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Welcome to Digication
Scholars Conversations.

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I'm your host, Jeff Yan.

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In this episode, you will hear part one
of my conversation with Dami Akingbade,

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a junior at Boston University's
Questrom School of Business, pursuing

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a degree in Business Administration.

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More links and information about
today's conversation can be

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found in the description below.

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Can be found on Digication's
Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

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Full episodes of Digication Scholars
Conversations can be found on

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YouTube or your favorite podcast app.

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Welcome to Digication
Scholars Conversations.

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I'm your host, Jeff Yan.

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My guest today is Dami Akingbade,
a junior at Boston University's

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Questrom School of Business.

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She's pursuing a degree in Business
Administration with a concentration

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in Business Analytics and Marketing.

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Welcome Dami.

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Thank you so much, Jeff.

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Thank you so much for having me.

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Dami, you and I met a couple years ago
when you actually participated at a

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presentation with Natalie McKnight, who's
the Dean of the College of General Studies

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at Boston University, and Professor John
Regan, um, both of which, by the way,

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are, um, Pre prior Digication Scholars
Conversations, um, uh, uh, guests as well.

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Right.

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Um, what would make you participated
in giving a presentation on the work

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that you did and the department did,
or the school, the College of General

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Studies did, um, And I was a, I was a,
an attendee of that conference and I saw

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your work and I was just amazed by it.

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Thank you.

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And I always thought I need to go
in and talk to Dami at some point.

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Thank you so much.

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And, uh, a few months ago I
was, Talking to John at a con

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at yeah, another conference.

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And I said, oh, what happened to dmi?

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And he said, oh, she's doing great.

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And you know, she just finished at
the College of General Studies and

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now she's on to, you know, pursuing
her degree, um, at, at uh, at bu.

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Um, and so I thought.

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You know, I must really get a hold
of you before, before you graduate.

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Yeah.

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Um, so, um, thank you for,
for, for being here today.

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Yeah, thank you so much for having me.

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So, Dami, why don't you just tell
us a little bit about yourself?

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Where are you from?

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Where did you grow up?

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What brought you here?

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Okay, so I, my name is
Dami, like you said.

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Thank you for the introduction.

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Um, I grew up in Lagos, Nigeria and I
came to America around when I was 16

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to do like a few years of high school.

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And then I started at BU
College of General Studies.

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Um, so yeah, just been there in Nigeria.

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Family is still there.

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Um, it's a huge part of my identity.

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So, so what was it like, um, coming to the
US um, sounds like, were you by yourself?

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You said your family is still in Nigeria.

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Oh, I have, I have family here.

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So it was easy to adjust.

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Um, my aunt lives here.

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I have cousins here.

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Some of my siblings were
already here as well.

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Like they went to college here as well.

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So.

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And I'm the youngest out of four, so I I
So you're following the footstep of Yeah.

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I already knew the, I
already knew the process.

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Kind of, they kind of
created the path for you.

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Exactly.

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Um, so it was kind of easy.

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And was there a, um, any sort
of cultural shock or what is

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the difference that you noticed?

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You know, um, yeah, coming to the US I,
I would say there was a cultural shock.

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I think one of the things that
was like shocking was maybe.

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People say things differently, like I
don't, I don't call a trunk a trunk.

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I call it a boot.

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Um, just like things like little things
like that and something I noticed

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was Americans are very very nice.

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That's not to say that Nigerians aren't
nice, but I feel like We're kind of

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just, you know, on our own and mind our
business as we go about our days, but

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Americans are a lot more friendly and
will like, you know, say hi to you as

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you walk past, even if they don't know
you, which was something I noticed.

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And I was like, wow, like, are
these people being fake or are

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they really just this nice?

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That was a shock too.

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No, that's, that's great.

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And I think that we'll later learn
a little bit more about, you know,

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you, not only, you know, being
here, but you're traveling around in

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different parts of the world as well.

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And it seems to be a theme that,
you know, going from one place and I

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will share, um, to you as well, that.

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Um, I also, uh, I'm not a native here.

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I have, uh, uh, I grew up in, uh,
when I was a kid in Hong Kong and I

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moved to the UK and then I moved here.

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So, you know, seeing some of these,
uh, um, these, uh, you know, the, the

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cultural differences sometimes is, you
know, quite, um, it creates a really

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sort of interesting sort of perspectives.

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It's true.

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Yeah.

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It, it made me look at
things like very differently.

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Seeing how things are so different
from like, how things were back

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home, how people think about
things, how people value things

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was interesting to see as well.

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So, and that's where sometimes
I think this idea of different

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perspectives and diversity mm-hmm

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Can bring about things
that you just won't know.

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Yeah.

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You won't know.

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You know, you don't, you don't
know what you don't know because.

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Actually, a lot of these things, I should
have said it differently, it's tacit.

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These are things that you know, but
you don't know you know, until someone

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shows you how they do it differently.

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Right?

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They unlock and they go, Oh, I know
this, but I know it in a different way.

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Right?

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And, um, and it's, uh, it's, it's, uh, um,
it's almost like, In order to learn about

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yourself, you have to look through it
through a lens that is different than you.

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It really helps you learn more
about yourself, how you view things,

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and, like, it helps you be self
aware, but also socially aware.

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You see how other people view
things, you understand how to

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approach situations differently
because people aren't like you.

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And yeah, like you said, it unlocks,
like, a different Part of you.

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And so you're able to learn so much
more about yourself and like how the

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world works and you're able to work
better with people as well in the end.

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So

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I wanted to, um, if you don't mind, I
wanted to, um, maybe focus a little bit

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now on some of your journey at Boston
university, um, I mean, you, you just.

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Join or, you know, join the,
the, the School of Business.

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Yeah.

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Uh, but for two years, um, you
were at College of General Studies.

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Mm hmm.

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For folks who don't know what that
means, um, we would have, uh, listeners

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could be Other students could be
potential, you know, high school

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students thinking about college.

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Yeah.

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Could be parents, could be other
teachers or professors and, and so on.

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Um, people don't really know what
a college of General Studies is.

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Yeah.

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In fact, they don't know
what General Studies is.

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Why that?

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And if you want to be a business major,
shouldn't you be Taking business classes,

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you know, from the get go, why it took
you two years to get there, right?

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So why don't you tell us
a little bit about that?

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Like what, tell us a little bit about,
you know, so it's pretty unique by the

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way, to BU as well, the way it's worked.

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Uh, but tell us a little bit about that
from your perspective as a student.

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Of course.

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Um, so I found out about the college
of General Studies as I was applying.

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It's A question that's asked as you
apply, do you want to be considered

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for the College of General Studies?

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And so I did my personal research
to figure out what that was.

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And it really is like a
liberal studies program.

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It's very interdisciplinary.

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There's so many different courses that
you take for two years before you go into

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what your intended major is for college.

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So basically everyone who's in the
College of General Studies doesn't

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actually graduate from the College
of General Studies after four years.

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It's a two year program that kind
of helps you figure out what your

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interests are and just be able to
learn about different things alongside

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learning about what your major is.

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So I was still taking classes like Econ.

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and accounting and finance, but I had
a good balance of, you know, having

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History classes, Rhetoric, Humanities,
things like that, um, just to be

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able to learn more about the world
and just be more diverse as well.

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And then of course the best part of
the College of General Studies program

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that prompts most people to apply is
that we get to study abroad, um, which

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is nice and it's It's paid for too.

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Um, I think other study abroad programs
you do have to pay, but for the College

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of General Studies, it's paid for.

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It's really integrated into the
program and a lot of the learning

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we do while we are in London.

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is very specific to London.

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For other study abroad programs that
BU offers, you're going to be taking

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classes that are for your intended
major and not necessarily centered

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around the location that you're in.

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So that was something that was really
unique about it too, but it's nice.

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It's also nice to have
a tight knit community.

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Almost everyone in the College of
General Studies knows each other and

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it's nice to have that community in
a school that's so large as BU, so.

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Yeah, that's what it is.

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I, I, uh, I've always loved,
um, the structure of the, you

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know, what's called CGS at BU.

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Um, and, um, I've always learned
about it from, you know, Um, Professor

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Regan or, or Natalie and, and, and the
professors and the, and the administrators

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of this school, whom of course they
love it, and because they designed

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it, but it's nice to be able to hear
from the student's standpoint too,

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in the receiving end of all of this.

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Yeah.

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Um, I, I want to maybe for a moment talk
a little bit about something that is

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in the mind of a lot of, um, folks who,
who might either be considering college

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or even in college right now, right?

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And maybe, may not be at BU or at, you
know, have the opportunity to be part

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of this, you know, very well designed
sort of General Studies program.

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But I wanted to talk about sort of
in concept because I think it's going

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to be really, um, Useful for, for
someone who has that experience to, to

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be able to talk about it immediately.

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I've heard a lot of students questioning
the value of a Liberal Arts education.

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Like you said, it's kind of
this Liberal Artsy thing, right?

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Why take an Art History class?

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Why take a Rhetoric class?

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Is it just so that you can
sound like you went to college?

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So you can use big words?

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Or is there something more to it?

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I think a Liberal Arts.

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Um, degree, study, class is really more
so important for you to, like what we

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were saying, have different perspectives.

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I think if you go straight into just
learning about business or being pre

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med and not having those experiences
of learning history, understanding how

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people work, I just feel like having
a Liberal Arts study mindset really

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opens up your mind to a lot of different
perspectives, a lot of different thinking,

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and just a new way of looking at things.

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I think it's also important to be,
it helps you to connect with people.

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Um, you understand how people work.

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It, yeah, you understand how people
work and, you know, I feel like that's

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what's the most important part of it
as well is it helps you feel connected.

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At the end of the day, we
are all like very social.

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We're social human beings.

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Um, and what's the point of, you know,
having such a, you know, big degree that

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could be considered more important, if
you're not able to connect with people

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and understand the history behind things,
why things work the way they work,

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and being able to have rhetoric, for
example, being able to convince people,

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being able to be a good writer, those
things are so important in any space.

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And I agree, you know,
I mean, I'm a big fan.

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I think that it's, it's, um, but I
mean, I, I can also see the perspective

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of why people are questioning, right?

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Because they go, Hey, if I want to just
learn about business, why don't you

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just give me the business course I need,
let me get it, get out like quickly, as

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quick as possible so I can do the work.

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And sometimes I kind of feel like
when I talk to people who have been

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00:13:41,055 --> 00:13:45,699
through this, this This, um, you
know, this process of going through

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00:13:45,699 --> 00:13:49,920
a Liberal Arts program or sort of a
General Studies, you know, program.

230
00:13:50,440 --> 00:13:54,970
What certainly one that is
well designed like yours is.

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00:13:55,865 --> 00:14:03,275
um, what I sometimes get the feeling and
some people had told me, you know, so

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00:14:03,395 --> 00:14:10,094
I'm paraphrasing is that you certainly
could just go in and take those business

233
00:14:10,094 --> 00:14:14,594
class or pre med class or whatever
your, you know, area of study is, right?

234
00:14:14,744 --> 00:14:15,964
Engineering, etc.

235
00:14:15,964 --> 00:14:17,144
You can just take those classes.

236
00:14:17,145 --> 00:14:19,035
You'll get the technical skills.

237
00:14:19,800 --> 00:14:24,860
You know, to perform those,
those, those related, um, tasks

238
00:14:24,860 --> 00:14:26,250
that, that's expected of you.

239
00:14:26,580 --> 00:14:26,980
Yeah.

240
00:14:27,030 --> 00:14:32,210
But even in the short time span of that
four years, or two years, three years,

241
00:14:32,220 --> 00:14:39,670
four years, having that Liberal Arts
sort of foundation actually allows you

242
00:14:39,670 --> 00:14:42,140
to go further in each of those classes.

243
00:14:43,089 --> 00:14:50,690
So each of these skills that you develop
comes with almost like a booster because

244
00:14:50,690 --> 00:14:54,420
you have that Liberal Arts sort of,
you open up your mind to something

245
00:14:54,420 --> 00:14:55,810
that you go, Oh, hold on a minute.

246
00:14:56,319 --> 00:14:59,229
It's almost like one of those,
like, once you make sense of

247
00:14:59,229 --> 00:15:02,959
one thing, that one thing can be
applicable to a lot of other things.

248
00:15:03,370 --> 00:15:08,480
And these are things that make actually
just the very practical part of

249
00:15:08,770 --> 00:15:13,370
learning the skills to be, you know,
in marketing and business analytics

250
00:15:13,829 --> 00:15:15,990
to be, you'll be more effective.

251
00:15:16,500 --> 00:15:21,009
In other words, if you spend 4 years
just learning marketing and, and,

252
00:15:21,010 --> 00:15:25,019
and business analytics and, and, and
business administration in general

253
00:15:25,379 --> 00:15:32,535
versus, actually spending some of that
in, in, in the Liberal Arts areas,

254
00:15:32,675 --> 00:15:37,224
like in rhetoric, like you said, or in
writing, et cetera, it actually makes

255
00:15:37,224 --> 00:15:40,995
you stronger, um, as a, as a graduate.

256
00:15:42,165 --> 00:15:42,435
Yeah.

257
00:15:42,435 --> 00:15:46,595
I, I, so it's almost like you, you
get your, you, you get it, you get

258
00:15:46,595 --> 00:15:48,655
your value back quickly enough.

259
00:15:48,925 --> 00:15:51,564
It's not like it doesn't take
20 years for it to show up.

260
00:15:52,475 --> 00:15:55,074
It's, it's not, it's not wasted at all.

261
00:15:55,434 --> 00:15:57,125
I feel like I'm already seeing.

262
00:15:57,339 --> 00:16:02,800
The impact that it's had on me with
now that I'm focusing on purely

263
00:16:02,800 --> 00:16:07,659
business classes, for example, the
class I took with Professor Regan my

264
00:16:07,669 --> 00:16:14,040
first year, even though it's compared
to the typical writing one on one

265
00:16:14,040 --> 00:16:16,219
class, it's so much more than that.

266
00:16:16,240 --> 00:16:22,380
It's more than just writing essays we're
really aiming to be persuasive and we also

267
00:16:22,380 --> 00:16:29,760
do presentations and Professor Regan was
the first person that told me about the

268
00:16:29,760 --> 00:16:35,230
power of doing a superhero pose before you
do a presentation and the impact that has

269
00:16:35,230 --> 00:16:39,939
on you and now this year, my third year.

270
00:16:40,899 --> 00:16:43,040
And I have a class where I
have to give a presentation.

271
00:16:43,250 --> 00:16:47,579
My professor mentioned the same thing,
but people are learning that in their

272
00:16:47,579 --> 00:16:51,839
third year, whereas I already knew
these tips and tricks from my first,

273
00:16:51,900 --> 00:16:56,589
my freshman year, because I had a class
that wasn't just only a writing class.

274
00:16:56,609 --> 00:17:00,849
It was a writing class with presentation
skills, embedded research skills.

275
00:17:00,849 --> 00:17:05,394
It like you learn so much more and
I've had so many classes like this.

276
00:17:05,395 --> 00:17:09,405
That there's a social science class
requirement where we have to learn

277
00:17:09,405 --> 00:17:11,555
about mercantilism and trade wars.

278
00:17:11,555 --> 00:17:14,014
And that's, that shows up in Econ.

279
00:17:14,014 --> 00:17:17,585
and, you know, any other finance
class, for example, it's, it's so

280
00:17:17,585 --> 00:17:22,144
applicable to so many areas that
you truly see the value just even

281
00:17:22,354 --> 00:17:24,125
two years after doing the program.

282
00:17:24,794 --> 00:17:25,384
So, yeah.

283
00:17:27,115 --> 00:17:31,525
And I think that there is also something
really interesting, especially in

284
00:17:32,895 --> 00:17:37,905
today's world where, you know, we
get a huge amount of resources.

285
00:17:38,300 --> 00:17:43,470
That is thrown at us through our
phones and social media apps and, and

286
00:17:43,470 --> 00:17:49,480
so on that, that, um, the ability to.

287
00:17:49,909 --> 00:17:54,740
Interact with the world and
with people, like you said, is.

288
00:17:56,350 --> 00:18:03,320
Tremendously important because
we now have to filter everything.

289
00:18:03,710 --> 00:18:10,649
Even when, when it's something that was
published by a, let's say, let's say known

290
00:18:10,649 --> 00:18:17,149
source, we still need to go in and look at
it critically and being able to understand

291
00:18:17,150 --> 00:18:22,569
it and, and, and, and decipher what,
what it is that they are trying to say.

292
00:18:23,139 --> 00:18:23,469
Right.

293
00:18:23,899 --> 00:18:25,549
And so for me, there is.

294
00:18:26,395 --> 00:18:27,955
A big part of just,

295
00:18:30,295 --> 00:18:37,934
you know, in some sense, because of that
advance in communication, right, in our

296
00:18:37,934 --> 00:18:43,604
world, like the digital communication
using social media apps and video, short

297
00:18:43,604 --> 00:18:50,174
videos, TikToks, et cetera, that, that we
actually need to be even more critical,

298
00:18:50,194 --> 00:18:52,445
have more skills to deal with all of that.

299
00:18:53,375 --> 00:18:59,120
Just to be, uh, A productive
everyday person and it didn't matter

300
00:18:59,120 --> 00:19:03,700
whether you were becoming a doctor
or going into business or becoming

301
00:19:03,700 --> 00:19:06,120
an engineer or a nurse, right?

302
00:19:06,750 --> 00:19:09,300
It's almost like you need that today.

303
00:19:09,530 --> 00:19:11,889
Um, it's, it's become a critical skill.

304
00:19:12,290 --> 00:19:18,004
It's so important and It's not
as easy to learn it if you go

305
00:19:18,004 --> 00:19:19,415
straight into those fields.

306
00:19:19,445 --> 00:19:24,715
You don't, you don't get those soft
skills, the social skills as much if

307
00:19:24,715 --> 00:19:26,725
you go into those fields straight on.

308
00:19:30,004 --> 00:19:38,440
Can you tell me a little bit about um,
the So I, I had said before that we

309
00:19:38,440 --> 00:19:40,940
promised that we're going to talk a
little bit about London because that's

310
00:19:40,950 --> 00:19:48,010
such a, it's such an amazing, um, program
that, you know, such an amazing part of

311
00:19:48,020 --> 00:19:53,699
the program that you get to go to London
and it's during the summer, am I right?

312
00:19:53,699 --> 00:19:55,159
Yeah, it's the summer, summer school.

313
00:19:55,290 --> 00:19:58,479
And it's for, and how, for how
many weeks that you were there?

314
00:19:58,489 --> 00:19:59,439
Six weeks.

315
00:20:00,169 --> 00:20:01,139
Six weeks.

316
00:20:01,439 --> 00:20:07,539
So I know a little bit about this,
this, this program and I'm going to, um,

317
00:20:07,539 --> 00:20:12,804
just Contextualize this for, for folks.

318
00:20:13,334 --> 00:20:20,725
Um, at BU, they have this really
innovative hub, um, concept where there

319
00:20:20,754 --> 00:20:26,375
are, you know, these different units,
um, that students will, will take.

320
00:20:26,844 --> 00:20:34,665
And, um, one of these units, um,
uh, And, um, you know, um, is,

321
00:20:34,715 --> 00:20:36,425
it happens in London, am I right?

322
00:20:37,155 --> 00:20:41,874
And they, they all address, you know,
um, you know, sort of different things.

323
00:20:42,264 --> 00:20:49,015
And, um, and, but a really amazing
part of this, and perhaps that's

324
00:20:49,015 --> 00:20:52,175
because I love London, I used
to live in the UK, like I said.

325
00:20:52,685 --> 00:20:54,395
Uh, but I also love food.

326
00:20:55,095 --> 00:20:58,859
And, and I know this is like one
of those like famous, you know,

327
00:20:59,370 --> 00:21:04,780
Assignments that students get,
um, from, from Professor Regan and

328
00:21:05,680 --> 00:21:07,770
that, um, is called Food in London.

329
00:21:08,370 --> 00:21:13,629
Um, and, and it's probably one of
those assignments that everyone

330
00:21:13,629 --> 00:21:15,429
in the world is just jealous.

331
00:21:15,469 --> 00:21:18,300
Wait, hold on a minute, you
gotta go to London, eat.

332
00:21:19,220 --> 00:21:20,500
And get credit for it.

333
00:21:20,550 --> 00:21:21,020
Come on.

334
00:21:22,440 --> 00:21:26,760
So tell us a little bit about this and,
um, and we want to hear a little bit

335
00:21:26,760 --> 00:21:30,169
more about, like, this whole concept
of going there, what it was like,

336
00:21:30,580 --> 00:21:32,839
you know, and what was asked of you.

337
00:21:32,839 --> 00:21:34,269
Why is it so good?

338
00:21:34,350 --> 00:21:38,540
Why is, I mean, aside from the obvious,
like, you got to go eat, um, Like,

339
00:21:38,550 --> 00:21:41,959
you know, what, what is so effective
about this, this kind of assignment?

340
00:21:42,209 --> 00:21:46,469
It seems a lot like how, how in the
world is that going to translate

341
00:21:46,469 --> 00:21:48,120
to a business degree, right?

342
00:21:48,870 --> 00:21:53,709
Well, it really does translate
because first of all, you learn.

343
00:21:54,590 --> 00:21:56,390
How to be a social person.

344
00:21:56,390 --> 00:21:59,949
I think the business world, you
know, you need to be sociable.

345
00:21:59,949 --> 00:22:01,340
You need to be able to speak to people.

346
00:22:01,340 --> 00:22:03,159
You need to be persuasive.

347
00:22:03,169 --> 00:22:06,239
And that's really what
the assignment targets.

348
00:22:06,259 --> 00:22:09,789
You get to pick any
restaurant of your choice.

349
00:22:10,690 --> 00:22:14,690
It really requires you to dig deep,
figure out what is important to you,

350
00:22:14,690 --> 00:22:18,960
what food you want to try, and you
basically just get to be a food critic.

351
00:22:19,370 --> 00:22:26,449
And we had spent, like, classes beforehand
reading food critic websites and seeing

352
00:22:26,460 --> 00:22:32,170
how they speak to these things, and we
were really able to tailor it in that way.

353
00:22:32,170 --> 00:22:37,050
We also did some research to find
statistics about You know, food,

354
00:22:37,050 --> 00:22:38,660
find some famous food bloggers.

355
00:22:38,700 --> 00:22:40,160
So it required a lot.

356
00:22:40,160 --> 00:22:44,520
It required research, but it also
required us to step out of our comfort

357
00:22:44,520 --> 00:22:46,289
zone and really explore London.

358
00:22:46,610 --> 00:22:50,559
Professor Regan really emphasized
that he wanted us to leave the

359
00:22:50,559 --> 00:22:52,479
little bubble that we were in.

360
00:22:52,489 --> 00:22:55,820
We stayed in, um, South Kensington
and he was like, I would really

361
00:22:55,820 --> 00:23:00,980
love if you guys would go far
out and really try to explore.

362
00:23:01,010 --> 00:23:06,139
I mean, it pushes you to try new
things, Step out of your comfort

363
00:23:06,139 --> 00:23:08,029
zone and then you get to critique it.

364
00:23:08,149 --> 00:23:13,669
You, you get to give your opinion and it
shapes how you give your opinion as well.

365
00:23:14,199 --> 00:23:16,230
So, I mean, the assignment was great.

366
00:23:16,350 --> 00:23:20,769
Almost all the assignments that we
did in London were great as well.

367
00:23:21,245 --> 00:23:22,965
If you want me to speak about those two.

368
00:23:24,284 --> 00:23:25,594
Oh, I certainly would.

369
00:23:25,794 --> 00:23:28,534
But I wanted to learn a little bit
more about, so what did you do?

370
00:23:28,534 --> 00:23:29,365
What did you choose?

371
00:23:29,375 --> 00:23:30,125
Where did you go?

372
00:23:30,564 --> 00:23:31,654
So what was the food like?

373
00:23:32,195 --> 00:23:32,675
Tell us.

374
00:23:32,905 --> 00:23:33,564
Of course.

375
00:23:33,645 --> 00:23:40,064
So, like I said earlier, I grew
up in Nigeria and I've been

376
00:23:40,065 --> 00:23:42,394
to London quite a few times.

377
00:23:42,404 --> 00:23:47,414
I've also been to America a few
times growing up as well, but.

378
00:23:48,300 --> 00:23:51,980
Staying in Boston, I had never
really found like a Nigerian

379
00:23:51,980 --> 00:23:57,570
restaurant that was able to replicate
home cooking or even elevate it.

380
00:23:58,190 --> 00:24:03,610
Um, so I knew that I wanted to find a
restaurant in London that represented

381
00:24:03,610 --> 00:24:05,719
Nigerian culture and Nigerian food.

382
00:24:05,720 --> 00:24:08,649
And I know that the Nigerian
community is huge there.

383
00:24:08,649 --> 00:24:12,470
So I had A lot of options to choose from.

384
00:24:12,470 --> 00:24:15,480
And that's also part of the
project is doing your research,

385
00:24:15,940 --> 00:24:18,380
figuring out what has high ratings.

386
00:24:18,400 --> 00:24:25,890
And so I found this restaurant called the
Flygerians, like 'Fly Nigerians.' Um, and.

387
00:24:26,699 --> 00:24:30,929
I looked them up and they had, I
think like 4.5 stars out of five,

388
00:24:30,929 --> 00:24:33,190
and they, it just seemed amazing.

389
00:24:33,190 --> 00:24:34,240
The food seemed great.

390
00:24:34,240 --> 00:24:38,410
I looked them up on TikTok,
great reviews on there as well.

391
00:24:38,470 --> 00:24:43,540
Everyone loved the food, so I knew I
had to try it, and so I called one of my

392
00:24:43,540 --> 00:24:49,969
friends that lived in London to, he hadn't
tried it yet, and so we both went over.

393
00:24:51,475 --> 00:24:54,715
It was honestly pretty far
out from where I was staying.

394
00:24:54,754 --> 00:25:00,725
Um, I believe it was in Peckham
and the food was amazing.

395
00:25:00,784 --> 00:25:09,964
It elevated Nigerian food so much, but
in a way that it was still comforting.

396
00:25:09,964 --> 00:25:13,865
It didn't take away from
what the real food is.

397
00:25:13,895 --> 00:25:16,235
Um, it was, it was great.

398
00:25:16,294 --> 00:25:19,205
Um, The food tasted great.

399
00:25:19,235 --> 00:25:21,385
The ambience was amazing.

400
00:25:21,675 --> 00:25:27,115
And that was part of what we had to do for
the project as well was describe, like,

401
00:25:27,174 --> 00:25:29,195
he said we need to use the five senses.

402
00:25:29,195 --> 00:25:31,325
He said describe what you're
seeing, describe what you're

403
00:25:31,325 --> 00:25:32,754
hearing, how it tastes.

404
00:25:32,754 --> 00:25:35,874
Like, the music that
was playing was amazing.

405
00:25:35,885 --> 00:25:37,184
The ambience was amazing.

406
00:25:37,245 --> 00:25:40,344
It was such a, like, cozy restaurant.

407
00:25:40,475 --> 00:25:42,774
It had couches, colorful couches.

408
00:25:43,124 --> 00:25:47,125
It really just felt like home, and I
think that was what I was looking for.

409
00:25:47,400 --> 00:25:52,040
when I was looking for a restaurant was
I wanted somewhere that felt like home

410
00:25:52,490 --> 00:25:56,899
and really brought those comforting
tastes and like made me feel like I

411
00:25:56,899 --> 00:26:01,410
was back home in Nigeria and that's
exactly how I felt with still having

412
00:26:01,410 --> 00:26:06,639
that vibe of I'm in a restaurant and
I'm still eating and you know it was

413
00:26:06,639 --> 00:26:12,290
a great experience and I love that me
getting to go out and eat was my homework

414
00:26:12,830 --> 00:26:15,020
and I got to just write about it so

415
00:26:17,120 --> 00:26:24,725
yeah it's amazing and I love that and I
Like I said, I grew up in Hong Kong, and

416
00:26:24,754 --> 00:26:31,094
you know, every once in a while, I'll
find places in my travels, you know,

417
00:26:31,094 --> 00:26:37,875
that That would sell home, have, like,
they would serve, like, certain, certain,

418
00:26:37,885 --> 00:26:43,515
like, Cantonese cuisines or street food
that you're like, oh, yes, that reminds,

419
00:26:43,515 --> 00:26:48,825
it brings you all the way back to your
childhood or to certain parts, you

420
00:26:48,825 --> 00:26:54,265
know, of your life that you might have
forgotten or, you know, had left behind.

421
00:26:54,885 --> 00:27:02,170
Um, And I think that there is something
about that, that, and I don't know what

422
00:27:02,170 --> 00:27:07,089
I'm overreaching a little bit, but there's
something about it that helps, you know,

423
00:27:07,090 --> 00:27:13,650
using the senses to help create that sense
of belonging, a sense of groundedness, a

424
00:27:13,650 --> 00:27:17,510
sense of, you know, identity and culture.

425
00:27:18,395 --> 00:27:21,515
And to be honest, I think those are some
of those things that sometimes we talk

426
00:27:21,525 --> 00:27:28,675
about in the abstract, belonging, for
example, you know, it's one of those

427
00:27:28,675 --> 00:27:31,585
things that you go, well, you know,
when you know it, when, when, when

428
00:27:31,585 --> 00:27:36,334
you, when you feel it, but it's hard
to describe those things sometimes.

429
00:27:36,555 --> 00:27:39,785
And this, this is the type of
things that almost force you.

430
00:27:41,025 --> 00:27:46,365
It's almost like visually, but
also, you know, like you said,

431
00:27:46,365 --> 00:27:48,875
by the smell, by the sounds.

432
00:27:49,810 --> 00:27:50,980
Um, right?

433
00:27:51,060 --> 00:27:55,360
And certainly there's a lot more nuance
in, I'm sure, the language that was

434
00:27:55,360 --> 00:28:00,070
spoken, the way that they treated you,
and so on, you know, all sort of things.

435
00:28:01,095 --> 00:28:02,745
Brings all of that back, right?

436
00:28:03,965 --> 00:28:08,645
So to me, it's one of those things
that I'm sure, like, and I felt this

437
00:28:08,645 --> 00:28:13,754
way when I remember when I used to
visit once I moved and visit home

438
00:28:13,784 --> 00:28:17,795
and quickly you kind of forgot, Oh
yeah, that's just what life is like.

439
00:28:18,014 --> 00:28:21,155
But actually when you put it like
transplanted into a whole different

440
00:28:21,444 --> 00:28:24,675
area, when you don't expect it, you
start to see all of the little nuance.

441
00:28:25,205 --> 00:28:27,255
You really start to value it too.

442
00:28:28,035 --> 00:28:30,299
Like the very little
things, like there was like.

443
00:28:31,009 --> 00:28:35,650
Like, African print, Nigerian print on
some of the couches and it was like,

444
00:28:35,690 --> 00:28:38,159
that was something that I never valued.

445
00:28:38,159 --> 00:28:43,109
I would see these type of print styles
all over back home and then seeing it

446
00:28:43,109 --> 00:28:46,720
on a couch, I'm like, wow, like that
was something I never appreciated.

447
00:28:46,720 --> 00:28:51,910
Or they had some pictures of famous
artists that came from Nigeria as well.

448
00:28:51,910 --> 00:28:55,429
And I was like, this is, these
are things I not think of.

449
00:28:55,429 --> 00:28:57,729
I don't think about these
things on a day to day.

450
00:28:58,245 --> 00:29:00,145
But seeing it was like, wow.

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00:29:00,525 --> 00:29:02,985
I think that is, I think
that's, that's beautiful.

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00:29:03,475 --> 00:29:07,034
Here's a preview of what's coming up
next in part two of my conversation

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00:29:07,034 --> 00:29:12,334
with Dami Akinbadi, a junior at Boston
University's Questrom School of Business.

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00:29:12,994 --> 00:29:16,804
How you manage yourself, how you feel
about yourself, how you feel about your

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00:29:16,875 --> 00:29:22,910
life, you'll be more satisfied with
life and you'll be More able to self

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00:29:22,910 --> 00:29:27,310
accept and have a better psychological
well being when you understand who

457
00:29:27,320 --> 00:29:31,069
you are as a person, understand
what your weaknesses are, and you're

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00:29:31,110 --> 00:29:33,810
able to work towards those as well.