Ibrahim Mokhtar

Ibrahim Mokhtar

Ibrahim Mokhtar is a senior at the University of Southern California. He is a Questbridge Scholar and a first-generation college student studying Health and Human Sciences. Ibrahim works in a sociology lab that is currently conducting research on the impact of colorism in Malawi and he hopes to submit his work for publication in the next few months. Additionally, Ibrahim is leading an initiative to implement a weekly after-school poetry program at local Los Angeles elementary schools through Troy Camp, an established mentorship organization at USC. He plans to attend medical school after completing his undergraduate education.

The impact of poetry and the spoken word club

As a first-generation student navigating the American education system with limited guidance from my immigrant parents, I often felt lost. I never quite felt American, yet since I was born here I also felt removed from my Sudanese heritage. I started to write poetry in middle school as a way to pass the time, unaware of the long-term impact it would have on my life. One day in high school, Mr. Kahn and Mr. Levin both entered my English class and for the first time I experienced their ‘Spoken Word Poetry Week’. In just seven days they demonstrated to us, a group of petrified 14 and 15 year olds, that every single one of us not only had the capacity to write poetry, but we also had the courage to get in front of our class and present our writing. After this week, I would stop by Spoken Word meetings here and there at the beginning of every show season, but I never had the courage to stick with it until the beginning of my senior year of high school. In hindsight, I chalk up taking so long to take the plunge to join Spoken Word to a lack of confidence in both my writing and a fear of embarrassing myself in front of so many talented peers.

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Writing Prompts

• Write about a time you embraced a side of yourself you didn’t know you had, or had been holding back 

• Write about the day you felt the farthest from your family (figuratively or literally)

• Write about the time you felt most proud to be a part of your family 

• Write about a time you felt ashamed or embarrassed because of something a relative did