TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — With University of Arizona graduation upon us, we're meeting a few outstanding graduates who are getting ready to start their lives at the top of their field.
Namoonga Mantina is a doctoral candidate, who is adding to her impressive, and already long list of degrees.
She's graduating with her doctorate in behavior health promotion, with a minor in public health policy. She's prolific to say the least, and she's setting out to better the world.
"With all the work that I've done, it's really just trying to help communities ultimately live healthier lives," she explained.
In her six years at the U of A, she has earned an MBA from the Eller College of Business, because she had some free time during the pandemic, along with a Master of Science in Public Health, which she also got in the middle of the pandemic. "It was intense. It was very intense," she recalled. "You know, we were there, seeing COVID happen, to we're in the thick of COVID happening. And it was like, 'oh, wow, this really is what the profession is about.'"
As if the three degrees weren't enough, Mantina is also the community outreach manager for the U of A Cancer Center. She teaches classes, she has been published 17 times, and she has been recognized with countless awards.
"It feels surreal at times, because they are just moments where I'm like, 'I like to do this,'" she said. "And for me, that's always just been the core of what I've done. I like to do this. I like to take care of people. I like to help people. I like to serve people."
Her lifelong love of learning and service largely stems from her family. Mantina moved to the US from Zambia as a child, when her dad, who was once the only oncologist in Zambia, was getting his Master's degree. She moved back to Zambia for high school, knowing she'd leave again for college, but never forgetting where she came from.
"Coming from a country where on any given day, water may go throughout the day, electricity may go throughout the day," she explained, "My grandmother on my mother's side, she lives in what we would call, the rural part of the country, the village. She doesn't have electricity at her place. When I had gone down there a couple years ago, after graduating from my Bachelor's, we had gone to see her, and her graduation gift to me was a goat, an alive goat, a real goat. Because, again, that's the resource that's there. And so just very, very proud of just, you know, the roots and just the things that I take for granted."
Now, Mantina's final step is to defend her dissertation on HPV-related cancer prevention in young adults.
Still, she says she won't rule out another future degree.
"I'm optimistic that this is the last one of this magnitude that I will be pursuing," she confessed. "I like to learn, and I'm always curious about the world, and so depending on what my trajectory ends up being, you know, continuing to learn and to grow."
Claire Graham is an anchor and reporter for KGUN 9. She grew up in Tucson and graduated from the University of Arizona with a degree in musical theatre. Claire spent a decade in Washington state, where she worked in journalism, met her husband and welcomed their baby boy, before moving back home. Share your story ideas and important issues with Claire by emailing claire.graham@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook and X.
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