January 8, 2025 • 29 mins
In today's episode, host Jeff Yan discusses practical strategies for overcoming obstacles in education, featuring conversations with Dami Akingbade. Dami is a student at Questrom School of Business, Boston University.
She highlights innovative approaches and real-world techniques for tackling educational challenges, fostering resilience, and promoting success in diverse learning environments. Tune in to gain valuable insights and actionable advice to help you navigate and excel in your educational journey.
For more information about this podcast, please visit our podcast website using the link below: https://bit.ly/3MfBqbo
Listen on Apple Podcasts using the link below: https://apple.co/3OkFVEn
Follow us on Social Media!
Twitter: https://bit.ly/3M9J7Qt
Facebook: https://bit.ly/3OgnIYw
Instagram: https://bit.ly/3Mjm4D8
Please visit our website at https://bit.ly/3IgGVFP
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Welcome to DigicationScholars Conversations.
I'm your host, Jeff Yan.
In this episode, you will hear part oneof my conversation with Dami Akingbade,
a junior at Boston University'sQuestrom School of Business, pursuing
a degree in Business Administration.
More links and information abouttoday's conversation can be
(00:21):
found in the description below.
Can be found on Digication'sTwitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Full episodes of Digication ScholarsConversations can be found on
YouTube or your favorite podcast app.
Welcome to DigicationScholars Conversations.
I'm your host, Jeff Yan.
My guest today is Dami Akingbade,a junior at Boston University's
(00:46):
Questrom School of Business.
She's pursuing a degree in BusinessAdministration with a concentration
in Business Analytics and Marketing.
Welcome Dami.
Thank you so much, Jeff.
Thank you so much for having me.
Dami, you and I met a couple years agowhen you actually participated at a
(01:08):
presentation with Natalie McKnight, who'sthe Dean of the College of General Studies
at Boston University, and Professor JohnRegan, um, both of which, by the way,
are, um, Pre prior Digication ScholarsConversations, um, uh, uh, guests as well.
(01:29):
Right.
Um, what would make you participatedin giving a presentation on the work
that you did and the department did,or the school, the College of General
Studies did, um, And I was a, I was a,an attendee of that conference and I saw
your work and I was just amazed by it.
(01:50):
Thank you.
And I always thought I need to goin and talk to Dami at some point.
Thank you so much.
And, uh, a few months ago Iwas, Talking to John at a con
at yeah, another conference.
And I said, oh, what happened to dmi?
And he said, oh, she's doing great.
And you know, she just finished atthe College of General Studies and
(02:12):
now she's on to, you know, pursuingher degree, um, at, at uh, at bu.
Um, and so I thought.
You know, I must really get a holdof you before, before you graduate.
Yeah.
Um, so, um, thank you for,for, for being here today.
Yeah, thank you so much for having me.
(02:33):
So, Dami, why don't you just tellus a little bit about yourself?
Where are you from?
Where did you grow up?
What brought you here?
Okay, so I, my name isDami, like you said.
Thank you for the introduction.
Um, I grew up in Lagos, Nigeria and Icame to America around when I was 16
(02:55):
to do like a few years of high school.
And then I started at BUCollege of General Studies.
Um, so yeah, just been there in Nigeria.
Family is still there.
Um, it's a huge part of my identity.
So, so what was it like, um, coming to theUS um, sounds like, were you by yourself?
(03:20):
You said your family is still in Nigeria.
Oh, I have, I have family here.
So it was easy to adjust.
Um, my aunt lives here.
I have cousins here.
Some of my siblings werealready here as well.
Like they went to college here as well.
So.
And I'm the youngest out of four, so I ISo you're following the footstep of Yeah.
(03:41):
I already knew the, Ialready knew the process.
Kind of, they kind ofcreated the path for you.
Exactly.
Um, so it was kind of easy.
And was there a, um, any sortof cultural shock or what is
the difference that you noticed?
You know, um, yeah, coming to the US I,I would say there was a cultural shock.
(04:02):
I think one of the things thatwas like shocking was maybe.
People say things differently, like Idon't, I don't call a trunk a trunk.
I call it a boot.
Um, just like things like little thingslike that and something I noticed
was Americans are very very nice.
(04:24):
That's not to say that Nigerians aren'tnice, but I feel like We're kind of
just, you know, on our own and mind ourbusiness as we go about our days, but
Americans are a lot more friendly andwill like, you know, say hi to you as
you walk past, even if they don't knowyou, which was something I noticed.
And I was like, wow, like, arethese people being fake or are
they really just this nice?
(04:45):
That was a shock too.
No, that's, that's great.
And I think that we'll later learna little bit more about, you know,
you, not only, you know, beinghere, but you're traveling around in
different parts of the world as well.
And it seems to be a theme that,you know, going from one place and I
will share, um, to you as well, that.
(05:05):
Um, I also, uh, I'm not a native here.
I have, uh, uh, I grew up in, uh,when I was a kid in Hong Kong and I
moved to the UK and then I moved here.
So, you know, seeing some of these,uh, um, these, uh, you know, the, the
cultural differences sometimes is, youknow, quite, um, it creates a really
(05:28):
sort of interesting sort of perspectives.
It's true.
Yeah.
It, it made me look atthings like very differently.
Seeing how things are so differentfrom like, how things were back
home, how people think aboutthings, how people value things
was interesting to see as well.
So, and that's where sometimesI think this idea of different
perspectives and diversity mm-hmm
(05:50):
Can bring about thingsthat you just won't know.
Yeah.
You won't know.
You know, you don't, you don'tknow what you don't know because.
Actually, a lot of these things, I shouldhave said it differently, it's tacit.
These are things that you know, butyou don't know you know, until someone
shows you how they do it differently.
Right?
They unlock and they go, Oh, I knowthis, but I know it in a different way.
(06:10):
Right?
And, um, and it's, uh, it's, it's, uh, um,it's almost like, In order to learn about
yourself, you have to look through itthrough a lens that is different than you.
It really helps you learn moreabout yourself, how you view things,
and, like, it helps you be selfaware, but also socially aware.
(06:31):
You see how other people viewthings, you understand how to
approach situations differentlybecause people aren't like you.
And yeah, like you said, it unlocks,like, a different Part of you.
And so you're able to learn so muchmore about yourself and like how the
world works and you're able to workbetter with people as well in the end.
So
(06:52):
I wanted to, um, if you don't mind, Iwanted to, um, maybe focus a little bit
now on some of your journey at Bostonuniversity, um, I mean, you, you just.
Join or, you know, join the,the, the School of Business.
Yeah.
Uh, but for two years, um, youwere at College of General Studies.
(07:14):
Mm hmm.
For folks who don't know what thatmeans, um, we would have, uh, listeners
could be Other students could bepotential, you know, high school
students thinking about college.
Yeah.
Could be parents, could be otherteachers or professors and, and so on.
Um, people don't really know whata college of General Studies is.
(07:36):
Yeah.
In fact, they don't knowwhat General Studies is.
Why that?
And if you want to be a business major,shouldn't you be Taking business classes,
you know, from the get go, why it tookyou two years to get there, right?
So why don't you tell usa little bit about that?
Like what, tell us a little bit about,you know, so it's pretty unique by the
way, to BU as well, the way it's worked.
(07:57):
Uh, but tell us a little bit about thatfrom your perspective as a student.
Of course.
Um, so I found out about the collegeof General Studies as I was applying.
It's A question that's asked as youapply, do you want to be considered
for the College of General Studies?
And so I did my personal researchto figure out what that was.
And it really is like aliberal studies program.
(08:20):
It's very interdisciplinary.
There's so many different courses thatyou take for two years before you go into
what your intended major is for college.
So basically everyone who's in theCollege of General Studies doesn't
actually graduate from the Collegeof General Studies after four years.
It's a two year program that kindof helps you figure out what your
(08:44):
interests are and just be able tolearn about different things alongside
learning about what your major is.
So I was still taking classes like Econ.
and accounting and finance, but I hada good balance of, you know, having
History classes, Rhetoric, Humanities,things like that, um, just to be
(09:07):
able to learn more about the worldand just be more diverse as well.
And then of course the best part ofthe College of General Studies program
that prompts most people to apply isthat we get to study abroad, um, which
is nice and it's It's paid for too.
Um, I think other study abroad programsyou do have to pay, but for the College
(09:30):
of General Studies, it's paid for.
It's really integrated into theprogram and a lot of the learning
we do while we are in London.
is very specific to London.
For other study abroad programs thatBU offers, you're going to be taking
classes that are for your intendedmajor and not necessarily centered
around the location that you're in.
So that was something that was reallyunique about it too, but it's nice.
(09:53):
It's also nice to havea tight knit community.
Almost everyone in the College ofGeneral Studies knows each other and
it's nice to have that community ina school that's so large as BU, so.
Yeah, that's what it is.
I, I, uh, I've always loved,um, the structure of the, you
(10:16):
know, what's called CGS at BU.
Um, and, um, I've always learnedabout it from, you know, Um, Professor
Regan or, or Natalie and, and, and theprofessors and the, and the administrators
of this school, whom of course theylove it, and because they designed
it, but it's nice to be able to hearfrom the student's standpoint too,
(10:38):
in the receiving end of all of this.
Yeah.
Um, I, I want to maybe for a moment talka little bit about something that is
in the mind of a lot of, um, folks who,who might either be considering college
or even in college right now, right?
And maybe, may not be at BU or at, youknow, have the opportunity to be part
(11:02):
of this, you know, very well designedsort of General Studies program.
But I wanted to talk about sort ofin concept because I think it's going
to be really, um, Useful for, forsomeone who has that experience to, to
be able to talk about it immediately.
I've heard a lot of students questioningthe value of a Liberal Arts education.
(11:31):
Like you said, it's kind ofthis Liberal Artsy thing, right?
Why take an Art History class?
Why take a Rhetoric class?
Is it just so that you cansound like you went to college?
So you can use big words?
Or is there something more to it?
I think a Liberal Arts.
Um, degree, study, class is really moreso important for you to, like what we
(11:59):
were saying, have different perspectives.
I think if you go straight into justlearning about business or being pre
med and not having those experiencesof learning history, understanding how
people work, I just feel like havinga Liberal Arts study mindset really
opens up your mind to a lot of differentperspectives, a lot of different thinking,
(12:22):
and just a new way of looking at things.
I think it's also important to be,it helps you to connect with people.
Um, you understand how people work.
It, yeah, you understand how peoplework and, you know, I feel like that's
what's the most important part of itas well is it helps you feel connected.
At the end of the day, weare all like very social.
(12:44):
We're social human beings.
Um, and what's the point of, you know,having such a, you know, big degree that
could be considered more important, ifyou're not able to connect with people
and understand the history behind things,why things work the way they work,
and being able to have rhetoric, forexample, being able to convince people,
(13:07):
being able to be a good writer, thosethings are so important in any space.
And I agree, you know,I mean, I'm a big fan.
I think that it's, it's, um, but Imean, I, I can also see the perspective
of why people are questioning, right?
Because they go, Hey, if I want to justlearn about business, why don't you
(13:29):
just give me the business course I need,let me get it, get out like quickly, as
quick as possible so I can do the work.
And sometimes I kind of feel likewhen I talk to people who have been
through this, this This, um, youknow, this process of going through
a Liberal Arts program or sort of aGeneral Studies, you know, program.
(13:50):
What certainly one that iswell designed like yours is.
um, what I sometimes get the feeling andsome people had told me, you know, so
I'm paraphrasing is that you certainlycould just go in and take those business
class or pre med class or whateveryour, you know, area of study is, right?
(14:14):
Engineering, etc.
You can just take those classes.
You'll get the technical skills.
You know, to perform those,those, those related, um, tasks
that, that's expected of you.
Yeah.
But even in the short time span of thatfour years, or two years, three years,
four years, having that Liberal Artssort of foundation actually allows you
(14:39):
to go further in each of those classes.
So each of these skills that you developcomes with almost like a booster because
you have that Liberal Arts sort of,you open up your mind to something
that you go, Oh, hold on a minute.
It's almost like one of those,like, once you make sense of
one thing, that one thing can beapplicable to a lot of other things.
(15:03):
And these are things that make actuallyjust the very practical part of
learning the skills to be, you know,in marketing and business analytics
to be, you'll be more effective.
In other words, if you spend 4 yearsjust learning marketing and, and,
and business analytics and, and, andbusiness administration in general
(15:25):
versus, actually spending some of thatin, in, in the Liberal Arts areas,
like in rhetoric, like you said, or inwriting, et cetera, it actually makes
you stronger, um, as a, as a graduate.
Yeah.
I, I, so it's almost like you, youget your, you, you get it, you get
(15:46):
your value back quickly enough.
It's not like it doesn't take20 years for it to show up.
It's, it's not, it's not wasted at all.
I feel like I'm already seeing.
The impact that it's had on me withnow that I'm focusing on purely
business classes, for example, theclass I took with Professor Regan my
(16:07):
first year, even though it's comparedto the typical writing one on one
class, it's so much more than that.
It's more than just writing essays we'rereally aiming to be persuasive and we also
do presentations and Professor Regan wasthe first person that told me about the
(16:29):
power of doing a superhero pose before youdo a presentation and the impact that has
on you and now this year, my third year.
And I have a class where Ihave to give a presentation.
My professor mentioned the same thing,but people are learning that in their
third year, whereas I already knewthese tips and tricks from my first,
(16:51):
my freshman year, because I had a classthat wasn't just only a writing class.
It was a writing class with presentationskills, embedded research skills.
It like you learn so much more andI've had so many classes like this.
That there's a social science classrequirement where we have to learn
about mercantilism and trade wars.
And that's, that shows up in Econ.
(17:14):
and, you know, any other financeclass, for example, it's, it's so
applicable to so many areas thatyou truly see the value just even
two years after doing the program.
So, yeah.
And I think that there is also somethingreally interesting, especially in
today's world where, you know, weget a huge amount of resources.
(17:38):
That is thrown at us through ourphones and social media apps and, and
so on that, that, um, the ability to.
Interact with the world andwith people, like you said, is.
Tremendously important becausewe now have to filter everything.
(18:03):
Even when, when it's something that waspublished by a, let's say, let's say known
source, we still need to go in and look atit critically and being able to understand
it and, and, and, and decipher what,what it is that they are trying to say.
Right.
(18:23):
And so for me, there is.
A big part of just,
you know, in some sense, because of thatadvance in communication, right, in our
world, like the digital communicationusing social media apps and video, short
videos, TikToks, et cetera, that, that weactually need to be even more critical,
(18:50):
have more skills to deal with all of that.
Just to be, uh, A productiveeveryday person and it didn't matter
whether you were becoming a doctoror going into business or becoming
an engineer or a nurse, right?
It's almost like you need that today.
Um, it's, it's become a critical skill.
(19:12):
It's so important and It's notas easy to learn it if you go
straight into those fields.
You don't, you don't get those softskills, the social skills as much if
you go into those fields straight on.
Can you tell me a little bit about um,the So I, I had said before that we
(19:38):
promised that we're going to talk alittle bit about London because that's
such a, it's such an amazing, um, programthat, you know, such an amazing part of
the program that you get to go to Londonand it's during the summer, am I right?
Yeah, it's the summer, summer school.
And it's for, and how, for howmany weeks that you were there?
(19:58):
Six weeks.
Six weeks.
So I know a little bit about this,this, this program and I'm going to, um,
just Contextualize this for, for folks.
Um, at BU, they have this reallyinnovative hub, um, concept where there
(20:20):
are, you know, these different units,um, that students will, will take.
And, um, one of these units, um,uh, And, um, you know, um, is,
it happens in London, am I right?
And they, they all address, you know,um, you know, sort of different things.
(20:42):
And, um, and, but a really amazingpart of this, and perhaps that's
because I love London, I usedto live in the UK, like I said.
Uh, but I also love food.
And, and I know this is like oneof those like famous, you know,
Assignments that students get,um, from, from Professor Regan and
(21:05):
that, um, is called Food in London.
Um, and, and it's probably one ofthose assignments that everyone
in the world is just jealous.
Wait, hold on a minute, yougotta go to London, eat.
And get credit for it.
Come on.
So tell us a little bit about this and,um, and we want to hear a little bit
(21:26):
more about, like, this whole conceptof going there, what it was like,
you know, and what was asked of you.
Why is it so good?
Why is, I mean, aside from the obvious,like, you got to go eat, um, Like,
you know, what, what is so effectiveabout this, this kind of assignment?
It seems a lot like how, how in theworld is that going to translate
to a business degree, right?
(21:48):
Well, it really does translatebecause first of all, you learn.
How to be a social person.
I think the business world, youknow, you need to be sociable.
You need to be able to speak to people.
You need to be persuasive.
And that's really whatthe assignment targets.
You get to pick anyrestaurant of your choice.
(22:10):
It really requires you to dig deep,figure out what is important to you,
what food you want to try, and youbasically just get to be a food critic.
And we had spent, like, classes beforehandreading food critic websites and seeing
how they speak to these things, and wewere really able to tailor it in that way.
(22:32):
We also did some research to findstatistics about You know, food,
find some famous food bloggers.
So it required a lot.
It required research, but it alsorequired us to step out of our comfort
zone and really explore London.
Professor Regan really emphasizedthat he wanted us to leave the
little bubble that we were in.
(22:52):
We stayed in, um, South Kensingtonand he was like, I would really
love if you guys would go farout and really try to explore.
I mean, it pushes you to try newthings, Step out of your comfort
zone and then you get to critique it.
You, you get to give your opinion and itshapes how you give your opinion as well.
(23:14):
So, I mean, the assignment was great.
Almost all the assignments that wedid in London were great as well.
If you want me to speak about those two.
Oh, I certainly would.
But I wanted to learn a little bitmore about, so what did you do?
What did you choose?
Where did you go?
So what was the food like?
Tell us.
Of course.
So, like I said earlier, I grewup in Nigeria and I've been
(23:40):
to London quite a few times.
I've also been to America a fewtimes growing up as well, but.
Staying in Boston, I had neverreally found like a Nigerian
restaurant that was able to replicatehome cooking or even elevate it.
Um, so I knew that I wanted to find arestaurant in London that represented
(24:03):
Nigerian culture and Nigerian food.
And I know that the Nigeriancommunity is huge there.
So I had A lot of options to choose from.
And that's also part of theproject is doing your research,
figuring out what has high ratings.
And so I found this restaurant called theFlygerians, like 'Fly Nigerians.' Um, and.
(24:26):
I looked them up and they had, Ithink like 4.5 stars out of five,
and they, it just seemed amazing.
The food seemed great.
I looked them up on TikTok,great reviews on there as well.
Everyone loved the food, so I knew Ihad to try it, and so I called one of my
friends that lived in London to, he hadn'ttried it yet, and so we both went over.
(24:51):
It was honestly pretty farout from where I was staying.
Um, I believe it was in Peckhamand the food was amazing.
It elevated Nigerian food so much, butin a way that it was still comforting.
It didn't take away fromwhat the real food is.
(25:13):
Um, it was, it was great.
Um, The food tasted great.
The ambience was amazing.
And that was part of what we had to do forthe project as well was describe, like,
he said we need to use the five senses.
He said describe what you'reseeing, describe what you're
hearing, how it tastes.
Like, the music thatwas playing was amazing.
(25:35):
The ambience was amazing.
It was such a, like, cozy restaurant.
It had couches, colorful couches.
It really just felt like home, and Ithink that was what I was looking for.
when I was looking for a restaurant wasI wanted somewhere that felt like home
and really brought those comfortingtastes and like made me feel like I
(25:56):
was back home in Nigeria and that'sexactly how I felt with still having
that vibe of I'm in a restaurant andI'm still eating and you know it was
a great experience and I love that megetting to go out and eat was my homework
and I got to just write about it so
(26:17):
yeah it's amazing and I love that and ILike I said, I grew up in Hong Kong, and
you know, every once in a while, I'llfind places in my travels, you know,
that That would sell home, have, like,they would serve, like, certain, certain,
(26:37):
like, Cantonese cuisines or street foodthat you're like, oh, yes, that reminds,
it brings you all the way back to yourchildhood or to certain parts, you
know, of your life that you might haveforgotten or, you know, had left behind.
Um, And I think that there is somethingabout that, that, and I don't know what
(27:02):
I'm overreaching a little bit, but there'ssomething about it that helps, you know,
using the senses to help create that senseof belonging, a sense of groundedness, a
sense of, you know, identity and culture.
And to be honest, I think those are someof those things that sometimes we talk
about in the abstract, belonging, forexample, you know, it's one of those
(27:28):
things that you go, well, you know,when you know it, when, when, when
you, when you feel it, but it's hardto describe those things sometimes.
And this, this is the type ofthings that almost force you.
It's almost like visually, butalso, you know, like you said,
by the smell, by the sounds.
(27:49):
Um, right?
And certainly there's a lot more nuancein, I'm sure, the language that was
spoken, the way that they treated you,and so on, you know, all sort of things.
Brings all of that back, right?
So to me, it's one of those thingsthat I'm sure, like, and I felt this
way when I remember when I used tovisit once I moved and visit home
(28:13):
and quickly you kind of forgot, Ohyeah, that's just what life is like.
But actually when you put it liketransplanted into a whole different
area, when you don't expect it, youstart to see all of the little nuance.
You really start to value it too.
Like the very littlethings, like there was like.
Like, African print, Nigerian print onsome of the couches and it was like,
(28:35):
that was something that I never valued.
I would see these type of print stylesall over back home and then seeing it
on a couch, I'm like, wow, like thatwas something I never appreciated.
Or they had some pictures of famousartists that came from Nigeria as well.
And I was like, this is, theseare things I not think of.
I don't think about thesethings on a day to day.
(28:58):
But seeing it was like, wow.
I think that is, I thinkthat's, that's beautiful.
Here's a preview of what's coming upnext in part two of my conversation
with Dami Akinbadi, a junior at BostonUniversity's Questrom School of Business.
How you manage yourself, how you feelabout yourself, how you feel about your
life, you'll be more satisfied withlife and you'll be More able to self
(29:22):
accept and have a better psychologicalwell being when you understand who
you are as a person, understandwhat your weaknesses are, and you're
able to work towards those as well.
Welcome to DigicationScholars Conversations.
I'm your host, Jeff Yan.
In this episode, you will hear part oneof my conversation with Dami Akingbade,
a junior at Boston University'sQuestrom School of Business, pursuing
a degree in Business Administration.
More links and information abouttoday's conversation can be
(00:21):
found in the description below.
Can be found on Digication'sTwitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Full episodes of Digication ScholarsConversations can be found on
YouTube or your favorite podcast app.
Welcome to DigicationScholars Conversations.
I'm your host, Jeff Yan.
My guest today is Dami Akingbade,a junior at Boston University's
(00:46):
Questrom School of Business.
She's pursuing a degree in BusinessAdministration with a concentration
in Business Analytics and Marketing.
Welcome Dami.
Thank you so much, Jeff.
Thank you so much for having me.
Dami, you and I met a couple years agowhen you actually participated at a
(01:08):
presentation with Natalie McKnight, who'sthe Dean of the College of General Studies
at Boston University, and Professor JohnRegan, um, both of which, by the way,
are, um, Pre prior Digication ScholarsConversations, um, uh, uh, guests as well.
(01:29):
Right.
Um, what would make you participatedin giving a presentation on the work
that you did and the department did,or the school, the College of General
Studies did, um, And I was a, I was a,an attendee of that conference and I saw
your work and I was just amazed by it.
(01:50):
Thank you.
And I always thought I need to goin and talk to Dami at some point.
Thank you so much.
And, uh, a few months ago Iwas, Talking to John at a con
at yeah, another conference.
And I said, oh, what happened to dmi?
And he said, oh, she's doing great.
And you know, she just finished atthe College of General Studies and
(02:12):
now she's on to, you know, pursuingher degree, um, at, at uh, at bu.
Um, and so I thought.
You know, I must really get a holdof you before, before you graduate.
Yeah.
Um, so, um, thank you for,for, for being here today.
Yeah, thank you so much for having me.
(02:33):
So, Dami, why don't you just tellus a little bit about yourself?
Where are you from?
Where did you grow up?
What brought you here?
Okay, so I, my name isDami, like you said.
Thank you for the introduction.
Um, I grew up in Lagos, Nigeria and Icame to America around when I was 16
(02:55):
to do like a few years of high school.
And then I started at BUCollege of General Studies.
Um, so yeah, just been there in Nigeria.
Family is still there.
Um, it's a huge part of my identity.
So, so what was it like, um, coming to theUS um, sounds like, were you by yourself?
(03:20):
You said your family is still in Nigeria.
Oh, I have, I have family here.
So it was easy to adjust.
Um, my aunt lives here.
I have cousins here.
Some of my siblings werealready here as well.
Like they went to college here as well.
So.
And I'm the youngest out of four, so I ISo you're following the footstep of Yeah.
(03:41):
I already knew the, Ialready knew the process.
Kind of, they kind ofcreated the path for you.
Exactly.
Um, so it was kind of easy.
And was there a, um, any sortof cultural shock or what is
the difference that you noticed?
You know, um, yeah, coming to the US I,I would say there was a cultural shock.
(04:02):
I think one of the things thatwas like shocking was maybe.
People say things differently, like Idon't, I don't call a trunk a trunk.
I call it a boot.
Um, just like things like little thingslike that and something I noticed
was Americans are very very nice.
(04:24):
That's not to say that Nigerians aren'tnice, but I feel like We're kind of
just, you know, on our own and mind ourbusiness as we go about our days, but
Americans are a lot more friendly andwill like, you know, say hi to you as
you walk past, even if they don't knowyou, which was something I noticed.
And I was like, wow, like, arethese people being fake or are
they really just this nice?
(04:45):
That was a shock too.
No, that's, that's great.
And I think that we'll later learna little bit more about, you know,
you, not only, you know, beinghere, but you're traveling around in
different parts of the world as well.
And it seems to be a theme that,you know, going from one place and I
will share, um, to you as well, that.
(05:05):
Um, I also, uh, I'm not a native here.
I have, uh, uh, I grew up in, uh,when I was a kid in Hong Kong and I
moved to the UK and then I moved here.
So, you know, seeing some of these,uh, um, these, uh, you know, the, the
cultural differences sometimes is, youknow, quite, um, it creates a really
(05:28):
sort of interesting sort of perspectives.
It's true.
Yeah.
It, it made me look atthings like very differently.
Seeing how things are so differentfrom like, how things were back
home, how people think aboutthings, how people value things
was interesting to see as well.
So, and that's where sometimesI think this idea of different
perspectives and diversity mm-hmm
(05:50):
Can bring about thingsthat you just won't know.
Yeah.
You won't know.
You know, you don't, you don'tknow what you don't know because.
Actually, a lot of these things, I shouldhave said it differently, it's tacit.
These are things that you know, butyou don't know you know, until someone
shows you how they do it differently.
Right?
They unlock and they go, Oh, I knowthis, but I know it in a different way.
(06:10):
Right?
And, um, and it's, uh, it's, it's, uh, um,it's almost like, In order to learn about
yourself, you have to look through itthrough a lens that is different than you.
It really helps you learn moreabout yourself, how you view things,
and, like, it helps you be selfaware, but also socially aware.
(06:31):
You see how other people viewthings, you understand how to
approach situations differentlybecause people aren't like you.
And yeah, like you said, it unlocks,like, a different Part of you.
And so you're able to learn so muchmore about yourself and like how the
world works and you're able to workbetter with people as well in the end.
So
(06:52):
I wanted to, um, if you don't mind, Iwanted to, um, maybe focus a little bit
now on some of your journey at Bostonuniversity, um, I mean, you, you just.
Join or, you know, join the,the, the School of Business.
Yeah.
Uh, but for two years, um, youwere at College of General Studies.
(07:14):
Mm hmm.
For folks who don't know what thatmeans, um, we would have, uh, listeners
could be Other students could bepotential, you know, high school
students thinking about college.
Yeah.
Could be parents, could be otherteachers or professors and, and so on.
Um, people don't really know whata college of General Studies is.
(07:36):
Yeah.
In fact, they don't knowwhat General Studies is.
Why that?
And if you want to be a business major,shouldn't you be Taking business classes,
you know, from the get go, why it tookyou two years to get there, right?
So why don't you tell usa little bit about that?
Like what, tell us a little bit about,you know, so it's pretty unique by the
way, to BU as well, the way it's worked.
(07:57):
Uh, but tell us a little bit about thatfrom your perspective as a student.
Of course.
Um, so I found out about the collegeof General Studies as I was applying.
It's A question that's asked as youapply, do you want to be considered
for the College of General Studies?
And so I did my personal researchto figure out what that was.
And it really is like aliberal studies program.
(08:20):
It's very interdisciplinary.
There's so many different courses thatyou take for two years before you go into
what your intended major is for college.
So basically everyone who's in theCollege of General Studies doesn't
actually graduate from the Collegeof General Studies after four years.
It's a two year program that kindof helps you figure out what your
(08:44):
interests are and just be able tolearn about different things alongside
learning about what your major is.
So I was still taking classes like Econ.
and accounting and finance, but I hada good balance of, you know, having
History classes, Rhetoric, Humanities,things like that, um, just to be
(09:07):
able to learn more about the worldand just be more diverse as well.
And then of course the best part ofthe College of General Studies program
that prompts most people to apply isthat we get to study abroad, um, which
is nice and it's It's paid for too.
Um, I think other study abroad programsyou do have to pay, but for the College
(09:30):
of General Studies, it's paid for.
It's really integrated into theprogram and a lot of the learning
we do while we are in London.
is very specific to London.
For other study abroad programs thatBU offers, you're going to be taking
classes that are for your intendedmajor and not necessarily centered
around the location that you're in.
So that was something that was reallyunique about it too, but it's nice.
(09:53):
It's also nice to havea tight knit community.
Almost everyone in the College ofGeneral Studies knows each other and
it's nice to have that community ina school that's so large as BU, so.
Yeah, that's what it is.
I, I, uh, I've always loved,um, the structure of the, you
(10:16):
know, what's called CGS at BU.
Um, and, um, I've always learnedabout it from, you know, Um, Professor
Regan or, or Natalie and, and, and theprofessors and the, and the administrators
of this school, whom of course theylove it, and because they designed
it, but it's nice to be able to hearfrom the student's standpoint too,
(10:38):
in the receiving end of all of this.
Yeah.
Um, I, I want to maybe for a moment talka little bit about something that is
in the mind of a lot of, um, folks who,who might either be considering college
or even in college right now, right?
And maybe, may not be at BU or at, youknow, have the opportunity to be part
(11:02):
of this, you know, very well designedsort of General Studies program.
But I wanted to talk about sort ofin concept because I think it's going
to be really, um, Useful for, forsomeone who has that experience to, to
be able to talk about it immediately.
I've heard a lot of students questioningthe value of a Liberal Arts education.
(11:31):
Like you said, it's kind ofthis Liberal Artsy thing, right?
Why take an Art History class?
Why take a Rhetoric class?
Is it just so that you cansound like you went to college?
So you can use big words?
Or is there something more to it?
I think a Liberal Arts.
Um, degree, study, class is really moreso important for you to, like what we
(11:59):
were saying, have different perspectives.
I think if you go straight into justlearning about business or being pre
med and not having those experiencesof learning history, understanding how
people work, I just feel like havinga Liberal Arts study mindset really
opens up your mind to a lot of differentperspectives, a lot of different thinking,
(12:22):
and just a new way of looking at things.
I think it's also important to be,it helps you to connect with people.
Um, you understand how people work.
It, yeah, you understand how peoplework and, you know, I feel like that's
what's the most important part of itas well is it helps you feel connected.
At the end of the day, weare all like very social.
(12:44):
We're social human beings.
Um, and what's the point of, you know,having such a, you know, big degree that
could be considered more important, ifyou're not able to connect with people
and understand the history behind things,why things work the way they work,
and being able to have rhetoric, forexample, being able to convince people,
(13:07):
being able to be a good writer, thosethings are so important in any space.
And I agree, you know,I mean, I'm a big fan.
I think that it's, it's, um, but Imean, I, I can also see the perspective
of why people are questioning, right?
Because they go, Hey, if I want to justlearn about business, why don't you
(13:29):
just give me the business course I need,let me get it, get out like quickly, as
quick as possible so I can do the work.
And sometimes I kind of feel likewhen I talk to people who have been
through this, this This, um, youknow, this process of going through
a Liberal Arts program or sort of aGeneral Studies, you know, program.
(13:50):
What certainly one that iswell designed like yours is.
um, what I sometimes get the feeling andsome people had told me, you know, so
I'm paraphrasing is that you certainlycould just go in and take those business
class or pre med class or whateveryour, you know, area of study is, right?
(14:14):
Engineering, etc.
You can just take those classes.
You'll get the technical skills.
You know, to perform those,those, those related, um, tasks
that, that's expected of you.
Yeah.
But even in the short time span of thatfour years, or two years, three years,
four years, having that Liberal Artssort of foundation actually allows you
(14:39):
to go further in each of those classes.
So each of these skills that you developcomes with almost like a booster because
you have that Liberal Arts sort of,you open up your mind to something
that you go, Oh, hold on a minute.
It's almost like one of those,like, once you make sense of
one thing, that one thing can beapplicable to a lot of other things.
(15:03):
And these are things that make actuallyjust the very practical part of
learning the skills to be, you know,in marketing and business analytics
to be, you'll be more effective.
In other words, if you spend 4 yearsjust learning marketing and, and,
and business analytics and, and, andbusiness administration in general
(15:25):
versus, actually spending some of thatin, in, in the Liberal Arts areas,
like in rhetoric, like you said, or inwriting, et cetera, it actually makes
you stronger, um, as a, as a graduate.
Yeah.
I, I, so it's almost like you, youget your, you, you get it, you get
(15:46):
your value back quickly enough.
It's not like it doesn't take20 years for it to show up.
It's, it's not, it's not wasted at all.
I feel like I'm already seeing.
The impact that it's had on me withnow that I'm focusing on purely
business classes, for example, theclass I took with Professor Regan my
(16:07):
first year, even though it's comparedto the typical writing one on one
class, it's so much more than that.
It's more than just writing essays we'rereally aiming to be persuasive and we also
do presentations and Professor Regan wasthe first person that told me about the
(16:29):
power of doing a superhero pose before youdo a presentation and the impact that has
on you and now this year, my third year.
And I have a class where Ihave to give a presentation.
My professor mentioned the same thing,but people are learning that in their
third year, whereas I already knewthese tips and tricks from my first,
(16:51):
my freshman year, because I had a classthat wasn't just only a writing class.
It was a writing class with presentationskills, embedded research skills.
It like you learn so much more andI've had so many classes like this.
That there's a social science classrequirement where we have to learn
about mercantilism and trade wars.
And that's, that shows up in Econ.
(17:14):
and, you know, any other financeclass, for example, it's, it's so
applicable to so many areas thatyou truly see the value just even
two years after doing the program.
So, yeah.
And I think that there is also somethingreally interesting, especially in
today's world where, you know, weget a huge amount of resources.
(17:38):
That is thrown at us through ourphones and social media apps and, and
so on that, that, um, the ability to.
Interact with the world andwith people, like you said, is.
Tremendously important becausewe now have to filter everything.
(18:03):
Even when, when it's something that waspublished by a, let's say, let's say known
source, we still need to go in and look atit critically and being able to understand
it and, and, and, and decipher what,what it is that they are trying to say.
Right.
(18:23):
And so for me, there is.
A big part of just,
you know, in some sense, because of thatadvance in communication, right, in our
world, like the digital communicationusing social media apps and video, short
videos, TikToks, et cetera, that, that weactually need to be even more critical,
(18:50):
have more skills to deal with all of that.
Just to be, uh, A productiveeveryday person and it didn't matter
whether you were becoming a doctoror going into business or becoming
an engineer or a nurse, right?
It's almost like you need that today.
Um, it's, it's become a critical skill.
(19:12):
It's so important and It's notas easy to learn it if you go
straight into those fields.
You don't, you don't get those softskills, the social skills as much if
you go into those fields straight on.
Can you tell me a little bit about um,the So I, I had said before that we
(19:38):
promised that we're going to talk alittle bit about London because that's
such a, it's such an amazing, um, programthat, you know, such an amazing part of
the program that you get to go to Londonand it's during the summer, am I right?
Yeah, it's the summer, summer school.
And it's for, and how, for howmany weeks that you were there?
(19:58):
Six weeks.
Six weeks.
So I know a little bit about this,this, this program and I'm going to, um,
just Contextualize this for, for folks.
Um, at BU, they have this reallyinnovative hub, um, concept where there
(20:20):
are, you know, these different units,um, that students will, will take.
And, um, one of these units, um,uh, And, um, you know, um, is,
it happens in London, am I right?
And they, they all address, you know,um, you know, sort of different things.
(20:42):
And, um, and, but a really amazingpart of this, and perhaps that's
because I love London, I usedto live in the UK, like I said.
Uh, but I also love food.
And, and I know this is like oneof those like famous, you know,
Assignments that students get,um, from, from Professor Regan and
(21:05):
that, um, is called Food in London.
Um, and, and it's probably one ofthose assignments that everyone
in the world is just jealous.
Wait, hold on a minute, yougotta go to London, eat.
And get credit for it.
Come on.
So tell us a little bit about this and,um, and we want to hear a little bit
(21:26):
more about, like, this whole conceptof going there, what it was like,
you know, and what was asked of you.
Why is it so good?
Why is, I mean, aside from the obvious,like, you got to go eat, um, Like,
you know, what, what is so effectiveabout this, this kind of assignment?
It seems a lot like how, how in theworld is that going to translate
to a business degree, right?
(21:48):
Well, it really does translatebecause first of all, you learn.
How to be a social person.
I think the business world, youknow, you need to be sociable.
You need to be able to speak to people.
You need to be persuasive.
And that's really whatthe assignment targets.
You get to pick anyrestaurant of your choice.
(22:10):
It really requires you to dig deep,figure out what is important to you,
what food you want to try, and youbasically just get to be a food critic.
And we had spent, like, classes beforehandreading food critic websites and seeing
how they speak to these things, and wewere really able to tailor it in that way.
(22:32):
We also did some research to findstatistics about You know, food,
find some famous food bloggers.
So it required a lot.
It required research, but it alsorequired us to step out of our comfort
zone and really explore London.
Professor Regan really emphasizedthat he wanted us to leave the
little bubble that we were in.
(22:52):
We stayed in, um, South Kensingtonand he was like, I would really
love if you guys would go farout and really try to explore.
I mean, it pushes you to try newthings, Step out of your comfort
zone and then you get to critique it.
You, you get to give your opinion and itshapes how you give your opinion as well.
(23:14):
So, I mean, the assignment was great.
Almost all the assignments that wedid in London were great as well.
If you want me to speak about those two.
Oh, I certainly would.
But I wanted to learn a little bitmore about, so what did you do?
What did you choose?
Where did you go?
So what was the food like?
Tell us.
Of course.
So, like I said earlier, I grewup in Nigeria and I've been
(23:40):
to London quite a few times.
I've also been to America a fewtimes growing up as well, but.
Staying in Boston, I had neverreally found like a Nigerian
restaurant that was able to replicatehome cooking or even elevate it.
Um, so I knew that I wanted to find arestaurant in London that represented
(24:03):
Nigerian culture and Nigerian food.
And I know that the Nigeriancommunity is huge there.
So I had A lot of options to choose from.
And that's also part of theproject is doing your research,
figuring out what has high ratings.
And so I found this restaurant called theFlygerians, like 'Fly Nigerians.' Um, and.
(24:26):
I looked them up and they had, Ithink like 4.5 stars out of five,
and they, it just seemed amazing.
The food seemed great.
I looked them up on TikTok,great reviews on there as well.
Everyone loved the food, so I knew Ihad to try it, and so I called one of my
friends that lived in London to, he hadn'ttried it yet, and so we both went over.
(24:51):
It was honestly pretty farout from where I was staying.
Um, I believe it was in Peckhamand the food was amazing.
It elevated Nigerian food so much, butin a way that it was still comforting.
It didn't take away fromwhat the real food is.
(25:13):
Um, it was, it was great.
Um, The food tasted great.
The ambience was amazing.
And that was part of what we had to do forthe project as well was describe, like,
he said we need to use the five senses.
He said describe what you'reseeing, describe what you're
hearing, how it tastes.
Like, the music thatwas playing was amazing.
(25:35):
The ambience was amazing.
It was such a, like, cozy restaurant.
It had couches, colorful couches.
It really just felt like home, and Ithink that was what I was looking for.
when I was looking for a restaurant wasI wanted somewhere that felt like home
and really brought those comfortingtastes and like made me feel like I
(25:56):
was back home in Nigeria and that'sexactly how I felt with still having
that vibe of I'm in a restaurant andI'm still eating and you know it was
a great experience and I love that megetting to go out and eat was my homework
and I got to just write about it so
(26:17):
yeah it's amazing and I love that and ILike I said, I grew up in Hong Kong, and
you know, every once in a while, I'llfind places in my travels, you know,
that That would sell home, have, like,they would serve, like, certain, certain,
(26:37):
like, Cantonese cuisines or street foodthat you're like, oh, yes, that reminds,
it brings you all the way back to yourchildhood or to certain parts, you
know, of your life that you might haveforgotten or, you know, had left behind.
Um, And I think that there is somethingabout that, that, and I don't know what
(27:02):
I'm overreaching a little bit, but there'ssomething about it that helps, you know,
using the senses to help create that senseof belonging, a sense of groundedness, a
sense of, you know, identity and culture.
And to be honest, I think those are someof those things that sometimes we talk
about in the abstract, belonging, forexample, you know, it's one of those
(27:28):
things that you go, well, you know,when you know it, when, when, when
you, when you feel it, but it's hardto describe those things sometimes.
And this, this is the type ofthings that almost force you.
It's almost like visually, butalso, you know, like you said,
by the smell, by the sounds.
(27:49):
Um, right?
And certainly there's a lot more nuancein, I'm sure, the language that was
spoken, the way that they treated you,and so on, you know, all sort of things.
Brings all of that back, right?
So to me, it's one of those thingsthat I'm sure, like, and I felt this
way when I remember when I used tovisit once I moved and visit home
(28:13):
and quickly you kind of forgot, Ohyeah, that's just what life is like.
But actually when you put it liketransplanted into a whole different
area, when you don't expect it, youstart to see all of the little nuance.
You really start to value it too.
Like the very littlethings, like there was like.
Like, African print, Nigerian print onsome of the couches and it was like,
(28:35):
that was something that I never valued.
I would see these type of print stylesall over back home and then seeing it
on a couch, I'm like, wow, like thatwas something I never appreciated.
Or they had some pictures of famousartists that came from Nigeria as well.
And I was like, this is, theseare things I not think of.
I don't think about thesethings on a day to day.
(28:58):
But seeing it was like, wow.
I think that is, I thinkthat's, that's beautiful.
Here's a preview of what's coming upnext in part two of my conversation
with Dami Akinbadi, a junior at BostonUniversity's Questrom School of Business.
How you manage yourself, how you feelabout yourself, how you feel about your
life, you'll be more satisfied withlife and you'll be More able to self
(29:22):
accept and have a better psychologicalwell being when you understand who
you are as a person, understandwhat your weaknesses are, and you're
able to work towards those as well.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!