Recent Boston College alumna Angela Donkor, BC ’12, was recognized recently by the Magic Johnson Foundation for her service and leadership in Africa.
Donkor, winner of the Martin Luther King, Jr. scholarship and a Gates Millennium scholarship, as well as two previous scholarships from the Magic Johnson Foundation, earned her second Spirit of Taylor Michaels award at last month’s ceremony. She also received the Graduate of the Year award for exceptional involvement in the Magic Johnson Scholars Conference.
“Whenever people ask where I find the strength to make my dreams happen, I tell them that I find it at the Magic Johnson Scholars Conference,” Donkor said in a statement to the Office of News and Public Affairs. “For the past four years, I have grown up with the foundation supporting me every step of the way. To the outside world, Magic Johnson is a legendary basketball player and businessman, but to me he is, and will always be, a father and a friend.”
Donkor, a native of Ghana, immigrated with her family to Italy when she was young, and later moved to the United States. Earlier this summer, she returned to her native country on a grant from the Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs, where she taught English, Italian, and Chinese.
“It had always been my dream to go to Ghana after college and to give back to my country, and BC made that happen for me,” Donkor said. “When I told people in Ghana that I had graduated from college, they were in shock because a young Ghanaian woman like me is not supposed to be a college graduate.”
Traveling to Africa for service is not new to Donkor. During her time at BC, she made service trips to Rwanda and Uganda, working with orphaned children. She also spent parts of her junior year abroad in China, and volunteered at the Student Admissions Program and the Suffolk House of Correction.
For the next two years, Donkor plans to work as a paralegal for Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison in New York City, and then hopes to pursue a JD/MA in international diplomacy.
“Angela has contributed so much to our program, her peers, and me personally as an educator and leader of this program,” said Kadar Lewis, manager of the scholarship program. “Her success and altruism while overcoming many challenges in life is a testament to what we seek to support in all of our scholars. She is a true ‘outlier’ and leader.”
