Circumspecte

Now that I have finally completed my personal statement for a graduate program, I think I can do this post on how to write a good personal statement, without feeling tinges of guilt (at not finishing mine). It's application season, and more often than not, recruiters require a personal statement. Whether its for graduate school or for an internship or job (they call those cover letters, but essentially, it's a personal statement, albeit a more technical/reserved one). So, this post will be based mainly on my own experience with writing personal statements, and also from reviewing and editing those of friends, colleagues etc. I hope you find it helpful, and if you have any other tidbits or questions, please feel free to leave a comment. Here goes: What's a personal statement? In my opinion, a personal statement is exactly what it says it is. A personal statement. Some people think they need to be very removed and technical in their personal statements, but that's b...

Happy Thanksgiving and Eid Mubarak to everyone!!! This weekend has been a power packed one: a deep well of thanksgiving that has surely overflown its boundaries. And of course, such a special weekend can't go unnoticed!!! I think it's really special that two holidays set aside for reminding ourselves of how lucky and blessed we each are, were commemorated back-to-back! And in addition to the turkeys and lambs, I hope we all took a moment or two to be thankful for something. In that spirit, I'd like to say thanks to all of you who follow Circumspect (publicly or under an invisible cloak), comment on my posts, make suggestions, or simply email me. I cannot express how much I appreciate you guys for joining in the Circumspect experience, and I'm learning as much (if not more) as you are (I hope). It's crazy cos I never anticipated that this blogging experience would grow as large as it has. And sometimes, its all very overwhelming. At moments when I've felt li...

Anyone who knows me, knows how big I am on information access. Yesterday I covered an Oxfam/FP event at the Newseum - the latest addition to D.C.'s museums, and the most interactive. My editor told me what a big deal it was, but I didn't get it. Until I got there! The place is massive, with interactive screens for learning about the most important news in human history, the progression of media through the ages etc. I was soo giddy with excitement, I couldn't decide what to look at first. For those of you in D.C., def head up to the Newseum! It's amaaaazing! Information Access & Documentation I eventually did a quick run through of the entire place, and I loved every bit of it. It made me appreciate information access even more, and I'm even more impassioned to help improve information access in Ghana and Africa as a whole. We need to document our histories, it holds the key to understanding (or trying to) humanity better. We need more movies on historic,...

Dear You-Know-Yourself, Last week I went to an event for the Charter of Compassion launch, and it made me think about a couple of things, particularly with regards to the golden rule: treating others like you would like to be treated. One particular statement resonated with me intensely: "Many people don't want to be compassionate, they'd rather be right." Karen Armstrong's words. And boy, was she right on the money. The first person I thought of after she said that, was you. And with super-sonic speed my mind replayed everything that had happened-- at least from my point of view -- and that had led us to this point. And as incredulous as it might be, now, the whats, whys and hows don't even matter that much. The bottom line at this point is that it happened. And so what? That's what I asked myself. So, am I going to tell myself that I'm not really holding a grudge, yet hesitate to say those three words that could probably make a world of differe...

On Oct. 29, I received a forward from a friend talking about a supposed miracle in Egypt broadcast by CBS. Curious, I read the message. By the time I was done, I was fuming. Doing a quick google search, I failed to find the so-called CBS video. Maybe they took it off? I don't know. What I do know though, is that the kind of negative information spread online about Islam and Muslims is what makes Islamaphobia so rampant these days. I have come to the conclusion that it's not God's word that sucks, but man's interpretation of it. Consequently, I've resolved to study the Qu'ran myself, and make my own deductions instead of going by heresay. A couple of days after, two things happened. First, I came across a verse in the Qu'ran which outrightly condemns mistreatment of women and children, and specifically decries the burying of children alive (which the supposed CBS video is said to have portrayed) from Surah Al-An-am (Chapter: The Cattle): 139. And they ...

For all you Chimamanda Adichie fans out there, the wait is finally over! I really wanted to put this up earlier, but smart me, left the cable for uploading the sound file onto my computer, so couldn’t exactly transcribe it. I must say that the event (hosted by the D.C. Young African Professionals Network & the Center for Global Development) was less of a lecture, and more of a conversation. I’ve been to a number of similar events, and she’s definitely the most engaging and down-to-earth speaker to date. And the moderator Uzodinma Iweala (Author, Beasts of No Nation ) was great as well, asked all the good questions! Chimamanda (whose name means “My God Will Never Fail” ) jokingly mentioned that she regards Uzo as a smart younger brother and likes to harass him, so you can imagine the kind of dynamic between those two at the event. Alors, for those of you who don’t know Chimamanda Adichie, she’s a Nigerian author who currently lives between the U.S. and Nigeria. Author of award...

Hi All, I've gotten quite a number of requests to do a blog on how to write a good personal statement, and I would like to get a sense of what other people out there think. Kindly take a moment to fill this quick survey, and forward on to other individuals who are working on applications or might be interested. Thanks! Click Here to take survey

About a month ago, I did a review of Bronx Princess ; a short film about a young Ghanaian living in the U.S. I was really impressed with the film and most of the people I shared it with were too. But I was also curious. Really curious about who the actors were, who the producers were, how come they made such a great and genuine short film, and especially, how the non-Ghanaian producers were able to capture elements of Ghanaian culture that a lot of "Ghanaian films" fail to communicate. So, I contacted one of the producers, Yoni Brook, and we had a little chat about all that. Here are all the interesting details. Enjoy! Circumspect: Who are Yoni Brook and Musa Syeed? Yoni Brook: Musa Syeed and I are co-directors that met at NYU’s film school in 2004. We made a film together that was on PBS in 2008 called “ A Son’s Sacrifice ” about a father and son working together at an old-school slaughterhouse in Queen’s New York. That had nothing to do with Africans; it had to do wit...