Coming to Suffolk as a transfer and an international student was a dream come true four years in the making—I just didn't know it at the time. Looking back on my years here, my only regret is that I didn't have more time. Never would I have expected to find a home here, 5,000 miles and a 15-hour plane ride away from my home country, Nigeria.
My time at Suffolk has shaped me into the individual I had hoped to become—an individual who would make my family proud. As an international student, my experience and options regarding work and internships were quite different, so naturally, I worried I would graduate college with nothing on my resume. Suffolk made sure that wasn't the case. I was presented with phenomenal opportunities at every turn.
At Suffolk, I got the chance to meet people from all over the world—some similar to me, most having nothing in common at all—and these were the people who made up the community I am so proud to be a part of today. Within a few months of being at Suffolk, I became an orientation leader, which afforded me a chance to work behind the scenes and see my school in a whole new light. I learned to step with the Suffolk University step team and fine-tuned my public relations skills on the Black Student Union Executive Board. In my senior (and second) year at Suffolk, I started an organization, Democracy Matters Suffolk, and became a resident assistant, yet another opportunity to serve as a resource and improve my leadership skills.
My time at Suffolk has enabled me to gain so much more experience than I could have hoped for. With the fantastic professors here, I was able to fall in love with my major and actually learn. I will always be grateful to Suffolk University for seeing something in me and urging me to apply. I am glad we took a chance on each other.