Young Alumni Feature: Blandine Kenah `20
By: Ira Thor, Senior Director of University Communications and Media Relations | ithor@njcu.edu | 201-200-3301
You can鈥檛 help but smile when you meet Blandine Kenah `20. And nothing makes her happier than making others faces light up. Her innate desire to volunteer and give back to others is drawn from how she was treated when she emigrated to the United States from her native Cameroon in 2013, and first-hand experiences here at NJCU.
Because of the experiences she had as an undergraduate in the Opportunity Scholarship Program (OSP) and as a student in the University Ambassador program, Kenah, a May 2020 graduate of NJCU with a degree in Psychology, joined the staff of NJCU鈥檚 Development office as assistant director of annual giving on September 14.
鈥淏landine is very passionate about NJCU and being able to help students through our foundation scholarship program,鈥 said , NJCU鈥檚 Director of Annual Giving and Stewardship. 鈥淪he is always positive and tries her very best with all the challenges put her way. She truly enjoys connecting with our alumni and donors. She loves to hear their stories of when they were at NJCU."
When Kenah emigrated to the United States at the age of 16 from , she enrolled as a sophomore at Ferris High School but didn鈥檛 know anything about America, how school systems operated, or higher education. While she couldn鈥檛 participate in sports in her native country, it was her Ferris High physical education teacher who introduced her to soccer and then track, and Kenah was able to connect to her peers through sports and learn more about her new homeland.
After graduating high school, she wasn鈥檛 sure where her college journey would take her, or how she would pay for it. She applied to Saint Peter鈥檚 and Hudson County Community College, before the doors opened to NJCU. Through the OSP program, most of her tuition was covered and she received mentorship and tutoring beginning the summer before her fresh