Circumspecte

Another College Application Essay...a good 3/4 years ago. --- A slight breeze moves lazily across the beautiful landscape of the Savannah . Though the leaves of the trees ruffle as she passes by, the serenity of the land is left immaculately untouched. The sunshine produces diamonds as it glistens in the clear waters of the lake below. In the distance, birds chirp gaily while a giraffe silently nibbles the succulent green leaves of a nearby tree. Content, the breeze drifts along as she absorbs the calmness of the atmosphere. Suddenly, dark clouds gather over the landscape. Confused, the breeze rushes overhead the looming clouds. That is her undoing as she gets caught up in a flurry of confusion and intense activity. Soon enough, the serenity of the land is ruthlessly hurled away and replaced by that which was there but was left unseen: the undercurrents. Some people may consider me too young to contemplate serious issues in life such as discrimination and war. Others stil...

Okay, so I was just going through old mails and came across these essays I wrote for college applications. Vraiment interessant. More often than not people concentrate on the facts of an issue rather than on the underlying factors. This in my opinion is just a clear instance of pure human nature at work. As a result I do not find it in the least surprising that I have never thought to ask my parents or anyone else for that matter, the circumstances surrounding my birth-whether it was a rainy day, sunny day, a normal day or one of those days when everything seems out of place. However, I am aware that I came into this world with all its mysteries on the 20 th of July, 1986 . I was born in Kaduna , a Northern state of Nigeria , the first born of my parents, Mr. and Mrs. Abdulai. Essentially, I have had a pretty secure home life with all the basic necessities well provided for. Moreover, I have been exposed to certain situations which I believe help shape my life and help...

Since gaining independence in 1957, Ghana has undergone many transformations in the areas of gender, economic and social rights. A lot of work has been done in ensuring that the framework of human rights in Ghana is respected and laws concerning human rights revised and improved to meet changing local and international trends. For instance, Ghana’s Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) has successfully collaborated with numerous organizations like the Women and Juvenile Unit of the Ghana Police to handle cases that show gross disregard for humanity. Unfortunately these small triumphs usually leave in their wake a thousand more human rights abuse cases and the crusade against human rights violations continues. As with most African countries the subject of gender rights is somewhat of a ‘taboo’ topic in Ghana. One could attribute this to the highly patriarchal nature of the Ghanaian society and most African communities. In addition to this...

Gosh! I am so overwhelmed...with emotion - gratitude, thankfulness, awe, amazement, more gratitude - yea, it seems I get to be very sensitive during the summer. (my personal theory for that is the fact that the sun is usually out and therefore melts away any traces of insensitivity from the winter before. Total twum, I know.lol). Back to the fact. I am overwhelmed. With thankfulness and gratitude, and awe...and no, I am not repeating myself, because the immensity of these emotions deserves their re-recognition. When I sit back, and think about it all, you could pretty much say I am living my dreams in this very instance. A good....8 or so years ago... I hoped to finish high school, get into university, improve my French, get a head start on making a difference, have some idea of what I want to do in life, etc. I won't say I'm all set with all of that, but I'm definitely on the way. Okay, so some interesting piece of info. You would think that someone like me who goes yaddy ...

Tout est bien, qui finit bien. I'm back in the US, and all I can say about my year abroad is 'wow'. I keep saying 'I'm blessed' and its not just something I say for the sake of saying, but rather because it is the core truth of my entire existence. Living, studying, working and being in France was an exceptional experience that I would do over again in a heartbeat. Sure, it wasn't just a jolly ride with just fromage, vin et nutella, but despite those not so merry experiences, the entire picture came out beautiful and I'm just thankful for the experience, the places I saw - Montpellier, Paris, Bordeaux, Toulouse, Tours, Nimes, Nice, Les Bagards, Sommiere - and the wonderful people I met - the MHC Montpellier Crew; the Loth Family; Adjoa, her beautiful kids and her wonderful team at Salon Au Coupe du Monde; the CAPI crew - Jeremy, Victoria, Rachel, Nens, Jessica, Mr. Cottet-Moine, Brize, Valerie, Pascale etc; the Playaway Crew - Kevin, Jess, Hannah, Brian,...