Minnesota to North Carolina to… Bangoura moves back home

Calm, cool, and multi-talented. These adjectives could describe various individuals within the SPA community, but one sophomore has them down to well… an artform. Gabriel Bangoura was new to SPA in ninth grade but unlike most of his incoming peers, he not only moved schools but 1,138 miles.
“I was actually born in Minnesota. I lived here for nine years, then I moved to North Carolina for about five, and then I came back. The funniest part about it was that I was literally interviewing to go to [the] SPA lower school, and then we decided to move. It was just the weirdest thing, it came full circle,” he chuckled.
Despite an admitted slight preference for North Carolina, Bangoura enjoys being back in his home state.
“I think moving back was probably a little bit easier because my grandparents are here, and it wasn’t actually that hard to get to know people, considering SPA is a pretty welcoming place” he said.
Bangoura’s family’s moves haven’t stopped him from accumulating a long list of hobbies. From playing multiple musical instruments, to attending science camp, to swimming, Bangoura’s talents are many and varied.
Bangoura could be a one-man band if he so desired.
“I play a lot of different instruments. I play violin. I play viola. I know how to play the piano. I think that’s kind of maybe unique in the sense that not many people really like playing all those different things” he said.
But just because he’s musically talented doesn’t mean he always enjoys the long hours of practice necessary to maintain his instrument prowess.
“Even now, you know, I struggle with it sometimes. You don’t want to practice, you don’t want to do this, but you know that you just have to kind of push through” he shrugged.
In addition to his music, Bangoura also devotes a considerable amount of time to swimming.
“I tried soccer and I tried basketball. I pretty much everything, but swimming kind of stuck” he said.
During the summer Bangoura can be found poolside.
“I swim a lot during the summer too. So that takes up a lot of my day, I’m swimming maybe four or five hours a day” he said.
But for those who haven’t yet had the pleasure to meet him, Bangoura really just wants them to know that regardless of his long list of achievements, he’s a nice guy to be around.
“If there’s anything I would like people to know about me or remember about me it’s just that I’m just positive, or pretty calm” he said.
Even though he is still a relatively new face at SPA, Bangoura, aka the 6”4 big friendly giant, has continuously spread positivity to his peers. Whether he’s splashing in the pool or performing as an entire classical orchestra, he’s sure to be making big waves in the near future.