By : Joviane Pembele
This month our celebrated student is an individual known for wearing many sophisticated hats. President of International Students Association (ISA) and Vice President of Alpha Phi Omega (APO)-
Delice Ntumba, a 20-year-old psychology major in her sophomore year at Parkland College with many interests beyond just taking classes.
Photo Credits: Delice Ntumba
She moved to the United States about six years ago from the Democratic-Republic of the Congo. “I was born in Mbuji Mayi which is a city in the province of Kasai oriental,” says multilingual Ntumba. Fluently speaking five languages, Ntumba has mastered French, English, Swahili, Tshiluba, and Lingala.
“My parents speak Swahili at home and my family usually communicate in Swahili. As for Tshiluba, I learned it from my grandma and kids in my neighborhood in Congo and also my parents. French, I learned in school because it’s the national language in Congo. Lingala, I lived in Kinshasa for like 7 months and I learned by hearing other people talk. English, I learned it through Disney channel,” said Ntumba. She finds beauty in being multilingual by having the ability to understand and help others.
She joined APO and ISA in her second semester of freshman year, January of 2020. She’s since been promoted to presidential positions in each group. With this semester being Ntumba’s final one, the question of who will have the capacity to take her place remains. Ntumba also mentioned wanting to participate in Japanese Culture Club before her time at Parkland expires. “I went to a meeting once— It was really interesting, and I want to learn about other cultures outside of my own,” said Ntumba.
Ntumba spends her Fridays at events that she orchestrates with APO. On Thursdays, she can be found hosting ISA meetings with Professor Amber Landis. She can also be found anytime of the week in Student Life where she works 24 hours biweekly and has been employed at since the summer of 2019 “Student Life taught me a lot of things about the campus and how I can get involved on campus. I do a lot of things like make IDs for students and help with events on campus,” said Ntumba.
Ntumba’s currently taking 10 credit hours at Parkland, for her final semester, where she’s been attending the past two years. She plans on attending Eastern Illinois University to continue her pursuit of a psychology degree. Following her official graduation, Ntumba plans on taking a year off dedicated to traveling and seeing new places before the start of her adult career as a child psychologist, focused on child development.
Ntumba also wanted to advise students to ask for help whenever they need help. “Being a student, I never asked for help, even if I needed it, whether it was from teachers or other peers. I tried to get everything done by myself and it ended up overwhelming me. Even emotional support help is there for people who need it,” said Ntumba. She motivates herself each day to stay strong and keep going. She’d like to leave students with some final words of wisdom, “Get in as many clubs as your time allows.”
Congratulations to Delice Ntumba!
Do YOU have a student in mind for Student of the Month? Feel free to e-mail jpembele1@stu.parkland.edu or contact the Prospectus.
