So what people know globally as African music I only really discovered after coming here because growing up, my family are missionaries so we work with the church.
And Mozambique has a very particular tradition. It only does choral music, no instruments. So the things that people think of as African music from global cities in Africa, I only really discovered that when I came here and was nostalgic and looking for something that would remind me a little of back home.
They at least remind me of a similar style…very complicated harmonies between the voices. Sure…as of the past two months. And I very much feel like the world after college is very undefined! And facing the big questions of what do I study, what do I work on, where do I go, should I try to go back home at some point. All those things are very much on my mind and hard to figure out…I was accepted to a History Masters program at Oxford so I want to spend two years researching history of the first missionary colleges in Nigeria and Ghana in the 19th Century to try to understand how humanities education could be part of African development.
For me everything in life is secondary to my faith and to what I understand is the calling of God to love and serve the world. That means that I have to be very flexible and opened to having my plans and my agenda not count. S… But I would eventually want to go back and found a college in Mozambique or something.
Maybe in middle age I can try to do that! But I see that as very important to who I become and what I wanna do in the world. You have to have a sense of humility. You come with open eyes and an open heart. And to be willing to be soft and molded to some degree. To be shaped in new ways and to try new things. And the other side of that is to find good friends you can find early and stick to them. And I think everyone will know who they are…And investing in them is really important.
You can invest in it fully, or you can be more involved in other things and know that when something special happens or when you need someone or someone needs you, ASA is there for you. So be willing to be impractical and bold about that. I sort of did my homework before coming to Columbia. It was a good decision for me because I met nice people and made really good friends.
I think the fact that everybody sort of respects each other, to me that is a really great thing to take away from ASA. For me, that was the first thing that jumped out at me at the first ASA meeting that I attended.
I felt at home and I feel like everybody respects one another. ASA is sort of like a family oriented group. That would be the mafia night.
My first semester in ASA, we had a mafia night. It was really cool. It was a really memorable event. I do a couple of things on campus. These two organization really changed my life professionally. They both offered really good opportunities for me because I was able to learn a lot of what I might not be able to learn in class. Financial economics.
I like numbers haha! And I got a return job offer. I will be going back after graduation. Yes, I grew up in Lagos, Nigeria so I definitely do. I think I like pounded yam that is on the thick side. Then of course I like egusi soup. I would say I also like plaintains and of course jollof rice.
Oh yes. So I do it when I have time. This is going to go to 2Face, African Queen. I really like that song because it is so romantic and plus it brought Africa or may I say Nigeria into international music scene.
Wow that is a big one. Well in the next 10 years, God willing, I should have my start-up running already. I would definitely be my own boss, the CEO of my own empire. In the long long long long run, yes.
My long-term goal is to go back home and be the governor of the central bank of Nigeria. With that, I should be going back home sometime in the future. For me, going by my experience at Columbia, I think what I would tell people is to just be yourself. It means that the school believes in your potential. They believe that you can actually be somebody in life. So I always like to remind myself that in whatever I am trying to do, I should believe that I can do it.
In my first semester, one of the first things that my mentor told me was that everybody at Columbia is smart. So your success is not a function of your smartness. It is a function of your strategy, because you have to have a strategy.
You win some, you lose some. So you have to know what your strengths are. So you focus on those areas of strength and just do your best in your weak areas. And this has worked really well for me. We will miss you Remi!!
Thank you for everything :. It also means Milo Coffeehouse, so singing and having fun. It means Afropolitan planning committee, listening to Ginika and Elsie and Anu argue about whether this person should be wearing this outfit or not.
ASA… yeah it means family. Its definitely one of the reasons I kept my sanity during my four years. So… we shall see. Something will happen! I think that… number one go to ASA. But, number two, I think work with ASA. In my Junior year, while being on the Afropolitan committee I noticed that while we focus so much on performance and fashion, we didn't have a space for visual art. Through much planning, coordination and collaboration with Postcrypt Art Gallery and community arts organization called Art in FLUX Harlem, that perhaps was way to ambitious, we had an exhibition for a week featuring 10 Harlem based African artists and 10 student based artists thinking about defining the diaspora and examining the boundaries between Harlem and Columbia.
And like what Harlem means for African communities both here and, you know, beyond. And I definitely could not have done that without the support of ASA.
So they can celebrate with you but also pick you up. Flashback to Freshmen year, how did you first hear about ASA? What brought you to ASA? Um, what brought me to ASA? I think it was those events that are held first week of school showcasing different organizations on campus. Yes, I believe so. After that, I went to a couple of the meetings my freshmen year. I also went to BSO meetings, well one meeting, the chicken and waffles social I think.
It was a different forum for me where I was among people like me with similar stories to tell. So my friend, Anu and I started going to the meetings.
Um… freshmen year and sophomore year, we were very active. Then junior year came and yeah…. I enjoyed my time there. I had the opportunity to discuss a lot of the issues in African communities that we often neglect. For instance, the sex meeting!
You are magically expected to find a husband without dating anyone and after that have children but no one mentions the unmentionable word, sex.
I left Nigeria when I was 11 years old. I had a really tough time adjusting to the American culture. America, in many ways is very different from Nigeria. Back home, it really takes a village to raise a child but here I found this new form of independence where you are on your own.
I was always searching for a similar environment where I felt at home again and ASA in many ways was that place for me.
It gave me a place where I was surrounded by people like me and a place to voice my opinions. So in that regard, I will always appreciate my time at ASA. I believe it was my sophomore year, wait no freshmen year. I was close friends with some of the graduating seniors. And there were all the other events like those parties that we had lots of food. I just remember all the food.
So yeah, those are my favorite memories. I am the Academic Excellence chair. My freshmen summer going into sophomore year, I was the residential counselor for the program.
Within the ASP program, I am now a mentor for many of the incoming students. I am also part of the office of multicultural affairs where I interview and organize events for incoming students. These organizations are really close to my heart. The latter organizations have given me an opportunity to give back to my community and to assist the incoming students as much as I can.
The former, NSBE gave me my job! I got this job through SHPE. In a few years however, I hope to go back to school to obtain my MBA and take on a managerial role. Umm, I think everyone will probably say jollof rice. Umm, I really like puff puffs. So I come from a family of 6. I have 3 brothers and 2 sisters. So with a big family, there is division of labor; some cook, some clean and some eat and I did the latter hahaha. But I should learn how to cook because I will be be living on my own in Pennsylvania.
Where do you hope to see yourself in 10 years? I really like manufacturing. I am a people person and I love to lead, to interact with different people, to be creative and to be innovative.
I hope to get my MBA and most likely go up in management for whatever company I decide to stay with afterwards.
God willing, I can be a CEO of a company some day. For most of my college career I would say, I was very sheltered. I was very reserved. My mentality was to get that degree first. Umm…that just completely understands me. Within the black community, we isolate ourselves.
I met different people! One of my best friends here is Bengali. You meet people from all walks of life. They have different experiences. They come from different cultures. You grow together and you learn from one another. Columbia is so diverse and we should take advantage of that! Meet and talk to people because you never know what someone will be in the future. The story follows the journey of Agu, a young boy in an unnamed West African country who is recruited into a unit of guerrilla fighters as civil war engulfs his country.
Not only must he face the harsh realities of the death of his father and disappearance of his mother and sister,he must also join a life of violence and brutality.
Agu befriends a mute boy named Strika and together they face the crimes and hardships of war which includes violence,bloodshed and a very dangerous commander. Abebrese, Grace Nortey and Opeyemi Fagbohungbe. A day at the Makola Market. One of the largest markets in Ghana. You can get everything from dried fish to knock off Rolex watches! Did you grow up being really into Nigerian culture? What are you doing after graduation? Is that tied to Poli. Do you ever think about working in Africa?
Have you been able to visit at all? How long did you stay? What was your first ASA memory? You did Afropolitan too, right? Do you wish you had done anything differently in ASA? Following this logic, it would be fairly easy to get a 4. However, because many students at Columbia are also overachievers, they tend to take on too much than they can handle. Many students are heavily involved in not just one, two, or three, but many extracurriculars, whether it be a student club or internship.
And, on top of it, many students decide to elect two majors and a minor. But, I guess, in the scheme of things, this is what a healthy of portion of what college in general is about — learning time management. He comes over and spends the night. He gets dressed and heads out for the morning Walk of Shame back to his dorm.
I get dressed and check my phone for any news from my boss about tonight. I usually go into the office of my internship on Thursdays, but my boss and I are attending an event tonight. And he knows I have a major comp sci midterm coming up. Plus, brunch is beautifully curated: I make a routine of getting all of the food groups, so my breakfast plate looks like the rainbow.
The monthly Style section came out, and I read an interesting feature that rounds-up different opinions on the recent womenswear collections. The library is emptier during the day, so I find a seat in no time. I open up my computer and my notebook to get a good start on a new College Advice post. See, I work on it during the week too! We read three chapters for each midterm, and each class is about one-half of a chapter.
I have a few minutes before a meeting with my advising dean, who helps oversee the completion of my classes and credits. Today, I run into a friend I met at a party some weeks ago. Oh boy…. I try to break this as much as possible. Kidding… kinda. I stop by coatcheck and then immediately head to the floor-to-ceiling windows to Insta and Snapchat a few shots.
In a few minutes, the host welcomes everyone. In the middle of her speech, I spot someone I met at an old internship; I make a plan to catch up before we leave. Once home, I take a quick shower and make a mental checklist for tomorrow.
I also toy with the idea of doing a collaboration with a big appblr blogger who messaged me a few weeks ago.
0コメント