Raquell Kissi
She’s resolute, honest, kind and slightly mysterious. If you’ve never heard of her, she’s a Resident Assistant, President of the African Student Union (ASU), oh and she decides whether your club gets funding (she’s also the VP of Finance). Get to know Raquell Kissi as I dig deeper into the woman behind the budget.
Are you a spiritual person?
God plays a very important role in my life. I need someone who’s going to be there for me no matter what—without my reliance on God, I wouldn’t be where I am today. Even when I ran for VP of Finance, it was so competitive and it took a lot to even be able to win. At a certain point, I didn’t think I was going to win so I owe a lot of success to him.
You’re a business major. Why did you choose to go into the business field? Was it the money? Be honest.
In the beginning, I didn’t know what I wanted to do. I changed to management from accounting and did an internship at Viacom where I learned so much about HR (Human Resources). I really envision myself in that position. It’s not even about the money; I prefer my happiness more than a job that pays me more.
How would your friends describe you?
They think I’m the mom in our group making sure everyone is put together. They always tell me I have my life together. They think I’m organized and always laugh at me and think I’m crazy. I think I’m crazy too.
Would you describe yourself the same way?
I would. My mom is the same way so that’s where I get it from. She’s not strict, but I see the way she is through how my friends describe me and I definitely am crazy because when stuff needs to get done, they get done. I sound just like my mom.
In what way do you sound like your mom?
She taught me to value time. Time is everything and I see that now like when people are late, it bothers me.
How do you organize your life?
My agenda has everything: phone reminders, weekly commitments like RA stuff, exams, and assignments. I look at my agenda ten times a day and it’s with me all the time, even for this meeting with you.
Who inspires you? And how?
My parents and sister. My mom, she inspires me everyday. Sometimes when I call her, she’ll tell me not to worry about things. She gives me a different perspective and she’s also had to battle so much. She’s able to handle everything that comes her way.
My dad is lit too. He’s down to earth; I feel like I can tell him anything. Plus, he’s always doing something so you’ll never see him home sitting around.
With my sister, she’s two years older than me, and she’s an RD in her school so if I ever need anything, she understands me. I’ve always looked up to her and she was the one who inspired me to be an RA, and she was also president of a club just like me.
I notice you always have your hair “did” and look very presentable. How important is image to you?
I don’t feel people should spend too much on their image, but as a woman you have to take care of yourself on a daily basis. It’s not too important but it still matters because first impressions are.
I know you’re from Ghana. Is your culture a big part of who you are?
I’m very proud of my culture. I try to educate people on problems that are going on in Africa because there’s a lot of things people don’t know. New Paltz has learned more about African culture since I first came here, but it’s hard because the media portrays a lot of things that are not true. That’s why ASU has held many programs about African culture including food, clothing, music—because on TV, people just see poor kids when they think of Africa. There’s so much they don’t show you.
Did your mom teach you about culture too?
I was born here, then went to Ghana at a really young age. So when my family and I came back to the U.S. when I was 9, my mom made it a point to teach us cultural things like cooking. She also noticed we started only speaking English at home and told us we had to speak to her in Twi. That was important because now I know people that are the same age as me, but don’t speak Twi at home; those little things she did installed our culture into us.
Are you taken?
No.
Not that you have to be, but why not?
I feel like the first mistake anyone can make before they can get into a relationship is not finding themselves and that’s the phase that I’m in. I’m carving myself to be the queen I am so that in the future I can find a great king to rule my kingdom with. And, I think guys in our generation play around too much and I like to have things in order. I just want to focus on me and that will eventually follow.
What’s something people don’t know about you?
People look at me like I’m always so put together, but sometimes I just want to sleep then wake up and act like I’m not doing those things. There’s those moments where I’m over it because I wear so many hats. We forget we are students sometimes. I like being a leader and I like the positions I take on, but we’re human and you have those days when you’re just overwhelmed.
How many people really know you?
No one except me.
Not even your best friends?
At the end of the day, nobody really knows what’s going through my mind. There’s only certain struggles you can deal with. I have my sister, but I don’t have a best friend.
What achievement are you most proud of?
Planning the African pageant. It was the first time I’d ever done something like that. Nobody stepped up for the position so last year’s president asked me to be President. I took the position and everything was organized and went well, and there was no drama. It took a lot of planning; there was rejection from people we asked to participate, and it was very time consuming with photoshoots, designs, and decorations, but we started planning since the summertime so everyone was in action. It turned out to be an amazing event.