Noah McQueen experienced instability in his childhood, got into disciplinary problems for fighting, and completed his second year of high school with less than a 1.0 GPA.
But now, only a couple years later, he’s part of the My Brother’s Keeper initiative, has raised his grades, is involved with a ton of extracurricular activities, works with special needs children in a unified track program, and just sat down for a one-on-one interview with the President of the United States.
What?!
It’s not too often a high school student gets chosen to interview a world leader, but McQueen is no ordinary high school student. He’s turned his life around and is making taking concrete steps to ensure a bright future for himself. And this is only the beginning. For his next step, he wants to pursue a career in education and has set up a GoFundMe page to help with his high tuition costs for college.
MTV News caught up with Noah to talk about My Brother’s Keeper, get some advice on staying focused, and of course, see if he had any secrets to share about his buddy, Barack.
MTV: So, how are you involved with My Brother’s Keeper?
Noah McQueen: I’m a mentee and this is my first year in My Brother’s Keeper. My name was generated from my school. I went through an interview process from the White House to be in this program, and they asked me some really good questions about my background.
I get to try to help support the less fortunate, and help them improve in certain areas while giving them resources to succeed.
Noah McQueen
MTV: What else are you up to these days in terms of education and leadership roles?
McQueen: I’m very, very busy. I’m the president of AMATE, which is African-American Males Aspiring To Excel. We’re working on a partnership; I started a mentorship from AMATE to Barack Obama Elementary School last year. We’re trying to build on that. I’m a student ambassador, I’m a student newspaper editor, I’m a TV producer for my school, I’m an anchorman, a line producer. I played football for my team and got all-county honors.
Educationally, I’m trying to go to my dream school, Morehouse. I’m waiting for acceptance and trying to work on funding. I also work with special needs kids and work as a camp counselor.
MTV: In your interview, you talk about how you really turned your life around. What advice do you have for other young people who might want to change the way their life is?
McQueen: It’s funny, because I answered this question yesterday in my history class. I would say start with a foundation. Find out what you want to do in life and what’s conducive to that and what’s not helpful. Block out the distractions because the distractions are always going to be there. My foundation was God and I tell everyone to find what their foundation is. Meditate and think about what you really want to do in life and get a goals list. It’s a long journey, but it’s definitely worth it at the end.
Noah McQueen
MTV: Tell us how you got the opportunity to interview the President, and also, what was the best part?
McQueen: It started with a group called StoryCorps. They try to do organic conversations, say, between a husband and a wife. They’re a storytelling organization and they got with the White House and wanted to do [an interview] with a My Brother’s Keeper member. The White House gave a couple names to StoryCorps and they called me and interviewed me. I didn’t know any details about what was going on. They asked me, “If you had anything to ask the President, what would you ask him?” That kind of caught me off-guard and I started saying things, but I guess I said the right things.
The most exciting part about the whole thing was seeing how other people reacted. A lot of people say, “Were you really nervous?” I wasn’t nervous at all. I was calm and it was everybody else around me who was completely freaked out.
The interview was unscripted and I was a teenager with no media credentials, so they didn’t know what I was going to say. My questions hadn’t been approved earlier. It was going to be on camera and I could ask whatever I wanted and he had to respond.
It was hilarious to see everyone be unsure what was going to happen and then the interview touched them and there was an upswing. I felt like people knew me as more than just another person in the program.
Chuck Kennedy/The White House
MTV: How do you recommend young people become more politically active?
McQueen: I’d say they can become conscious of their surroundings and what’s going on. That goes into what you believe and that decides what you may or may not vote for. I would definitely start by gaining knowledge and knowing who you are. If you’re more into social justice, you may be a Democrat, or if you’re more about economics and big business, you may be a Republican. That’s just generally speaking. You may be an Independent.
Learn about how the government works. Look at some political figures and what journey they took. There are more opportunities out there than many people realize.
The White House
MTV: You’ve been able to hang out with the president for a while, so tell us: Is there is anything about the president that might surprise people?
McQueen: [laughs] I will say he’s really relaxed, but I’m pretty sure people know that. He’s really down-to-earth and cool. Man, you probably know about his work at basketball and how he loves the game, but he’s a really serious competitor. I joked with NPR the other day that he’s a left-handed Steph Curry. When we got on court and played basketball that one time, that wasn’t scripted. And he’s definitely got a really good jump shot … like, a really good one.
Learned half her vocabulary from watching "The Simpsons." "Escape from the Overworld," Danica's MG Minecraft novel is available wherever Minecraft-themed books are sold.
@DanicaDavidson
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