Portland State Magazine Fall 2013

24 PORTLAND STATE MAGAZINE FALL 2013 S E S AME S T R E E T F ROM Z I MBABWE TO WR I T T E N B Y SUZANNE PARD I NGTON Hardship has never held this student back from realizing her ambitions. Zanele Mutepfa lost her dad to cancer at age 5 and her mom to heart disease at 11, but she forged a new path for herself—from Zimbabwe to a top media internship in New York City. A junior at Portland State, Mutepfa someday hopes to host a talk show, write books, and found a women’s empowerment organization, using the power of the media to reach as many people as possible. Zanele Mutepfa spent her summer interning at Sesame Workshop on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. The offices are decorated with chalk murals of Elmo and other Sesame characters.