Meet your new Engineering Senator: Britney Dikwa-Nkrumah
Britney Dikwa-Nkrumah, the new Engineering Senator for the 2021-2022 school year, is from Logan, Utah and is grateful for the opportunity to be an Aggie.
Her last name, which is pronounced (Dee-kwah Nuh-Chroma), comes from her parents, who are both natives of Ghana, Africa. Her background goes along with part of her platform to increase advocacy and representation for all students.
One thing that sets Britney apart from other USU students is her long-time desire to be an engineer. She found this love for engineering in high school after discovering it was everything she was looking for.
“I didn’t just want to pick one subject like math or english, I wanted that overlap because I enjoy multiple subjects. Engineering is the perfect major for me.”
During her time at USU, Britney has had the opportunity to be a peer-mentor for Connections for two years. She has also been a member of the Engineering Council, Society of Women Engineers and A-team for the past two years.
She said she hasn’t always wanted to be a leader and has often doubted her ability to be an example to others, but she loves getting involved and having the chance to help others by giving back to the community that supported her.
“It can be scary sometimes, but I’ve always wanted to help people. And as I’ve gotten more experience under my belt, I’ve noticed that I can make a bigger difference and more change if I’m in a bigger leadership position.”
Britney’s hope for next year is to be able to allow student’s voices to be heard and to improve connections and relationships between faculty and alumni.
She said she understands that it’s hard for students to come into college being secluded and deprived of a lot of typical college opportunities. As a result, she has made it one of her main goals is to help with the transition from COVID-19 back to a normal Aggie experience.
Although it sounds hopeful and exciting, Britney is also aware that it may be difficult to help students understand the situation and that there will still be rules next year.
“Just because the vaccine is out and things are starting to be lifted, doesn’t mean we completely go back to what we were before this all happened,” she said. “It’s going to be really hard to express that to people and have them understand why we have to do things a certain way and try to help students understand some of the things that they want, it’s going to take time.”
On the other hand, she wants to assure students that there will still be plenty to look forward to and there’s lots of hope for the future.
Outside of school, work and involvement, Britney also enjoys spending her free time with friends and playing pickleball or tennis.
Britney lives by her life motto, “Don’t worry if plan A fails, there are 25 more letters in the alphabet.”