by Courtney Cleveland
features editor
Shamia Hopper is a sophomore elementary education major from Clarksdale, Miss. In her free time, she enjoys reading and camping. She is involved with the Student Body Association, Millsaps Retention Advocates, Programs and Activities Council, Millsaps International Buddy System, and Foundations. Additionally, Shamia serves as an opportunity club tutor.
The Purple and White: What made you come to Millsaps?
Shamia Hopper: My English teacher recommended it to me, and I just went out on a whim and came to Millsaps. I’d never heard of this school before.
P&W: Is there anything you would change about the campus?
SH: Just the diversity on the campus. I just wish more minorities knew about this school.
P&W: Where is your favorite place to go on campus?
SH: The football field. When no one is out there, it’s a good place to study and lie down and just analyze life.
P&W: Where do you see yourself after graduating Millsaps?
SH: Teaching math at a charter school, and going to grad school. I see myself traveling the country to explore education and gaining knowledge of different practices to bring back to Mississippi.
P&W: What’s something you do to cut down on stress?
SH: I go to the charter school (Smilow Prep Charter School) I work at and work on the bulletin boards there.
P&W: Who has had the biggest impact on the person you are today?
SH: My little sister Alex. She looks up to me every day. I see that face and think that someone is watching my every move. So everything I do must be strategic to plant seeds of success inside her brain.
P&W: What’s the most unsettling film you’ve ever seen?
SH: “12 Years A Slave”… just to see how your life and dreams can be quickly snatched away from you by someone you trust shows just how fragile life is.
P&W: Name something that other people do that annoys you.
SH: Something that annoys me is when people don’t talk to me about problems that they have with me.
P&W: How have you changed as a person over the past year?
SH: I have grown in understanding as a leader…as a person and as a student. I’ve learned that it’s okay to disagree with others and still deliver the message of why I don’t agree without being angry.
P&W: Tell me something embarrassing that’s happened to you.
SH: I fell up the stairs of Sullivan-Harrell going to class. All of a sudden, my knee was on the ground and I was no longer standing. On that day I vowed to never take the stairs of Sullivan-Harrell again. I use the elevator at all times.
P&W: Name three words that describe you.
SH: Happy, genuine and passionate.
The Purple and White would like to thank Shamia for answering these questions! If you or someone you know would like to be featured in the next “Meet the Millsapian” article, then contact me at clevecd@millsaps.edu.