Raiyatta KinlochShe goes by Q. Mac. She created the name as she began to speak and host events, stemming from the first letter of her first name and the beginning of her last name.
Quishauna McDougle is a senior mass communication student at N.C. Central University with a concentration in broadcasting. She was born and raised in Fayetteville, NC.
Her parents were both entrepreneurs. The 21-year-old was exposed to a lot of things at an early age, resulting in her maturing faster than most children.
“Just having the wrong representation in front of me was always my drive. Even now the way I look at things I just try to always look beyond the negative circumstances in front of me,” McDougle said.
Throughout middle and high school, she came across many teachers and mentors who helped mold her into the woman she is today.
“I’m a strong believer that it takes a village to raise a child,” she said.
In her freshman year at E. E. Smith High School, she was one of the co-
founders of “Ladies Academy”, a mentorship program for young ladies.
Most of the young ladies had never been out of the area, so she felt that they were at a disadvantage of many resources and exposure.
By her sophomore year, she became the president of Ladies Academy, although the position was meant for upperclassmen. She has been mentoring young ladies ever since.
“It started to open up so much more to me, and then my mentors became prominent and began to coach me on how to transition from this girl who was so wild to being classy,” McDougle said about the start of her mentoring journey.
McDougle met her current mentor, an NCCU alumna, during her junior year in high school.
She did not want to attend school in North Carolina, but because of her mentor she decided to apply to NCCU, and after a college tour she said, “I think this is it.”
She came to NCCU as an Annie Day Shepard Scholar, a program for first-generation female college students here at NCCU.
Before she officially became a part of any organization, she organized events on her own just with her name attached to it and got a great turnout.
“Q. Mac was ahead of the game. That’s what made her stand out from everyone else. She didn’t need an organization title behind her name for her to make a difference,” NCCU alumna Shay Belvin said.
She became a general body member of NCCU’s Student Activities Board and then, later on, became Miss SAB in
2017-2018. A year later she became SAB Vice-President.
“Quishauna is very determined, a go-getter, mature, and stylish. She is also innovative and personable. She tries to make herself as available as possible to the students she is leading which
is a great leadership skill to possess,” NCCU Student Activities Coordinator De’Essence Cox said.
According to McDougle, her leadership roles has taught her what kind of leader she was, the importance of delegation, knowing her role, and only doing her role.
Thus far, McDougle said she wouldn’t change anything about her college experience at NCCU.
“Everything that I’ve done was intentional, and everything that happened was supposed to happen the way it happened,” she said.
After three years of being active on campus, now that it is her senior year, she is able to focus on being a multimedia journalist, an event host, a digital creator, and an entertainment enthusiast.
Q. Mac said that her motto for senior year is “Preparation for Separation,” meaning that everything she does should prepare her in some way for graduation and the transition from college to real life.
“Real preparation is not being discussed enough on campus. It’s like when this is all over what do I do? How do I go from not paying any bills, not having to cook or budget to having to learn it in no time upon graduation?” McDougle explained.
She attended the Revolt Summit, an educational entertainment summit hosted by entertainer P. Diddy in Atlanta, GA. At the conference, she worked as a production assistant on Black Entertainment Television for the new series “We Own Homecoming”, a series that celebrates the illustrious legacies of Historical Black College and Universities.
She is prepared for graduation, stating “my personal brand is my lifestyle,” meaning that she lives every day doing what she loves and preparing for her career.
The biggest piece of advice she has for college students is to trust the process because they’re right where they’re supposed to be.
She said when you really start walking in your purpose, “a lot of things will change including what you do, your mindset, and the people around you, which is okay.”
“Focus. Be obedient. Stay aligned (with) your assignment. Live in the moment that you’re in but also understand that you have to remain focused,” McDougle said.
McDougle said she plans to graduate in May and hopes to head straight into her career.
“I don’t plan to go to grad school,” she said emphatically. “I don’t feel that I need it.”
