Alone at a new school after her mom died, Cayce student became student body president
READ MORE
Outstanding 2021 Midlands Graduates
This past year has been a challenging one for most — especially our high school seniors. They shifted to virtual learning and missed out on some the best memories and traditions from high school. The State is highlighting a series of 2021 Midlands grads who have beat the biggest odds, set a high bar for serving and achieving and inspire us to make no excuses in the pursuit of our highest potential. Meet them here.
Expand All
After her mother died, Isha Bojang found herself alone at a new high school, in a new state, in a new country.
Four years later, she’s not only graduating from Airport High School, she’s leaving as the school’s student body president.
Even though she was born here in South Carolina, Bojang spent most of her young life abroad. Her father was from Gambia and her mother from Ethiopia. Shortly after she was born, her father was named to a Gambian diplomatic post in Saudi Arabia, and Bojang lived in the Middle Eastern kingdom until she was 12.
After a year back home in Gambia with her father, Bojang moved again to stay with her mother in Seattle. But after her mother died, she found herself living with family back in South Carolina, just before starting her freshman year at Airport.
New to the school, she started looking for something to take her out of her grief.
“I got into volleyball, basketball, soccer,” she said. “Anything so I could not stay at home.”
That restlessness also led Bojang to get involved with student government events. She didn’t know anyone, but Daniel Bailey, Bojang’s teacher and student government adviser, encouraged her to be part of the school’s youth leadership program.
“I saw leadership potential in her,” Bailey said. “She was kind of a shy freshman, but she was a good people person. She would talk to anybody.”
Bojang said she has enjoyed the position, which allowed her to be involved in nearly everything going on at the school. She organized events for her classmates and helped raise thousands of dollars for Airport’s chosen charity, Camp Kemo, a getaway for children undergoing cancer treatment.
“She always finds a way to be there,” Bailey said. “If she needs a ride, the child has paid for her own Uber to get there. That’s rare in a teenager. A lot would just shut down and stay home. Not Isha. She pushes herself.”
But most of all, Bojang says she appreciates how student government gave her a focus during a dark time in her life.
“I could just be super depressed, but this teaches me the skills to deal with it,” she said. “To be hard-working, persistent, and to invest in myself.”
Next fall, Bojang will attend the College of Charleston. She plans to become an OB-GYN.
“If my mom was here,” she said, “she’d get behind me and say ‘Go do it.’ That keeps me motivated.”
.jpg)
