Abdulkardiri Olasode of Scarsdale will graduate from Stepinac High School in May as a member of the Class of 2020. He said he plans on majoring in civil engineering when he starts college later this year, and has applied to Penn State, New York Institute of Technology, SUNY Albany and Central Connecticut State University.
What makes his story of interest is that Olasode is a Nigerian who immigrated to the U.S. from Lagos in 2013, arriving in Westchester to live with his aunt, Kaltume Mshelia, a resident of Scarsdale. He enrolled in Our Lady of Mount Carmel to complete his elementary education and then continued at Stepinac for the next four years where, in addition to excelling academically, he was actively involved with the school band where he played the trumpet, and as a member of the tennis club.
Olasode’s uplifting experience in pursuing the American dream since he was 11 years old is the core narrative of the essay he wrote in his quest to seek admission to college to begin the next chapter of his remarkable journey. It reads:
In life, change is always present. No matter the scale, the change will always affect us. There are certain events that take part in our lives that end up molding us into the individuals we are today. I spent most of my early life in the nation of Nigeria; the majority of my family was born and raised in Nigeria.
In Nigeria there was a period when Islamic terrorists would go into our local schools and kidnap children. This period was extremely scary. The biggest event that happened in my town was when 200 girls were kidnapped from school. The event started the “Bring Back our Girls” movement.
In Nigeria, I was often sick. I had malaria a couple of times because I attended a boarding school. I always imagined moving away from Nigeria when I grew up, but I didn’t expect it to happen anytime soon.
A week before school started, my mom decided that we were going on holiday to England. I found it strange in a way, considering that we didn’t go shopping for school supplies. We stayed in Coventry for two weeks with one of my mother’s close friends. It was quite a nostalgic experience because Coventry was where I used to live with my mother from age 3 to 6. About three days before we were supposed to return to Nigeria, my mother told me I would be moving to the United States to live with my aunt.
I was completely oblivious to the possibility of moving to America. It was a bittersweet moment because I knew it would be long until I would see my friends and family again. To this day I still have not seen them. I was also sad because I was going alone. Arriving in New York City really opened my eyes. Great joy overcame my heart when I saw the faces of my aunt and my cousin.
At that moment I realized how fortunate I was to have such a caring family. For the first seven months, I was homeschooled because I didn’t have all the paperwork I needed. At the time I looked at this as a major setback. Those seven months were a rollercoaster of emotions. I will never forget the time when I experienced my first genuine common cold during the winter. Although it was a minor illness, the feeling of my toes being absolutely numb and my nose being completely congested drove me crazy at the time. I had to educate myself on basic American history and literature.
After seven months I enrolled in a small Catholic school called Our Lady of Mount Carmel. I realized that being homeschooled for seven months was what was best for me. I believe that if I didn’t go through those seven months, the school would be a lot more challenging for me. I ended up finishing the year with honors. I had to adapt to the culture of the American classroom. “What is the answer to this equation,” my sixth-grade teacher asked. I rose with confidence and answered the question. I thought I got the question wrong considering everyone was laughing. It turns out they were laughing because I stood up to answer the question.
Moving from one country to another helped me grow as a person. I had to adapt to the culture, the curriculum, the food and the weather. My journey here makes me realize how fortunate I am. Every day I am grateful for the chance I have been given to come here and study. I am forever grateful for the sacrifices my aunt has made for me. She has taught me what it’s like to be selfless. She has changed me from what I was before to the person I am today. My goal in life is to have a strong, lasting positive impact on the lives of everyone I cross paths with and to make my family in Nigeria proud.
