Meet Your PALs Series: Mekalia Mason-Rollins '20

The Meet Your PALs Series introduces you to UNH Manchester's Peer Assistant Leaders (PALs), who help first-year students adjust to campus life. This week's PAL is Mekalia Mason-Rollins '20, who is majoring in ASL/English Interpreting.

What do you like best about being a PAL?  

Being a PAL gives me the opportunity to connect with peers and help them become a part of the UNH Manchester family, like so many did for me. This was my dream school and has become home. Offering resources and being a leader for peers is such an honor. 

What advice do you have for new students?  

Get involved and make connections. Everyone here is so driven and passionate—they turn their dreams into reality through hard work and perseverance. That energy is contagious. Making connections and investing in each other's journeys will open so many more doors than you'd expect, and you'll form lasting friendships.  

What brought you to UNH Manchester?  

After I had narrowed down schools with my major, I checked out UNH Manchester and found that it was the perfect fit for me. The small classrooms and passionate professors has really boosted my access to academic success. The student leaders inspired me to get involved right away and gave me opportunities to have the impact I dreamed of. I felt that the college as a whole really wants to see all of us succeed and tries to give us as many resources as possible to support us academically, financially, professionally, and even with mental health and other important issues.  

Favorite UNH Manchester memory?  

Standing next to peers who have inspired me at the Student Leadership Award ceremony this past year. These were fellow students who had taken time to help me grow as a student and person, so standing alongside them was an honor. The things I have been able to do as a leader here are all because of people like them, and the support from the Student Development & Involvement staff. 

What’s your favorite class and why?  

Ethics of Interpreting has been my favorite course so far. I got to learn a lot about my field of interest, and it asked a lot of tough questions that really made me step back and think about my morals and beliefs.  

What do you hope to be doing in 10 years? 

I hope to be an interpreter, most likely in a school setting. 

Tell us your favorite: 

• Manchester restaurant: The Red Arrow Diner. 
• New Hampshire destination: Canobie Lake Park, with my family. 
• Vacation destination: Orlando, Florida, with my extended family, especially during the winter to avoid the snow.  
• Movie: Sharknado 3.
• Book: A Child Called It. 

If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go?   

Lithuania with my nana, as that is a part of our heritage.  

As a child, what did you wish to become when you grew up?  

Ha! Don't laugh... But I wanted to be a spy. 

We’d be surprised to know that… 

I have absolutely no sense of smell. 

If you could try anything and not fail, what dream would you attempt?   

Being a special effects makeup artist on shows like The Walking Dead. 

If you could go on a road trip with anyone (from the past or present), who would you choose and where would you go?   

My friend Maggie. She passed away of childhood cancer in 2014, and just being able to jam out to the radio with her would mean the world, no matter where we ended up.