Artiscence

I am a native of Nigeria and I came to the United States in the fall of 2004. I have not been back to my home country....until recently.  My dad called me in the beginning of the year and asked if I would like to go home (to Nigeria) later in spring. I took a moment to think of all the things I should be doing that spring. Topmost on my mind was my Qualifying exam, finishing off my classes prerequisites as a PhD student, becoming a Teaching Assistant and of course lab work. All these went through my mind in a spilt second and I replied -yes- to my dad.  Wait! Despite all I had to do academically, I told my dad I would like to go to Nigeria in spring? Yes.  I realized that the opportunity might not present itself anytime soon if I missed going. And secondly, I am what I now refer to as a professional student, which means at any point in time that I have something to do or somewhere to go, I can always think of a few academic reasons why it's not the ...

The main reason I went to Buffalo NY in the first place was to attend my younger brother's graduation ceremony. And so, after all the site seeing and picture taking, we got ready and went off to watch my brother walk and to take more pictures. My Brother walking towards Niagara Falls Proud parents in traditional attire Of course, my parents went all out in a very traditional outfit, and needless to say, we got a few stares. And people looking at them while we took pictures. The outfits were very bright and cool. Definitely something different from your every day attire. Turns out we weren't the only ones in traditional attires. Families from Nigeria, Ghana and India were all dressed traditional. It was neat to see such diversity. The ceremony was a lot of fun, as proud parents and families hooted and whistled as students walked to get their diploma. My brother graduated with a B.S. in Civil Engineering. He minored in Economics. I am very proud of hi...

I've always wanted to travel and I got the opportunity to do some traveling this Spring. It all began with my brothers' graduation at the University of Buffalo. I went with my sis in law and we had a blast exploring the quiet, yet vibrant buffalo city. We went to Niagara Falls, where I saw (a tiny bit of) Canada for the first time. Rainbow Bridge It was simply incredible and that was when I knew my dream of traveling had to be fulfilled. I want to see as much of the world I can with my meager graduate student stipend. I want to hear other waterfalls angry roar, booming as each fall collide with the void below. I want to see the lush greenery of different places, and visit the temples in South East Asia. I want to feel the sand wiggle beneath my feet in parts of India and Africa. I want to explore the America I live in, to experience the warm, inviting cultures of Latin America,  and the vast openness of Europe. And so I said to myself, while s...