Atinuke Sode, 2010-2011 Southern Student Representative (SR)

Barry University
Miami Shores, FL

I was taught to speak and understand both Yoruba and English when I was a child. My parents are both native Nigerians who are members of the Yoruba tribe. As a first generation Nigerian-American, I grew up in a sort of limbo, entangled in the “warring ideals” of my hyphenated cultural existence. Despite the fact that I wholly identified with the troubles that African-Americans in the United States were encountering, their struggle was entirely different from that of my parents, and from that of Nigerians in Africa. Although there is a common bond between these two groups, I found that each saw themselves as being very different from one another.

In June 2001, I went to Nigeria for the first time, and that three month summer vacation was a personal and spiritual confirmation as I retraced the journey of my ancestors, and I discovered not only their struggles, but the plight of Africans throughout the continent. I witnessed the intrinsically different presence of joy and laughter, and sorrow and hunger as I walked through the streets of Lagos. In the course of my stay, some distant relatives, some virtual strangers of no relation, who I could give little to nothing, offered me the greatest gift I have ever received, which is the gift of faith. In Africa, I saw the horrors of poverty, I witnessed the catastrophic nature of corruption, heard of unchecked superstition, but I also saw faith in action, and I felt a spirit of love.

The day I left Nigeria to return to America, I was eighteen and was about to begin attending Florida A&M University that fall. I made a conscientious decision to minor in Africana Studies so that I could better learn the history of my people throughout the course of time. From my studies, I became fully aware of the ties that will eternally keep continental Africans and people of African descent eternally bound together. Our union is solidified by our great African birthright, our perilous middle passage, our wretched enslavement, our glorious emancipation, our cultural awakening, and our ongoing battle against racism not only in America, but as a global institution.

In January 2009, I began school at Barry University even more focused and determined than I had ever been in my life. In May 2010, I will be graduating with a B.A. in English Literature and a minor in Africana Studies. Several different works of literature and art have had a deeply profound affect on the development of my identity and character. I thoroughly enjoy the creative process of writing as it provokes critical inquiry and discovery. Personally, the methodical practice of writing and creating is a journey into the inner most compartments of my soul that I would otherwise seldom visit. In my limited free time, I volunteer as a Guardian Ad Litem for Miami-Dade County. As a guardian, I advocate on behalf of the needs of minor children who are in harmful and abusive situations. Working as a Guardian Ad Litem has been a very fulfilling and rewarding experience, as the quality of the lives of the children with whom I have worked has significantly improved through my efforts.