Meet & Greet Standout Students: Kennedy Mitchell

Kennedy Mitchell

Resume Highlights: Graduate of Holly Springs High School, president and founder of the Black Student Alliance, National Honor Society service chair, violin soloist in Triangle Youth Philharmonic, member of United Strings of Color string quartet and a competitive swimmer.

In the summer of 2020 Mitchell and fellow student and friend, Milan Toomer, initiated the Black Lives Matter march in Holly Springs, which was attended by more than 300 people.

Future Plans: Mitchell will attend Yale University in the Fall, studying chemical engineering or biological science and African American studies.

I love sciences related to the human body. Even though there’s a lot we do know about the human body, there are a lot of concepts that are still too intricate to fully know about. There’s a lot that still needs to be solved in terms of diseases.

Black Lives Matter March: We were able to really uplift Black voices. Most of our speakers were coming from Black voices. Students were the ones performing, and the vendors were Black-owned. I loved that we were able to really push that out there.

United Strings of Color: I remember our first rehearsal because I could barely read sheet music. There’s a method called Suzuki where violinists learn by ear. I wasn’t used to reading sheet music. The first rehearsal I was so embarrassed and overwhelmed. Now I can do a lot. We’ve grown a lot.

On Representation: It really has an effect on how you view your limits. When you see someone it’s like, “Hey, there’s someone like me who was able to do that. So it’s not such a far-fetched goal anymore.” Having that effect on someone else, like people did for me, I want to continue that.

Remember Me For: The impact of the formation of the Black Student Alliance. I like to know that I had established this safe space for Black students at our school and helped create a more equitable environment through this.

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