Samoan Harvard student, Gabrielle Langkilde | “We need our presence to be felt and known”

Born and raised on the island of Tutuila in American Samoa, Gabrielle Langkilde is now a 3rd year student at Harvard College majoring in Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies and Sociology. Gabrielle shares her transition from island to mainland, her experience with culture shock, and the importance of creating spaces for Pacific Islanders to be empowered and represented across college campuses. 

Gabrielle Langkilde, Samoan Harvard Student | “We need our presence to be felt and known.”

Tell us about where you grew up and your high school experience.

I was born and raised on the island of Tutuila in American Samoa, along with my two brothers. Both of my parents are from there as well. For high school, I attended a small private Catholic school with just over 200 kids. Back home, there are a lot of institutional problems with our education system, ranging from a drastic underpaying of teachers and staff to a severe lack of textbooks, desks, and chairs.

So while I had an overall positive experience at my high school, with my teachers doing everything in their power to try to ensure a positive academic experience for me, there were still many times where I felt I was being neglected. Outside of school, I was lucky enough to attend an after-school tutoring program that was run by a woman who ended up being my best mentor, Miss Seongshim Park. Thanks to her after school program, I was well prepared for the SAT. 

What activities did you take on in high school?

Aside from my after school tutoring, I played softball, basketball and volleyball. I was also involved in the Junior Statesmen of America (JSA) program, which is a program that is aimed at increasing youth civic engagement. My sophomore year, I got a scholarship  to go off-island and participate in the JSA program at Stanford University. It was my first-time traveling and staying off-island all by myself. After that experience, I knew I wanted to pursue higher education. 

Tell us about your experience applying to college.

The application process was pretty difficult for me.There weren’t a lot of resources for help with the college application process. In fact, the only person I could turn to for help was my mom. Between the two of us, we spent long days and nights brainstorming essay ideas and editing my essays. I am very grateful for her, and recognize the privilege I have in having such a strong, capable woman as my mother.  The brainstorming process for my Common App essays was one of the hardest things that I’ve ever had to do. It forced me to do some real deep self-reflection, which was something I never had to do before attempting the Common Application. After much self-reflection, I ended up writing about my connection to the Samoan culture, and what college campuses could learn from the Samoan culture’s values of love, respect, and discipline.

I honestly would not have been able to complete the college application process without the support of my parents, and of course my mentor Miss Park. In fact, one of my essays was about her, since she was the one who made me believe I could get into a top college. Ever since I was 14, she would tell me, “Gabby, you’re going to get into an Ivy school.” I always thought she was crazy, since the acceptance rates for these schools are around 5%. But if she never continuously pushed me and encouraged me, I would’ve never even have thought to apply in the first place. 

Gabrielle Langkilde, Samoan Harvard student with family.

How was your transition to Harvard?

It was crazy. A huge culture shock. The culture is very ‘go go go’. It was evident by the way students were always talking about classes and were already jumping to join a million extracurriculars. It was also evident in small things too like how fast people walked or how people wouldn’t smile back at you when walking past, like they would at home. Life here is a lot more fast-paced and focused on the individual, which is definitely different from the more communal/family-based way of life back home.

One of the hardest things was realizing that most of my Harvard peers were much more prepared for college than I was. I didn’t realize until later that a lot of them came from college prep schools, so they were already well-versed in strategizing class schedules and taking advantage of opportunities and internships. A lot of people also already knew each other too, which I thought was crazy since I came here not knowing anyone and definitely not expecting to know anyone.

While it was exciting and everything was new to me, my first year was still very hard. Coming to Harvard, I thought I wanted to pursue Environmental Engineering. After taking my first intro to bio/chem class and getting my first 60% on a midterm, I called my mom, and told her “they admitted the wrong person.” I definitely felt imposter syndrome, and it was uncomfortable telling people I was struggling, especially when everyone seemed to be fine.

Eventually, after much deep self-reflection again, I realized that STEM just wasn’t for me. After taking a lot of Women, Gender, and Sexuality (WGS) Studies classes and Sociology classes, I fell in love. It was after that I decided to declare a joint in Sociology and WGS.

What resources are available for PIs at Harvard?

There aren’t many Pacific Islanders at Harvard. 

And even worse is that it’s hard for the few of us who are here to connect with each other. Harvard doesn’t have good institutionalized pathways for us to connect with each other or connect with Pacific Island alumni. But I am really excited for the next coming years, since the application for a Harvard Alumni for Oceania Shard Interest Group (SIG) was just recently approved - which will make it easier for us to connect with each other while we’re here at Harvard and after we leave.

Gabrielle Langkilde, Samoan Harvard student, with classmates.

What is your dream career?

I would love to pursue a career in academia. I can see myself going to grad school, doing research and one day becoming a professor, because I would have loved seeing a PI professor. To see PI students is amazing, but I think seeing a PI professor leading one of my classes would have been a total game-changer.

Any advice for PIs preparing for college or who want to apply to Harvard?

• Don’t let stereotypes limit your dreams. It can be difficult growing up with stereotypes about Samoans “not being the brightest” being constantly reinforced in the media. Another stereotypical narrative is that our only pathways for after high school is either playing football or entering the military. While those are both honorable options, remember that those aren’t your only two choices.

• Self-reflect. Put aside time to understand who you are. You need to have a good sense of who are and what you stand for because college will challenge you in every sense. Being able to constantly self-reflect helps you not only to be more confident in who you are, but also helps you to constantly re-evaluate yourself and your beliefs based on new information received.  

• Pacific Islander college students: Don’t be afraid to occupy space in higher education. It would be empowering to see more PIs on campuses. We need our presence to be felt and known.

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