For Torrina Dunn, C’2019, the adversities she faced early in life have only made her more determined to achieve her goals and to help other young people to reach theirs. The math/pre-med major attributes her resolve to encouragement from loving legal guardians and the supportive sisterhood at Spelman.
Dunn is already paying it forward as a role model and mentor for children who need to know that difficulties are not a dead-end.
“I am passionate about educating our youth because we as African-American people must give back to help everyone advance,” said Dunn of Stockbridge, Georgia.
In addition to championing social justice as a member of the Spelman chapter of the NAACP, Dunn tutors in local elementary schools. She and her sister, Torrie Dunn, C’2017, also serve as Spelman Ambassadors.
Last summer, she studied abroad in Accra, Ghana, where she met a college president who is a Spelman alumna. While there, she also tutored children at a nonprofit school for low-income students.
“It was very inspiring. Even though their parents could not afford to send them to school, they still had such a drive to learn,” she said. “Here we take for granted getting a free education. We need to encourage academic achievement because it can change lives for the better.”
After medical school, Dunn wants to work as a general surgeon in an emergency room. She also plans to continue encouraging young people to dream big.
“I want to show kids that they can make it out of any situation,” Dunn said. “Just because you come out of something bad, it doesn’t mean that you can’t become something great.”