we live in East Baltimore-ish, like, by the hospital a little bit. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:30:02.300 - 00:30:14.120

K.H.: And that one, it’s a slightly questionable place, too, but it’s really, really affordable. The only thing that sucks about it is I have an hour commute every time I want to come to class, which… ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:30:14.780 - 00:30:20.440

K.D.: That was gonna be my next question was just how do you find getting back and forth from here to East Baltimore? ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:30:20.440 - 00:30:32.200

K.H.: Yeah, that’s the one bad thing. I think, if it was the same place, but off of 25th and St. Paul, that would be perfect. But the commute is definitely a little exhausting, especially when I have all of my schoolwork ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:30:32.200 - 00:30:37.500

K.H.: that I’m trying to do. too. And it’s like, makes burnout a little bit easier, but… ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:30:37.500 - 00:30:44.760

K.D.: Yeah. Yeah, and I guess it depends how close you live to the, like, I guess the Jimmy shuttle. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:30:44.760 - 00:30:56.340

K.H.: Yeah. So I have, like, a 15-minute walk to the Jimmy, and then I have to wait for the bus to get there. And then the ride from the hospital to Hopkins is, like, 25 minutes. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:30:56.340 - 00:30:58.840

K.H.: And then I have to go to my class. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:30:58.840 - 00:31:13.700

K.D.: Right. Get across campus, perhaps, or yeah. I think you’ve mentioned maybe a few of these, but can you talk about clubs, or on-campus activities, that you’ve had throughout your time at Hopkins? ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:31:13.700 - 00:31:24.560

K.H.: Yeah, my freshman year, I joined the debate team. Off and on, I did a couple tournaments with them that I really enjoyed, and I liked the people there. But I ended up stopping, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:31:24.560 - 00:31:34.820

K.H.: what was it, I think it was my second semester, because I took a SOUL class, and then the SOUL class was during the time of most of our tournaments, so I couldn’t go anyways. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:31:36.360 - 00:31:50.280

K.H.: And then I just never came back to it, honestly, because a lot of the tournaments, because they weren’t, like, close to Hopkins, they were restricted to, like, one or two people to go, and then you had the people who were doing debate for a long time at Hopkins already, who went to those tournaments. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:31:50.280 - 00:31:51.060

K.D.: Gotcha. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:31:51.060 - 00:32:11.720

K.H.: So, I stopped doing that. But after my freshman year, I became a HULA, which is – it stands for “Hopkins Undergraduate Leaders in Advising.” So, we work with other FLI students, and we mentor, like, incoming first year, first-gen limited income students, and we work with them throughout the entire semester. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:32:11.720 - 00:32:27.400

K.H.: And I still am a HULA. I’ve done it for three years now. And so, I’ve really enjoyed, that I get to build relationships with other FLI students when they come in, too. And I think because I had a little bit of a rockier transition to Hopkins, it helps me connect them with a little bit more resources, and kind of empathize that way. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:32:28.340 - 00:32:46.000

K.H.: And then, also, yeah, I’m a Kessler Scholar, which doesn’t entail a whole lot of community stuff, honestly. It’s mainly the title, but sometimes, we get together and do stuff. And then I’m also Board Chair now on the Student Conduct Board. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:32:46.000 - 00:32:58.520

K.H.: So I started on the Conduct Board last year. This is my second year. And I started as a member because my SCAA advisor recommended me for it, and so I applied and joined on there. And it’s been a super – I really, really enjoy being on the Conduct Board. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:32:58.960 - 00:33:12.180

K.H.: And I think it’s a super unique experience, too, because a lot of other schools have it, like, somebody violates the conduct code or the ethics policy, and then they sit there like a panel of, like, administrators, staff and everything. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:33:12.180 - 00:33:26.440

K.H.: But on the Hopkins Conduct Board, how it works is you have like two students, a student board chair, and then two staff members, and then they hear the case. And it’s not like a, “Oh, you plagiarized, this is the sanction that you get automatically,” ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:33:26.780 - 00:33:36.340

K.H.: like, you get to sit there and actually listen to all of the intricacies of their case, and pick the sanctions you think will best help them succeed and grow from whatever violation they did, if they are found responsible. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:33:36.340 - 00:33:43.300

K.H.: So, I really liked serving on that as well. I think, I feel like there’s more that I’ve done, but I can’t remember them. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:33:43.880 - 00:33:43.930

K.H.: [Laughter] ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:33:43.930 - 00:33:49.760

K.D.: Yeah, I guess, like, Conduct Board thinking as, like, preparation for law school, yeah, in this kind of specific context. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:33:49.760 - 00:33:52.700

K.H.: Yeah. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:33:55.300 - 00:34:10.480

K.D.: Nice. The next question is, we talked a little bit about this with, like, staying, maybe, local because of the cost of travel back to Idaho to the West Coast. But how did you spend your summers and breaks at Hopkins? ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:34:13.840 - 00:34:22.340

K.D.: And yeah, did you, during that time, or maybe not even on summer break, participate in any on campus jobs, or internships or things like that? ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:34:22.680 - 00:34:32.720

K.H.: Yeah. So right now, I’m participating in an on-campus job. It’s through, like, Step Up Tutoring. So I get matched with elementary schoolers, who need tutoring in either reading or math, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:34:32.720 - 00:34:37.390

K.H.: and then I tutor them virtually twice a week for 45 minutes each session. And so I have three students that I’m tutoring now, and I really enjoy it. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:34:37.390 - 00:34:42.060

K.D.: Oh, nice. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:34:42.520 - 00:34:51.100

K.H.: But yeah, so I do that. And then over breaks, like summer, specifically, I’ve went back to Idaho each time, but I still do internships. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:34:51.240 - 00:34:57.320

K.H.: After my freshman year, I interned with the Idaho Innocence Project, which was super interesting, honestly. I ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:34:57.320 - 00:35:09.760

K.H.: got some interesting insights from some of those people. And it was awesome to be able to, like, actually look at cases, because you’re reviewing transcripts, you’re reviewing the evidence, stuff like that, and gaining exposure to the kinds of materials I will be working with when I’m a lawyer. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:35:11.140 - 00:35:22.580

K.H.: And then after my sophomore year, I interned with, it was called Wolman Law. It’s a defense law firm, that I’m still in connection with. I really loved that opportunity, too. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:35:22.580 - 00:35:35.120

K.H.: It was, I was doing a little bit more, like, administrative tasks, types of stuff. And then, like, with court filing, the entire goal was for me to, like, look through the documents, and get familiar with the different kinds of documents that were filed and stuff. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:35:35.680 - 00:35:52.520

K.H.: So that was super interesting. I shared an office with a paralegal who was a law student. His name was Brendan. And he actually ended up connecting me with this organization called Action Corps, which was, it’s like a human rights advocacy organization that advocates around foreign policy. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:35:53.640 - 00:36:03.500

K.H.: And so I started working as an organizer with him, and I did that my junior year. Not so much now, just because I’m so busy this semester, so I had to step back. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:36:04.120 - 00:36:20.220

K.H.: But I did that throughout my junior year, and then ended up doing a fellowship with them for the summer after my junior year as well, which was awesome. I got to write, like, a war powers resolution, and do other kind of – like, I wrote an op-ed. I wrote emails that we sent out to our networks of, like, thousands of people. And ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:36:20.220 - 00:36:24.550

K.H.: so that was a super awesome experience, too. And then the law firm internship, and that one, were funded through the Life Design grants. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:36:24.550 - 00:36:28.880

K.D.: Nice. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:36:31.540 - 00:36:55.100

K.D.: Yeah, I’m curious about, like, your experience as an organizer, and, like, kind of how you found connecting with people, or, like, if you found it to be kind of, I guess, also, as with internships, like a real world, kind of, use case, kind of, like synthesizing, public speaking, like a lot of skills and things that you’ve, like, been learning or practicing while in school. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:36:55.100 - 00:36:57.920

K.D.: How did you find being an organizer? ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:36:57.920 - 00:36:59.260

K.H.: Yeah, I found it super helpful. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:36:59.260 - 00:37:05.300

K.D.: Also, it’s challenging… ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:37:05.300 - 00:37:05.350

K.H.: Yeah. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:37:05.350 - 00:37:05.400

K.D.: …and hard work, yeah. Yeah. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:37:05.400 - 00:37:15.500

K.H.: Yeah. I found it super helpful, especially for like, organizing purposes, because a lot of what we’re doing, a lot of what we’re doing is building relationships with other people in other organizations. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:37:15.500 - 00:37:29.460

K.H.: And I was an organizer in Maryland. So when I first started, we had this training where we got together in D.C. with all the other organizations – organizers around the country. And so we learned like tactics for organizing. Got to build connections with other people. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:37:29.460 - 00:37:41.640

K.H.: And then we came back, and I think shortly after that, we’re working on a campaign for a joint resolution of disapproval against Israel to block additional weapon sales to be used in Palestine. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:37:42.560 - 00:37:53.300

K.H.: And we had a sign-on letter that we were trying to get organizational signatures and individual signatures for. And I was the main person, point-of-contact, from Maryland. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:37:53.300 - 00:38:05.820

K.H.: And so I was reaching out. There was one point, there was one week where I had, like, a bunch of different organizations that I was just emailing back and forth, back and forth. “Oh, can you reach out to these organizations, have them get in contact with me?” ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:38:06.080 - 00:38:16.780

K.H.: And we ended up coordinating a bunch of meetings at Senator Van Hollen’s office, too, to get him to sign on to the JRD . And ultimately, he didn’t decide to sign onto it. So that was super awesome. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:38:16.780 - 00:38:31.700

K.H.: And I met with his office while I was in D.C., too, with one of his staffers. And so after, when Van Hollen decided he was going to sign onto the JRD, his staffer reached back out to me, and was like, “I just want to let you know that we are signing on to that. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:38:31.800 - 00:38:39.540

K.H.: It was great meeting with you.” And so I thought that was super awesome, especially because I, like I said, I originally started out being terrified of public speaking, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:38:39.540 - 00:38:39.880

K.H.: so being able to [crosstalk]. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:38:39.880 - 00:38:44.850

K.D.: Yeah, I feel like you’ve done a lot of exposure therapy… ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:38:44.850 - 00:38:45.050

K.H.: Yeah, for sure. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:38:45.100 - 00:38:59.380

K.H.: [Laughter] So I think it definitely helped with that some more. And also, like the format where you’re speaking with, especially when it’s, like, senator staffers and stuff, like, you’re trying to be persuasive, you’re trying to convince them to sign onto this thing. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:38:59.380 - 00:39:07.840

K.H.: So I think it’s a little similar to what you’re doing, like, in the courtroom. You’re trying to convince the jury of whatever your case is. So that was super helpful. But ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:39:08.260 - 00:39:21.800

K.H.: I think, also, just building connections with the other organizations, and everything in Maryland helps. Because they’re… you want to make sure their relationships aren’t necessarily transactional. You want them to be sustainable relationships where like, oh, if they’re working on something, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:39:21.800 - 00:39:28.040

K.H.: they can reach out to you for support, and then the same, vice-versa. So building those relationships was awesome. Yeah, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:39:29.740 - 00:39:38.040

K.H.: just being able to work with other organizations, and see what they’re doing, too. Especially because when you’re an advocacy organization, you can’t prioritize everything. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:39:38.280 - 00:39:47.600

K.H.: You have to choose the things you want to focus on. So being able to also find outlets on the things that you care about that you’re not focusing on, by lending help to the other organizations was helpful, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:39:48.580 - 00:39:48.630

K.H.: too. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:39:48.630 - 00:39:57.100

K.D.: Right. Kind of leveraging across organizations, yeah, for like, kind of maximum impact. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:39:57.100 - 00:39:57.150

K.H.: Yeah. Mm-hmm. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:39:57.150 - 00:40:05.620

K.D.: And, yeah, very demanding, hard work, but, like, I’m glad that you could get some like successes, or, like, things that sustain you in doing that. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:40:06.000 - 00:40:10.480

K.D.: That’s awesome. You mentioned your sister moving here. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:40:11.220 - 00:40:20.280

K.D.: My next question is just about your relationship with your family while you’ve been a student at Hopkins. So how has it been since you’ve been here? ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:40:20.280 - 00:40:22.720

K.H.: Yeah, it’s been really good, honestly. I think, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:40:24.540 - 00:40:34.920

K.H.: yeah, I don’t think my relationships deteriorated at all. When I go back, I spend – I have a cousin named Ace, who’s 12 years old, and my cousin, Mason, who I’m going to be living with, is 20 now. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:40:35.940 - 00:40:39.050

K.H.: And so when I go back, I hang out with them all the time. Pretty much every weekend, we get together. We do game nights. I have a cousin, Stephanie, and she’ll come over, and we’ll all have dinner at my granny’s house. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:40:39.050 - 00:40:42.170

K.D.: Oh, nice. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:40:42.170 - 00:40:45.280

K.H.: And ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:40:45.280 - 00:40:59.120

K.H.: then we’ll play, we like to play murder mystery games, like Case Files, like the Unsolved Mysteries, stuff like that. And then, like, I go back and I stay with my grandparents. So always I’m like, their go-to person for a lot of stuff. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:40:59.180 - 00:41:04.860

K.H.: So they’ll have a list of stuff where it’s like, “Oh, when Kanisha gets here, I’m gonna have her help me with all of this.” [Laughter] ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:41:04.860 - 00:41:04.910

K.D.: Yeah, clean the gutters, right, different tasks. [Laughter] ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:41:04.910 - 00:41:07.320

K.H.: Yeah. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:41:07.980 - 00:41:21.100

K.H.: Yeah. So I go back and I help them with all of that stuff. And then my brother lives there, too, so I love being able to connect with him a little bit more and hang out. And we have, I really, really value, like our late-night talks, where he comes out to get a midnight snack from the kitchen, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:41:21.280 - 00:41:23.820

K.H.: and then when we just sit in there and talk for an hour. So yeah, I’m definitely still close with all of them. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:41:23.820 - 00:41:26.360

K.D.: Nice. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:41:26.360 - 00:41:27.890

K.D.: Does your sister still live out here with you? ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:41:27.890 - 00:41:29.420

K.H.: Yeah. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:41:32.560 - 00:41:38.500

K.D.: Nice. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:41:38.500 - 00:41:38.550

K.H.: Yeah. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:41:38.550 - 00:41:50.380

K.D.: Cool. My next question is, what your support system has been like while you’ve been at Hopkins through – that can be your family, who you stay connected to, or, like, different friend groups, that you’ve made, different resources on campus. What has that been like? ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:41:50.380 - 00:42:05.560

K.H.: Yeah, I feel like my support system has been great. I think my family has really always been there. When I my first year, when I came to Hopkins, I had my aunt, which is Ace and Mason’s mom. Like, they paid for my plane ticket to go back over Christmas break. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:42:06.740 - 00:42:14.240

K.H.: And they’ve just been super, super helpful. I say – her name’s Jackie, I say she’s, like, the adultiest adult that I know. [Laughter] And I always reach out to her ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:42:18.120 - 00:42:21.170

K.H.: for help. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:42:21.170 - 00:42:21.220

K.D.: On top of things. [Laughter] ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:42:21.220 - 00:42:27.280

K.H.: Yeah. And so she’s definitely been super helpful for me. And then my grandparents always, like, whenever I need to vent, to complain about anything, I can reach out to them and talk to them. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:42:28.180 - 00:42:34.930

K.H.: And then I think here, like, just because I don’t know, like, I came into here not knowing a lot of the professional like outreach, stuff like that. So being able to have my SCAA advisor connect me to resources and stuff, that I wouldn’t know otherwise, has been super helpful. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:42:34.930 - 00:42:41.680

K.D.: Nice. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:42:41.680 - 00:42:46.920

K.H.: And then I have, I think, yeah, like, my professors connected me to a lot of stuff. [Laughter] ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:42:47.680 - 00:43:07.520

K.H.: One, I’m a minor in Civic Life as well, and so I had a professor for the Intro to Civic Life class. Her name is Consuelo Amat. And she, like, was able to connect me to another person who is doing just interviews on, like, Civic Life stuff that we’re doing out in the communities. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:43:08.040 - 00:43:19.760

K.H.: So that was interesting, and that’s been super helpful, just to have people recommend me for other stuff has, like, definitely opened a lot of doors. I had a hard time coming to Hopkins. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:43:19.940 - 00:43:25.500

K.H.: I know I wanted to transfer out, but I’m definitely, really glad I stayed, because I think Hopkins has opened a lot of doors that I wouldn’t have otherwise. And ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:43:26.400 - 00:43:35.200

K.H.: I think, like the internship that I got at the law firm after my sophomore year, I’m pretty positive, because I went to Hopkins. [Laughter] ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:43:35.940 - 00:43:38.320

K.D.: Was that in Idaho? ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:43:38.320 - 00:43:49.360

K.H.: Yeah, when I originally reached out to him, like, they weren’t originally, like, contacting me back. And then they found out that I went to Hopkins, and he was like, “Oh yeah, you sound like a super intelligent person,” ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:43:49.480 - 00:43:56.580

K.H.: yada yada, I’m pretty sure – like, and he was like, “Usually, we only have law students come into our office, but you sound super smart and super competent.” ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:43:56.580 - 00:43:58.900

K.H.: I’m like, “I’m pretty sure it’s because I go to Hopkins.” [Laughter] ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:43:58.900 - 00:43:59.420

K.D.: “Yes.” [Laughter] ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:43:59.420 - 00:44:03.530

K.H.: Yeah. So it’s definitely opened a lot of doors, for sure, and given me a lot of opportunities. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:44:03.530 - 00:44:05.840

K.D.: Yeah. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:44:09.840 - 00:44:18.120

K.D.: Nice. I also, I meant to ask earlier about kind of the transition to Hopkins, both, like, the personal transition, but also like the academic transition. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:44:18.620 - 00:44:28.880

K.D.: How did you find – how did that go from high school classes with the prep that you had, compared to, like, the reality of Hopkins academics? ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:44:28.880 - 00:44:37.140

K.H.: Yeah, I think Hopkins is definitely more rigorous, especially because the school I graduated from wasn’t the highest ranked school. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:44:37.960 - 00:44:46.880

K.H.: So it’s definitely more work. I think, because I am a super avid reader, like, outside of school, I love reading books all the time, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:44:47.580 - 00:44:50.280

K.H.: I have, like, an insane collection of books that I read, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:44:50.280 - 00:44:59.900

K.H.: so I think because I read so much, that helped prepare me for all of the reading that I have to do for my classes as well, because I have a lot of reading all the time. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:45:00.940 - 00:45:13.480

K.H.: But I think one thing that I came in ill-equipped to do was, like, picking out the info, like, scanning the readings, and being able to pick out the important information that matters and just leave behind the information that doesn’t. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:45:13.480 - 00:45:22.000

K.H.: And I think that’s something I still kind of struggle with. The class that I’m taking with Professor Schrader is a grad-level class, and we have to read an entire book every week. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:45:22.520 - 00:45:31.200

K.H.: And I think, like, everyone else in the class talks about how they’re scanning, and, like, “Oh, if I figure out that this isn’t something that’s super important, then I just don’t really focus on it. And I scan, and I, like, move to the next stuff.” ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:45:31.540 - 00:45:35.780

K.H.: And me, personally, I have such a hard time doing that. Like, for me, I’m like, if it’s on the page, it’s important. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:45:35.780 - 00:45:40.180

K.D.: Right. Yeah, without reading the whole thing, how would you know what’s a – ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:45:40.180 - 00:45:45.560

K.H.: Yeah. So it’s super, super hard for me, still, just to be able to prioritize and do that kind of reading. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:45:45.740 - 00:45:51.760

K.H.: And I definitely think it’s a learned skill, and it’s something that I’ve gotten a little bit better at, but still definitely need to hone that skill more. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:45:51.760 - 00:45:55.470

K.H.: But I think if I were taking more STEM classes, where it’s focusing on, like, the memorization and knowledge, versus just, like… ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:45:55.470 - 00:46:01.700

K.D.: Synthesizing. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:46:01.700 - 00:46:02.900

K.H.: …yeah, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:46:03.240 - 00:46:14.960

K.H.: I think I would have had a harder time in those classes, especially because a lot of the classes and stuff, that I was doing during COVID, like, wasn’t actually focusing on the content so much, honestly. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:46:15.720 - 00:46:23.950

K.H.: So I think I definitely would have been ill- equipped in those classes. Luckily, I haven’t had to take any actual, like, math or science classes, or anything like that. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:46:23.950 - 00:46:24.150

K.D.: Yeah, that’s ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:46:24.800 - 00:46:37.840

K.D.: nice. Yeah, I imagine, like, moving, like, you’re so right that reading in college – like, academically is such a skill. And then I feel like that’s great thinking of that ahead of law school. Because [ ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:46:37.840 - 00:46:44.500

K.D.: laughter] I feel like the amount of reading – I’ve never been to law school, but yeah, definitely seems relevant, to… ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:46:44.500 - 00:46:44.820

K.H.: Yeah, for sure. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:46:44.820 - 00:46:48.900

K.D.: …like studying law, and, like, prepping for the LSAT, and all of that. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:46:50.420 - 00:46:50.720

K.D.: Great. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:46:52.940 - 00:47:00.040

K.D.: I asked this earlier, but one part of it, I didn’t touch on, thinking about support, specifically as a FLI student, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:47:01.220 - 00:47:03.830

K.D.: is there a way that you think Hopkins could increase its support for FLI students? ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:47:03.830 - 00:47:06.440

K.H.: Hmm. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:47:17.060 - 00:47:26.860

K.H.: I don’t know, I feel like they have a pretty good support system. I think most of my issue, especially, like, my first year, is just that I wasn’t taking advantage of the different resources that I had, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:47:26.860 - 00:47:41.960

K.H.: just because I kind of wanted to stay in my room. But I honestly feel like Hopkins does do a really, really good job. I think, like, the grants that they have to help FLI students be able to do stuff over the summer, and gain experience that way. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:47:42.260 - 00:47:47.030

K.H.: They have, like, different networking opportunities for FLI students. Something that I’m doing this year, it’s like a Career Closet where you go to JC Penney and they give you $75.00, and you can shop for, like, professional clothes. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:47:47.030 - 00:47:51.800

K.D.: Nice. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:47:51.800 - 00:47:59.560

K.H.: So I think Hopkins definitely has really good resources. I think, yeah, it’s just mainly on me not taking advantage. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:48:00.160 - 00:48:18.460

K.D.: Yeah. No, that’s – I appreciate that. Yeah, it does seem like there are a lot of resources. What I’ve heard students say before, is just for, like, learning, like, advertising what is out there and like, because it seems like there’s a lot of support. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:48:18.460 - 00:48:28.340

K.H.: Yeah. Yeah, that’s fair. I think that wasn’t as big as a consideration for me, because I think my SCAA advisor did definitely connect me to all of those, and made me super aware of everything. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:48:28.560 - 00:48:32.920

K.H.: But I think, yeah, for other people, if the SCAA advisors aren’t making that super obvious, then yeah. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:48:33.400 - 00:48:36.600

K.D.: Yeah. And I think that is not even specific to FLI resources, just like resources across the whole university. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:48:36.600 - 00:48:39.800

K.H.: Yeah. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:48:40.360 - 00:48:45.060

K.H.: Yeah. Especially because a lot of times, they send it out in the newsletters, and then you have to, like, read every line in the newsletter to see…[ ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:48:45.060 - 00:48:45.360

K.H.: laughter]… ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:48:45.360 - 00:48:49.680

K.D.: Yeah, to filter for what’s important. And scan. Yeah. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:48:51.520 - 00:49:05.720

K.D.: I see. We’ve touched on this as well, but your, like, activism work, and your, like, advocacy work as an organizer, but not, I think, tying that to your student experience at Hopkins, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:49:05.720 - 00:49:13.180

K.D.: the question is has the political climate or social movements impacted your experience at Hopkins? ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:49:15.080 - 00:49:22.620

K.H.: I think it’s impacted the things that I’m passionate about, and kind of the classes that I prioritize and focus on taking. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:49:22.620 - 00:49:38.740

K.H.: I think, especially, like, right now, under like, with Trump’s immigration policies, and his crackdowns and stuff, like, focusing on, like, trying to take classes to actually talk about that, and classes that touch on, like, contemporary issues, and not just –. Like, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:49:39.140 - 00:49:44.080

K.H.: I think a lot of classes, especially in political science, focus on theory, where it’s like a bunch of stuff that happened in the past. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:49:44.080 - 00:49:51.200

K.H.: But I think being able to take classes that are super relevant, and actually bring in, like, the outside world to the classroom, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:49:51.220 - 00:49:56.720

K.H.: I think those are super important. And I think I’ve been able to take classes that touch on that, too. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:49:56.960 - 00:50:02.420

K.H.: I don’t think it’s, like, impacted my ability to perform in school, really, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:50:03.840 - 00:50:08.220

K.H.: but definitely, like, the ways that I look at things for sure. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:50:08.220 - 00:50:11.500

K.D.: Yeah. And thinking of how that affects your, like, future goals and interests. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:50:11.500 - 00:50:14.780

K.H.: Yeah. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:50:15.980 - 00:50:22.220

K.D.: My next question is, like, thinking locally, and, like, kind of outside of campus, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:50:24.700 - 00:50:35.160

K.D.: how has your relationship been to the city of Baltimore? And kind of, I guess, the intersection of, like, the political climate and social movements, and then kind of being based here in the city ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:50:35.920 - 00:50:48.020

K.D.: as a student at Hopkins, what was your kind of, I guess, idea of Baltimore before you got here, and, like, what is that kind of relationship been like, living in the city, getting to know the city? ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:50:48.580 - 00:50:54.580

K.H.: Yeah, I don’t think – I know a lot of people, when they come to Hopkins, they’re scared, because, oh, the crime in Baltimore. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:50:55.000 - 00:50:59.580

K.H.: I don’t think – right? [Laughter] I don’t think that’s something that I was really concerned about when I first came here. Like, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:50:59.580 - 00:51:02.240

K.H.: I wasn’t really worried about it. I worked at Chuck E. Cheese right before I came to Hopkins, [laughter]… ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:51:02.240 - 00:51:05.060

K.D.: Cool. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:51:05.060 - 00:51:07.560

K.H.: …and my manager there, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:51:07.720 - 00:51:14.220

K.H.: I think he was the one person who did know of Hopkins. But my manager there, he knew Hopkins was in Baltimore, and he loved Baltimore. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:51:14.660 - 00:51:19.060

K.H.: So he always, he would always tell me, “Oh, you’re gonna do so great in Baltimore. You’re gonna love it. It’s such a great city.” ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:51:19.560 - 00:51:26.780

K.H.: And then, what movie was it? I don’t think it was Grease, but there was one song from a movie that he really loved. It was a musical. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:51:26.780 - 00:51:28.990

K.H.: It was like, “Good morning, Baltimore.” ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:51:28.990 - 00:51:29.520

K.D.: Hairspray. Yeah. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:51:29.520 - 00:51:33.420

K.H.: And he would always sing that song [laughter] because he loved it so much. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:51:33.820 - 00:51:40.200

K.H.: So I think, I, honestly, had, like, a little bit more of a positive outlook on it, partially because of the way he hyped it up so much. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:51:40.820 - 00:51:49.000

K.H.: But I came to Hopkins. And then I really enjoy the city. I think one of the things that I really love is, like, driving down the street, and seeing all of the street art, and the murals and stuff. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:51:49.000 - 00:51:56.520

K.H.: I really love that. And I love, like, the history of Baltimore rooted in activism, too. I think it’s super, super strong. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:51:56.700 - 00:52:03.460

K.H.: And I think, like, the community ties in Hopkins are really strong – not in Hopkins, in Baltimore, are really strong. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:52:04.320 - 00:52:12.980

K.H.: The class that I took, Intro to Civic Life, part of it, we had like activities where we actually went to organizations that were working in Baltimore. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:52:12.980 - 00:52:19.740

K.H.: I can’t remember what they were. I think there was an organization called Build, and we did a walking tour with Build. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:52:20.520 - 00:52:28.380

K.H.: And basically, they walked through and pointed out, like, the different – they’re, like, advocating for, like, community revitalization and stuff. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:52:28.620 - 00:52:36.920

K.H.: And they’re pointing out the different, like, areas that were, like, used to be vacant lots or something. And they were, like, “We organized and advocated for whatever was on this.” ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:52:36.920 - 00:52:47.320

K.H.: Like, one of them ended up becoming a public library where they had resources. So that was super, like, I’d love hearing stories about that, where people are organizing and advocating for, like, changing their communities. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:52:47.580 - 00:52:51.920

K.H.: And then, obviously, it’s really awesome when they actually have the success stories or people listen to them. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:52:52.680 - 00:52:59.320

K.H.: But I think, I, honestly, wish that I would have interacted with the Baltimore community more, honestly. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:52:59.320 - 00:53:07.780

K.H.: I think because I didn’t have the strong friend group to go explore and everything with, I didn’t do as much as I would have liked to. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:53:09.080 - 00:53:14.400

K.H.: I’ve, like, gotten out a little bit, and I, like, go to restaurants, and stuff that are around the city and stuff. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:53:14.720 - 00:53:20.920

K.H.: And I don’t think – I know some people feel unsafe when they go out into the city, because they don’t have the Hopkins security and stuff there. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:53:21.060 - 00:53:22.930

K.H.: That’s not something that bothers me at all. But I really love the city. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:53:22.930 - 00:53:24.800

K.D.: Nice. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:53:25.360 - 00:53:34.480

K.D.: Yeah, and I think, like, connecting with those groups around the city, like you said, like thinking of your studies, and tying them to, like, contemporary movements, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:53:34.720 - 00:53:36.480

K.D.: I think, yeah, that makes a lot of sense. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:53:37.740 - 00:53:44.900

K.D.: Yeah, in terms of just, like, life in the city, do you have, like, a favorite restaurant in the city, or, like, your favorite spots around? ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:53:44.900 - 00:53:55.660

K.H.: I have – I don’t think that this really counts as, like, outside of the Hopkins bubble, but there’s this restaurant called Taste This, that’s by the first place I lived off of 25th and St. Paul Street. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:53:56.480 - 00:54:02.220

K.H.: And it’s a soul food restaurant. It’s so good. The friend group that I have, that we go to dinner and stuff with, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:54:02.420 - 00:54:08.900

K.H.: I actually just took them to that restaurant a couple of weeks ago, because, apparently, none of them had ever had soul food before, which I thought was a travesty. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:54:08.900 - 00:54:13.940

K.H.: But, so, I convinced them all to go try soul food, and then they all loved it. They ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:54:14.060 - 00:54:20.120

K.H.: were like – one of my friends, Michelle, like, immediately went back to their restaurant, like, two days later to get more. [Laughter] ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:54:21.140 - 00:54:22.210

K.H.: So I definitely love that restaurant. It’s so good. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:54:22.210 - 00:54:23.280

K.D.: Nice. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:54:24.900 - 00:54:26.880

K.D.: And I’m gonna pause our recording. Okay. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:54:26.880 - 00:54:39.940

K.D.: We are back recording. And the next question, we’ve talked a little about your plans to go to law school, and move back to Idaho. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:54:42.860 - 00:54:48.840

K.D.: But could you share a little bit more about your plans for the future, like, life after Hopkins, life after law school? Just more ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:54:50.320 - 00:54:50.370

K.D.: on that. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:54:50.370 - 00:55:02.160

K.H.: Yeah, so moving back for law school, I, honestly, I’m considering potentially practicing law in Seattle, but I have never actually been to Seattle. [Laughter] ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:55:03.520 - 00:55:04.040

K.D.: So why? [Laughter] ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:55:05.020 - 00:55:14.980

K.H.: Because I think it’s, I think my thing with Idaho, besides the fact that it’s kind of racist, is that it’s like a little bit too small. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:55:15.120 - 00:55:21.420

K.H.: But I want somewhere that’s like kind of smaller than Baltimore, but bigger than Idaho. And I think Seattle was, like, a little bit in there. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:55:22.040 - 00:55:35.920

K.H.: And also, it’s still close to home. And it’s got, like, I don’t want to practice in a place that has not as many issues with, like, targeting marginalized communities through criminal justice policies. So ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:55:36.500 - 00:55:42.620

K.H.: I want somewhere that has, like, a place that I can make an impact when I go and work as a public defender. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:55:42.860 - 00:55:48.000

K.H.: And I think Seattle is a place that I could do that. But I definitely want to visit Seattle before I commit to that [crosstalk]. So ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:55:48.820 - 00:55:53.580

K.H.: I’m planning on taking a trip there sometime during law school. But yeah. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:55:54.140 - 00:56:02.040

K.D.: Yeah. And I guess with, like, applying for the bar exam, thinking, I guess, yeah, like, where you would want to be, like, certified, or yeah, interesting. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:56:02.500 - 00:56:05.600

K.H.: Because Bar prep is – it’s insane. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:56:05.600 - 00:56:06.400

K.D.: Extensive. Yeah. Nice. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:56:10.340 - 00:56:24.380

K.D.: Like, kind of wrapping up now, like, looking back over the time that you’ve spent here, this is such a, like, a simple question, but can have a wide range of responses. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:56:25.140 - 00:56:26.350

K.D.: How would you kind of summarize your time at Hopkins? [Laughter] ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:56:26.350 - 00:56:27.560

K.H.: That’s ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:56:32.600 - 00:56:33.280

K.H.: a great question. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:56:37.880 - 00:56:44.300

K.H.: I don’t know, I think like a period of personal growth, honestly. I think I’ve definitely grown a lot since I first came here. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:56:44.900 - 00:56:48.920

K.H.: Like I said, my first year, I was, like, scared and timid, and didn’t really want to do stuff and get involved. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:56:49.320 - 00:56:58.020

K.H.: But I think I’ve kind of really flourished during my time at Hopkins. I think, looking back on it now, like, I’ve become a lot more knowledgeable on the stuff that I’m passionate about. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:56:58.320 - 00:57:03.980

K.H.: I’ve, like, studied the carceral state every chance I get. I’m writing a thesis on something to do with the carceral state, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:57:04.760 - 00:57:18.240

K.H.: so definitely flourished in that area. But I also, personally, I’ve, like, developed more relationships with people. I’ve become more comfortable with myself and more confident like talking to people, and networking, and stuff like that. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:57:18.700 - 00:57:21.480

K.H.: So I definitely think, yeah, personal growth. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:57:22.200 - 00:57:29.440

K.D.: I would love to hear more about your thesis, what specifically you’re writing about, and how it’s going. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:57:29.440 - 00:57:41.280

K.H.: Yeah. So I’m using the American Prison Writing Archive, which Professor Weaver is one of the co-directors of, and I’m studying how incarcerated people conceptualize the idea of prison reform. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:57:41.700 - 00:57:54.660

K.H.: So I’m doing it in kind of an unconventional way. So I’m following, like, the life cycle of incarceration, but starting before incarceration, and I’m focusing on, like, a couple factors in each stage. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:57:54.660 - 00:58:01.920

K.H.: So the first stage, before incarceration, I’m focusing on, like, racialized policing and poverty, and how those play in interactions with the carceral state. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:58:02.580 - 00:58:11.160

K.H.: And then I’m going inside the courtroom to the ways that people are pressured into taking plea deals, because the vast majority of people don’t actually go to trial. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:58:11.300 - 00:58:24.420

K.H.: They just take a plea deal, and then they’re sentenced to prison. And then I’m going inside the prison to study, like, normalized violence. And then outside the prison looking forward, like, probation, parole, and then, like, the stigma of a felony on your record. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:58:24.660 - 00:58:34.500

K.H.: And I’m putting all of these together as a way to kind of critique modern reform conversations by because they focus on stages in isolation, and try and target one thing. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:58:34.820 - 00:58:39.540

K.H.: But something that I’ve, like, definitely noticed throughout my studies is that it’s all kind of interlinked. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:58:40.000 - 00:58:50.300

K.H.: And when you try and focus on a reform in one specific stage, the other stages just, like, what’s the word I’m thinking of? Can’t think of the word. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:58:51.040 - 00:58:59.000

K.H.: The other stages adjust. And so, like, the actual impact of that reform is minimal, if it’s even there at all. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:58:59.860 - 00:59:09.960

K.H.: So I think, yeah, like just saying that everything’s connected, and you can’t just target one tiny phase of the interactions with the carceral state, because it’s all important. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:59:09.960 - 00:59:17.040

K.D.: Yeah, looking, like, holistically at everything, and then through the perspective of incarcerated individuals. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:59:17.040 - 00:59:17.660

K.H.: Yeah. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:59:17.660 - 00:59:19.320

K.D.: Well, yeah, thank you for sharing that. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:59:21.840 - 00:59:26.800

K.D.: Overall, would you recommend Hopkins to other first-generation students, and is there any advice that you would give them? ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:59:27.280 - 00:59:37.880

K.H.: Yes, I definitely would. I think my advice is don’t underestimate the importance of the orientation period. It’s there for a reason. And I think it’s definitely can help you ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:59:38.700 - 00:59:46.700

K.H.: just feel like Hopkins is your home, and, like, build a family there. So definitely take advantage of all of those opportunities, even if they’re not required opportunities. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:59:46.980 - 00:59:54.700

K.H.: If your FYM group wants to go out on a trip to some kind of restaurant in the city, definitely take the opportunity and go do it. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:59:55.920 - 01:00:04.760

K.H.: Yeah, I think it’s super important to balance the social with the academic, because it’s really easy to get lost in all of the academic, and then, like, your social relationships and everything end up suffering. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:00:04.760 - 01:00:18.860

K.H.: And it’s important to have balance so you don’t get burnt out. And it’s really easy to get burnt out, especially when you’re a FLI student who’s kind of trying not to cave under the pressure of being, like, this really – like, being the example to the place where you came from. So ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:00:19.740 - 01:00:20.340

K.H.: I think, yeah… ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:00:20.340 - 01:00:23.940

K.D.: Thinking of like, expectations for—that others have with you, and that you have for yourself. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:00:23.940 - 01:00:27.220

K.H.: Yeah. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:00:27.220 - 01:00:31.130

K.D.: Thinking of, like, burnout on campus, do you think that that’s an issue that a lot of students deal with on campus? ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:00:31.130 - 01:00:34.720

K.H.: Yes, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:00:36.180 - 01:00:51.140

K.H.: 100 percent. One hundred percent. I think, because Hopkins can be a little rigorous, and because they have, like, just the work that you, like, the magnitude of the work that you have to do is a lot. I think people definitely can cave under the pressure. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:00:51.300 - 01:01:01.480

K.H.: I think also, like, on the expectations, again, we all have really high expectations for ourselves, I think, because just we automatically just want to do really good. We want to go onto be great. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:01:01.960 - 01:01:12.960

K.H.: So I think we’ve put a lot of focus on the academic, and I think it’s important to prioritize your academic, and, like, be good in that, but it’s also important to prioritize your own, like, personal, mental wellbeing. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:01:13.460 - 01:01:25.740

K.D.: Yeah, for sure. So that is all of my questions. Thank you so much for your time. I know how busy you are. I know especially now how busy you are. So I especially appreciate it. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:01:26.160 - 01:01:35.320

K.D.: Is there anything else you would like to add before we end, any topics we didn’t get into, any parts of your Hopkins experience that you would like to speak more to? ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:01:37.420 - 01:01:46.060

K.H.: I don’t think so. I think – I’m a yapper, [laughter] so I’ve talked a lot about pretty much everything. Yeah, I don’t think I left anything out. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:01:46.460 - 01:01:47.780

K.D.: Okay. Well, great. Thank you so much. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:01:47.780 - 01:01:49.100

K.H.: Yeah, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:01:49.100 - 01:01:49.900

K.H.: thank you. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠