Nell Kpakpo, Sahuaro freshman, was born in Cote d’Ivoire (The Ivory Coast) in Africa and moved to Tucson when she was just four years old. At the time, she spoke no English, but was fluent in French, which is what she speaks in her household, only switching to English when she cannot pronounce something, or when her mom is practicing English with her.  Her nine-year-old brother is the opposite – currently learning French and even though he can speak it, he is more comfortable speaking English.  She has some family in France, and though she has technically never been there, she and her family have been talking about a visit to France for Nell’s graduation gift. Nell and her family celebrate all American holidays, even the Fourth of July, but also celebrate Cote d’Ivoire’s Independence Day. “We decorate our house with orange, green, and white like everywhere. And we wear orange, green, and white. My dad even does the face paint where it’s half green half white all over his face.”

She originally moved here only with her mom before her father and brother came. There was a rough patch where Nell was put in a lot of extra reading classes, from kindergarten to 4th grade, and no matter how many times they would try to explain that she was still learning English, the school didn’t listen to them.  Now, Nell is in two advanced classes, honors biology, and GATE English, and she currently holds a 4.0 GPA. Nell plans to continue being in advanced English classes but is questioning whether or not she wants to continue in advanced science classes.

Nell has been studying computer science since she was in sixth grade and is currently in computer science with Mr. Christian.  Nell went into computer science because, “One time I watched ‘Terminator and was like, ‘I don’t wanna build an evil robot, I just wanna build a robot.'” She’s always looking for something new to do, and because technology is always advancing, it never gets boring to her. Even though she wants to continue advancing technology, she also wants to take a look at old technology that hasn’t been updated for a while and upgrade it to something that will make more use in society today – build technology in a way that is still good for our planet and doesn’t harm people.

She joined the Robotics club here at Sahuaro, and is also the freshman Student Council Secretary. Nell is on a robotics team comprised of all first-years, and they have one and two-judge awards because of their impressive work on their robot and how enthusiastic they are. During their very first tournament, they competed and made it to the quarter-finals!  They have had to rebuild the bot six times since the season started, but every time they find something wrong with it and fix it completely.  The team will go on to their next tournament on Saturday, February 17th. Nell and her team have been working very hard since the last tournament and say they have reflected on what they did wrong and worked on how to make it better.

Nell had been planning to go to MIT but is now questioning whether or not she wants to, saying, “Originally I was thinking MIT but then- like, I’m not sure I want to go there. I feel like it’s only centered around one thing, so I’m thinking maybe Stanford University.” Nell wants to study robotics engineering, business, and graphic design in college.  One day, Nell wants to own her own tech company, be a CEO, and maybe even build a middle school and high school or a university for robotics, technology, and engineering.

Before high school ends for her, she wants to get better at math and expand her knowledge about the subject, which in the long run, could help her tech career. She wants to become more organized and to start the habit of keeping a planner.

We wish them luck at the tournament and wish Nell Kpakpo luck in accomplishing her dreams.