While growing up in Nigeria, I never cared much about my hair. It was always an object to which something must be done. Looking back now, I can’t believe how oblivious I was to the ways in which my hair contributes to my awareness and understanding of myself. And, all this would not have happened if I hadn’t chosen to come to Kenyon.
Before Kenyon, I never had to worry about what to do with my hair. In Nigeria, you just have to walk to anyone living on any street and ask where the hair-dressers are. And, with the hair-dressers keeping stock of hairstyles and fashion trends, one’s hair becomes something that someone else can attend to. So, it is no surprise to see young girls and old women alike wearing their hair in so many different styles back home. Such was not the case I observed here.
I think one of the things I was most excited about for college was my room, which in hindsight reveals that I didn't exactly grasp what college was supposed to be, but I digress. I wanted to both create my own space but at the same time create an exact replica of my room at home. I brought everything. E v e r y t h i n g. And I used maybe a third of it. The only time I touched the rest of it was moving it into my room and then moving it back out at the end of the year. I thought I'd have it down by the time I was a sophomore, but even this year I found a few rather bulky things gathering dust. In order to relieve you of the burden of cramming all your earthly possessions into one car, forcing you to be cheek-to-cheek with your sister for an eight-hour ride, I've made a short video detailing some of the more common and useless things I've seen sneaking their way into people's rooms.
I may not be a Summer Science Scholar but I am learning mixology and the benefits of fresh air on the hill.
I had a few special things I wanted to do before leaving campus. With the ink still drying on my diploma and with a shiny black "2013" tassel swinging between my fingers, I had to slip away from all the graduation hubbub and be with just myself. That's the weird thing about graduation day, I realized. I thought it would be about me, but it's actually all about the people who come to see you-- your family, your professors, your friends in the audience. When I finally got a minute alone in the late afternoon, I saw that I had been too busy to let "it" hit me, but inevitably, it did, as it does to us all, on Middle Path.
I was probably saying something about the chicken when this picture was taken.
