Alumni Spotlight: Leah Trotman Wins Truman Scholarship

Congratulations to Leah Trotman VIMSIA Class of 2017

Leah was recently recognized in the St. Thomas Source for being one of the 62 recipients of the Harry S. Truman Scholarship for graduate studies.

Excerpt from the St. Thomas Source:

Trotman is now working on her bachelor’s degree in international relations with a minor in public health. Agnes Scott College, located 15 minutes from Atlanta, was the perfect choice for Trotman, she said, “because of its focus on the social challenges of our time and how we can engage as global citizens.”

She said a faculty member, Kai Issa, has been her mentor as she’s pursued her studies in global leadership.

Trotman is the daughter of Joycelyn Hewlett, a journalist and attorney, and LeRoy Trotman, an educator and musician. She attended All Saints Cathedral School through sixth grade and then the Montessori School & Peter Gruber International Academy, where she received an international baccalaureate degree. With its international scope, her high school program gave her the opportunity to travel to several places, including China.

Leah Trotman walks near Iguazu Falls in Misiones Province, Argentina while abroad in 2019. (Photo by Charlotte Howland)

In her college freshman year, she traveled to Guatemala; in 2019 she spent a semester in Argentina at the Universidad del Salvador in Buenos Aires, a Jesuit university where Pope Francis studied. At the end of her studies, she traveled extensively in Argentina and Chile.

“It transformed who I was as a learner,” she said. “Taking time to explore these countries taught me how to separate self-worth from productivity – it was really a fun time.”

She capitalized on the fluency in Spanish she acquired during high school, becoming confident enough to debate one of her professors about the thorny issue of racism, something that definitely exists in Argentina, she said.

“People commented on my hair and skin color – that also happened to me in China, where people grabbed me and pulled at my braids,” Trotman said.

She used that experience to fuel her research on racism in Argentina, where comments on her racial difference seemed to come “more out of love or curiosity.”

She said growing up on St. Thomas gave her the confidence to deal with some of these difficult experiences.

“When you’re born in the Caribbean, you’re surrounded by people who look just like you at all levels of power. No one ever told me I couldn’t do anything.