“Now, I Always Want to Show Up”: Ikran’s Story

A few years ago, if someone had told Ikran Ibrahim she would one day stand in front of a room full of people and speak about service and education, “I think I would have laughed,” she says. Earlier this month, she did exactly that.

Speaking at buildOn in Boston‘s Built by You(th) event, Ikran reflected on how much she had changed during high school. As a sophomore, she was missing so much school that showing up had become the exception. Today, she is a senior at Community Academy of Science and Health (CASH) with more than 200 hours of community service, and she recently traveled to Guatemala on Trek to live and work alongside a rural community to build a school.

The biggest change, she says, is simple: “Now, I always want to show up.”

What You’ll Find in This Story

• How Ikran went from missing so much school that attending was the exception to finding a reason to show up
• What she saw on Trek in Guatemala that changed the way she looked at education
• Why she plans to keep serving her community long after she graduates

When School Stopped Feeling Like a Given

Ikran grew up in Worcester, Massachusetts, before her family moved to Boston. Her parents grew up in Kenya, in a remote area called Ifo outside of Nairobi, and neither of them had the chance to get an education.

For Ikran, education felt very different. “Growing up in America, education always felt normal to me,” she says. “It was something you just had. Something you needed to live.” Over time, she took that opportunity for granted.

By her sophomore year, Ikran had pulled away from school. “I really wasn’t involved in school. I didn’t want to come to school. I didn’t want to try in school. To be honest, I really did not like school.” She was missing so much school that being there became “the exception rather than the norm.”

Eventually, she made a decision. “After my sophomore year, I decided I had to teach myself to do better,” she says. That was when she found buildOn.

A Reason to Show Up

Ikran already knew buildOn was part of her school community, but it took a fall service project in her junior year for her to find her place in it. She joined a group at a park where students painted pumpkins together, and what stayed with her was the feeling of being together.

“I love unity. I love getting together with people and doing something that matters.”

That experience gave Ikran a new sense of confidence, and it gave her a reason to keep showing up. “buildOn brought back a confidence I’ve always had within me,” she says. “It made me want to do more, challenge myself, and give back to my community in any way I can.”

She built a bond with her Engagement Specialist Ariana Angus and buildOn in Boston Executive Director Drew McClendon. “Ariana and Drew became two of my biggest inspirations,” Ikran explains. “They encouraged me to go to school and do better in school. And I wanted to.”

“buildOn brought back a confidence I’ve always had within me. It made me want to do more, challenge myself, and give back to my community in any way I can.”

Ikran Ibrahim, buildOn student at CASH.

The people around her noticed the change. “They would say things like, ‘I’ve seen you a lot more in school,’ and, ‘You’ve been a lot more present.’ And they were right.”

For Ikran, showing up started to mean something beyond attendance. “buildOn showed me that school should mean a lot more to me than just something I have to get done.” Service helped reconnect education to something bigger: her community, her future, and the choices she could make right now.

Trek Puts Education in a New Light

This past August, Ikran traveled to Guatemala on a buildOn Trek and spent time in the small rural community of Rio Esmeralda. The village was close-knit, and they welcomed the students warmly. They reminded her of her family in Kenya, and as she spent time there, she began noticing the little things she took for granted back home: indoor plumbing, washing machines, and a safe and stable school.

The school in Rio Esmeralda had large holes and cracks in the walls, and when it rained, water flooded inside and damaged school materials. What stayed with Ikran most, though, were the students, and “how much those kids adored school. They were so dedicated to their education.”

Seeing that dedication changed how she thought about her own. “I remember thinking that I was given something so meaningful my entire life, and I had been treating it like it didn’t matter. That really changed the way I looked at education.”

“I was given something so meaningful my entire life, and I had been treating it like it didn’t matter. That really changed the way I looked at education.”

Ikran Ibrahim

Trek gave Ikran a different perspective on education, and it showed her what can happen when people come together to create opportunity. On the worksite, she spoke with women from the community who were helping build the school and asked whether men had ever doubted their ability to do the work. They told her yes, but then said, “Look, we still were able to do it.” Ikran says, “they said it with pride.”

In that answer, Ikran saw people learning new skills, taking on a challenge and helping build something that will serve their community for years to come. She believes the school will matter long after the students currently using it graduate: “I believe it will change things for their future, and for generations to come.”

That spirit reflects what Trek is built around: students working alongside community members, learning through service and returning home with a deeper commitment to education and a greater sense of possibility.

What Ikran Is Taking With Her

For Ikran, the experience came down to finding her own voice and deciding what to do with it. “Seeing those women learn how to do something new, something they had never done before, meant a lot to me,” she says. “It showed me what happens when someone gets a chance and decides to take it.”

She sees that same opportunity in her own story. “That is what buildOn has given me as well. An opportunity. An opportunity to find my voice again. To become more engaged. To lead. To serve. To learn from other people. But more importantly, an opportunity to believe in myself again.”

Now, Ikran wants to keep that momentum going. After graduation, she plans to continue serving her community. “I want to directly help my community rather than just being on the sidelines,” she says. “Because when you’re directly helping your community, you’re looking at the issues, you’re acting on those issues, and you’re making sure something gets done.”

That is what showing up means to her now: being willing to learn, to serve, to lead, and to act, and helping create the opportunities she once took for granted. Her closing words at Built by You(th) explain why she was standing on that stage.

“Because a few years ago, I didn’t want to show up. Now, I always want to show up. I want to learn. I want to serve. I want to lead. And I want to help other people have the opportunities that I’ve learned not to take for granted.”

“A few years ago, I didn’t want to show up. Now, I always want to show up. I want to learn. I want to serve. I want to lead. And I want to help other people have the opportunities that I’ve learned not to take for granted.”

Ikran Ibrahim

Why Keep Showing Up?

Ikran’s story shows what can happen when students have opportunities to serve, lead and see their own potential differently. That is the work we do in Boston and across the U.S., where, through service and education, students build leadership, deepen their connection to their communities and create a stronger foundation for their futures.

Ikran is already thinking about what comes next, and she plans to keep showing up.

If you want to help support students like Ikran, consider making a tax-deductible donation to support buildOn’s work today.