Fortune Iheanetu '25 always knew she would leave her friends and family and study somewhere far away from home. Her sister went to China, and Fortune assumed Europe might be right for her. The only thing she knew for certain: anywhere but the United States.
If given the chance, Fortune would have picked a different name for herself.
"People ask if it's my actual first name, and I tell them, 'Do you think I would walk around with this name if it wasn't my real name?'"
It's certainly different, but Fortune's playful discontent is a ruse. She really does love her first name. It's an everyday reminder that prosperity isn't a given, and even in the darkest times, good fortune could lie ahead. Well that, and it's also a reminder of auto service and repair.
Fortune was born in Nigeria where her father worked for an automobile sales, service, and repair shop called FortuneAutos. Before Fortune was born, money was tight, and the family was struggling. But when the youngest of three came into the world, their fortunes changed.
"When I was born, money started to come in and we were able to relocate to Mozambique. I always thought the car shop was named for me. Turns out, it was partly the inspiration for my name."
For months she didn't have a name, but once her family quickly carved out a better life on Africa's west coast, Fortune stuck. Her parents were able to send her and her older brother and sister to an international school taught in English (Portuguese is Mozambique's official language, and Fortune can understand Igbo, one of the major languages spoken in Nigeria). There's an expectation at the school that every graduate will leave Mozambique to study abroad. Fortune's brother studied at Drexel University in Philadelphia while her sister went to China for medical school. In 2020, Fortune was set to graduate a year early, and the pressure to find her destination was on.
"We're at the height of COVID and George Floyd had recently been killed and there was looting and from afar it seemed pretty chaotic. So I figured definitely not the U.S. But I attended a virtual college fair, and I met Siena's recruiter, Lindsay King. She seemed so nice. She sold me on Siena."
Fortune thought boots and scarves were just accessories before her first winter in New York (average winter temperatures in Mozambique hover in the 60s), but she quickly acclimated and along the way, lost most of her accent.
"When I first got here, I tried to order a pizza from Domino's, and I was speaking English and they couldn't understand me. But now, I meet people, and they're surprised to learn I'm from Africa. But when I talk to my parents, I fall right back into it."
She still misses African food, a lot, and hasn't been home in four years, but her parents have been to Siena a few times, and they'll be back again in the spring for graduation.
"They really appreciate the safety Siena provides. The culture of the community here also feels like back home. We grew up as Pentecostal Christians, so at first, they didn't think Catholics knew how to pray properly. But I go to Mass here every Sunday."
Fortune will graduate in May with her degree in political science and a concentration in international relations, and she's already completed a Washington Semester Program, which she extended to a full year. She's considering graduate school, perhaps in Europe, and would ultimately like to work for a non-profit, perhaps back in D.C. A lot of those plans are up in the air, but she's not concerned. Her name is a reminder that with hard work and a little luck, good fortune will find you.
