Kyla Hudson is OK following her sister’s example.
Hudson, a Mallard Creek High School senior and the Charlotte Post Foundation’s Top Senior of year, is the second person in her family to earn the award and corresponding scholarship. Her sister Myla was the 2022 senior of the year. The similarities don’t stop there – Kyla is enrolling at North Carolina A&T State University in the fall, where she plans to major in chemical engineering.
“[Myla] honestly set a path for me, and been a big mentor,” Hudson said. “I feel like I wouldn’t have been in this space, and done all the things without her, so I feel like that was my little secret sauce, because she’s helped me a lot, and she kind of guided me to know what classes to take.
“I wanted to have a high (grade point average) and everything, but you have to really start off from freshman year. I’ve been taking college level classes since I was in ninth grade, so she helped me with that.”
In addition to stellar academics – Hudson has a 4.78 grade point average – she has a calendar full of extracurricular activity. There’s cheerleading. Student government president. National Honor Society. National Technical Honor Society. Co-founder of Big Mav Lil Mav, a mentorship program that prepares younger students for academic success and community involvement. She also co-founded Students Against Violence and Destructive Decisions Everywhere. The activities were at her sister’s urging.
“I connected with a lot of administration at my school to help me found a club and then get involved in student government,” Hudson said. “I feel like it’s just my support system and also my drive … throughout all these years.”
Hudson also makes time for herself as a proponent of power naps, family time with parents Mark and KaTrina, journaling and spirituality. She’s skilled at prioritizing – including sleep, which is usually around 10 p.m.
“I truly just have to balance my social and work life and keep a planner,” Hudson said. “That’s the biggest thing, because a lot of times things overlap. I just have to make sure my calendar is always updated and then have a strong support system around me. It sounds like a lot, but I make it happen.”
Myla’s mentoring put Kyla on an academic path that led to graduation with an associate’s degree that transfers to A&T as well as a Cheatham-White scholarship that pays all expenses. With two years remaining on the road to a bachelor’s degree, she’s looking to earn a master’s as well.
“I’ve been taking college level classes since I was in ninth grade,” Hudson said, “so (Myla) helped me with that. And then I connected with a lot of administration at my school to help me found a club and then get involved in student government. feel like it’s just like my support system and my drive throughout all these few years.”
Picking A&T wasn’t a foregone conclusion for Hudson, who also considered Howard University because of its academic rigor. Ultimately, location, academics and economics won out.
“I was debating between Howard and A&T for a long time, and it was this big debate because (Myla) wanted me to go to A&T forever,” Hudson said. “She was doing everything to convince me to go to A&T and then I want to do engineering, so she kind of opened up my eyes to the opportunities that the engineering program at A&T has. Then I did more research, and I was like, ‘OK I want to get into a lot of internships and research opportunities on campus.’ Then I was like, ‘OK, A&T is the better fit’ and cost-wise, even before the scholarship, I was like, ‘I don’t want to be paying student loans forever.’ She was really, really, excited when I paid my enrollment deposit.”
Academically, Hudson is intrigued by science and business and plans to leverage both in a professional setting.
“I really like engineering. I love the versatility that the whole field offers. You can be in the lab; you can be working in the field. You can be working with oil, in the middle of the ocean, like there’s so many different fields, so that’s why it interested me.
“I also love beauty. I love makeup. I love hair, skin care, everything. … I want to create my own makeup brand that caters to everyone, because right now, when you look at the cosmetic industry, many makeup brands aren’t meant for our type of skin. So that’s why I was kind of motivated to make a change. Also with chemical engineering, it’s only about 2% to 3% of the field that are made up of Black women, so I wanted to go into a space where I’m not the prominent type of person. I kind of just want to make a change in that.”
