Aline (pronounced A-leen-ay) Irihamye is an all around dazzling individual. Not only is she a Hesburgh scholar, but she is currently studying biochemistry, has amazing grades without appearing to break a sweat, and speaks Chinese, which she learned when her family moved to China for her father’s job. She is simultaneously a genuinely sweet, funny, and cute-as-heck girl who you cannot help but love. Let’s get a more in-depth look, shall we? Â
Year: Freshman
Dorm: Pangborn
Hometown: Lexington, Kentucky
Major: Biochemistry with possible minors in theology and anthropology
Activities: International Development Research Council, African Student Association, Social Justine in American Medicine, watching TV in my room
What is your favorite book you’ve read in the last year?
I always say my favorite book is The Book Thief, but my favorite book I’ve read in the last year was The Maze Runner. I need to read the sequels, but the book was good and the movie was good.
What is your favorite song from 1989?
Oh, so hard! How could you do this to me? I would say “Bad Blood” because it was the first song I heard on the album I really liked and I listened to the album before “Blank Space” got super popular. I do want her entire wardrobe from that music video though.
Do you prefer to say “on fleek” or “on point”?
I only recently learned about “on fleek” so I don’t really know the differences besides “on fleek” seems to be used mostly for eyebrows. But “on point” is more natural for me to say.
What was your favorite part about break?
Definitely hanging out with my little brother. We watched The Princess Diaries and Spider-Man 3. Christmas and New Year’s were a lot of fun too. For Christmas we went to a friend’s house for dinner and for New Year’s we went to my dad’s coworker’s house and his coworker played guitar and they had a cute dog.
What is one thing you didn’t do first semester that you’re excited to try this semester?
This is going to sound lame, but I was thinking of trying to be a lector or eucharistic minister. I think I missed the training sessions last semester, but I’m excited to try it this semester.
What was it like living in China and what were your favorite and least favorite parts?
It was a fantastic experience and it’s definitely shaped me while I was there. I went there when I was 10 and came back when I was 14. For the first 3 years we lived in a neighborhood specifically for foreigners from all around the world which was cool to see a bunch of different cultures and made this huge country seem a lot smaller. It also seemed more inclusive than a lot of American schools because everyone was on equal ground, being the “new kid.” I felt like I had a lot more freedom there too. My least favorite part was that even though there were a lot of different people, there weren’t a lot of black people. So I didn’t really like all that extra attention while I was young. Chinese people would ask to take pictures with us and I kind of felt like I was in zoo.
What do you think it means to be a feminist?
Everything. I’m going to try not to write like three pages worth for it. Feminism is a very broad mindset so it’s easier to define it by what it’s not. You don’t have to be a woman; you don’t have to hate men; you definitely shouldn’t think women are bigger than men. There are a lot of problems in the world and feminism addresses the issue where women are not treated the same- intentionally or not- as men are. There are a lot of different ways to address this, but overall it just means letting a person being themselves to their full potential, whether they’re male or female.
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Thanks Aline!
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Images: Both provided by interviewee.