Welcome to Digication
Scholars Conversations.

I'm your host, Jeff Yan.

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

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

a degree in Business Administration.

More links and information about
today's conversation can be

found in the description below.

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

Full episodes of Digication Scholars
Conversations can be found on

YouTube or your favorite podcast app.

Welcome to Digication
Scholars Conversations.

I'm your host, Jeff Yan.

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

Questrom School of Business.

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

in Business Analytics and Marketing.

Welcome Dami.

Thank you so much, Jeff.

Thank you so much for having me.

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

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

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

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

Right.

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

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

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

your work and I was just amazed by it.

Thank you.

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

Thank you so much.

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

at yeah, another conference.

And I said, oh, what happened to dmi?

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

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

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

Um, and so I thought.

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

Yeah.

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

Yeah, thank you so much for having me.

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

Where are you from?

Where did you grow up?

What brought you here?

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

Thank you for the introduction.

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

to do like a few years of high school.

And then I started at BU
College of General Studies.

Um, so yeah, just been there in Nigeria.

Family is still there.

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

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

You said your family is still in Nigeria.

Oh, I have, I have family here.

So it was easy to adjust.

Um, my aunt lives here.

I have cousins here.

Some of my siblings were
already here as well.

Like they went to college here as well.

So.

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

I already knew the, I
already knew the process.

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

Exactly.

Um, so it was kind of easy.

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

the difference that you noticed?

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

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

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

I call it a boot.

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

was Americans are very very nice.

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

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

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

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

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

they really just this nice?

That was a shock too.

No, that's, that's great.

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

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

different parts of the world as well.

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

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

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

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

moved to the UK and then I moved here.

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

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

sort of interesting sort of perspectives.

It's true.

Yeah.

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

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

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

was interesting to see as well.

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

perspectives and diversity mm-hmm

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

Yeah.

You won't know.

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

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

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

shows you how they do it differently.

Right?

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

Right?

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

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

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

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

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

approach situations differently
because people aren't like you.

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

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

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

So

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

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

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

Yeah.

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

Mm hmm.

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

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

students thinking about college.

Yeah.

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

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

Yeah.

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

Why that?

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

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

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

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

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

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

Of course.

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

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

for the College of General Studies?

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

And it really is like a
liberal studies program.

It's very interdisciplinary.

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

what your intended major is for college.

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

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

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

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

learning about what your major is.

So I was still taking classes like Econ.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

of General Studies, it's paid for.

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

we do while we are in London.

is very specific to London.

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

classes that are for your intended
major and not necessarily centered

around the location that you're in.

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

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

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

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

Yeah, that's what it is.

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

know, what's called CGS at BU.

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

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

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

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

in the receiving end of all of this.

Yeah.

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

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

or even in college right now, right?

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

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

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

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

be able to talk about it immediately.

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

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

Why take an Art History class?

Why take a Rhetoric class?

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

So you can use big words?

Or is there something more to it?

I think a Liberal Arts.

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

were saying, have different perspectives.

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

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

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

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

and just a new way of looking at things.

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

Um, you understand how people work.

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

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

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

We're social human beings.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

of why people are questioning, right?

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

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

quick as possible so I can do the work.

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

through this, this This, um, you
know, this process of going through

a Liberal Arts program or sort of a
General Studies, you know, program.

What certainly one that is
well designed like yours is.

um, what I sometimes get the feeling and
some people had told me, you know, so

I'm paraphrasing is that you certainly
could just go in and take those business

class or pre med class or whatever
your, you know, area of study is, right?

Engineering, etc.

You can just take those classes.

You'll get the technical skills.

You know, to perform those,
those, those related, um, tasks

that, that's expected of you.

Yeah.

But even in the short time span of that
four years, or two years, three years,

four years, having that Liberal Arts
sort of foundation actually allows you

to go further in each of those classes.

So each of these skills that you develop
comes with almost like a booster because

you have that Liberal Arts sort of,
you open up your mind to something

that you go, Oh, hold on a minute.

It's almost like one of those,
like, once you make sense of

one thing, that one thing can be
applicable to a lot of other things.

And these are things that make actually
just the very practical part of

learning the skills to be, you know,
in marketing and business analytics

to be, you'll be more effective.

In other words, if you spend 4 years
just learning marketing and, and,

and business analytics and, and, and
business administration in general

versus, actually spending some of that
in, in, in the Liberal Arts areas,

like in rhetoric, like you said, or in
writing, et cetera, it actually makes

you stronger, um, as a, as a graduate.

Yeah.

I, I, so it's almost like you, you
get your, you, you get it, you get

your value back quickly enough.

It's not like it doesn't take
20 years for it to show up.

It's, it's not, it's not wasted at all.

I feel like I'm already seeing.

The impact that it's had on me with
now that I'm focusing on purely

business classes, for example, the
class I took with Professor Regan my

first year, even though it's compared
to the typical writing one on one

class, it's so much more than that.

It's more than just writing essays we're
really aiming to be persuasive and we also

do presentations and Professor Regan was
the first person that told me about the

power of doing a superhero pose before you
do a presentation and the impact that has

on you and now this year, my third year.

And I have a class where I
have to give a presentation.

My professor mentioned the same thing,
but people are learning that in their

third year, whereas I already knew
these tips and tricks from my first,

my freshman year, because I had a class
that wasn't just only a writing class.

It was a writing class with presentation
skills, embedded research skills.

It like you learn so much more and
I've had so many classes like this.

That there's a social science class
requirement where we have to learn

about mercantilism and trade wars.

And that's, that shows up in Econ.

and, you know, any other finance
class, for example, it's, it's so

applicable to so many areas that
you truly see the value just even

two years after doing the program.

So, yeah.

And I think that there is also something
really interesting, especially in

today's world where, you know, we
get a huge amount of resources.

That is thrown at us through our
phones and social media apps and, and

so on that, that, um, the ability to.

Interact with the world and
with people, like you said, is.

Tremendously important because
we now have to filter everything.

Even when, when it's something that was
published by a, let's say, let's say known

source, we still need to go in and look at
it critically and being able to understand

it and, and, and, and decipher what,
what it is that they are trying to say.

Right.

And so for me, there is.

A big part of just,

you know, in some sense, because of that
advance in communication, right, in our

world, like the digital communication
using social media apps and video, short

videos, TikToks, et cetera, that, that we
actually need to be even more critical,

have more skills to deal with all of that.

Just to be, uh, A productive
everyday person and it didn't matter

whether you were becoming a doctor
or going into business or becoming

an engineer or a nurse, right?

It's almost like you need that today.

Um, it's, it's become a critical skill.

It's so important and It's not
as easy to learn it if you go

straight into those fields.

You don't, you don't get those soft
skills, the social skills as much if

you go into those fields straight on.

Can you tell me a little bit about um,
the So I, I had said before that we

promised that we're going to talk a
little bit about London because that's

such a, it's such an amazing, um, program
that, you know, such an amazing part of

the program that you get to go to London
and it's during the summer, am I right?

Yeah, it's the summer, summer school.

And it's for, and how, for how
many weeks that you were there?

Six weeks.

Six weeks.

So I know a little bit about this,
this, this program and I'm going to, um,

just Contextualize this for, for folks.

Um, at BU, they have this really
innovative hub, um, concept where there

are, you know, these different units,
um, that students will, will take.

And, um, one of these units, um,
uh, And, um, you know, um, is,

it happens in London, am I right?

And they, they all address, you know,
um, you know, sort of different things.

And, um, and, but a really amazing
part of this, and perhaps that's

because I love London, I used
to live in the UK, like I said.

Uh, but I also love food.

And, and I know this is like one
of those like famous, you know,

Assignments that students get,
um, from, from Professor Regan and

that, um, is called Food in London.

Um, and, and it's probably one of
those assignments that everyone

in the world is just jealous.

Wait, hold on a minute, you
gotta go to London, eat.

And get credit for it.

Come on.

So tell us a little bit about this and,
um, and we want to hear a little bit

more about, like, this whole concept
of going there, what it was like,

you know, and what was asked of you.

Why is it so good?

Why is, I mean, aside from the obvious,
like, you got to go eat, um, Like,

you know, what, what is so effective
about this, this kind of assignment?

It seems a lot like how, how in the
world is that going to translate

to a business degree, right?

Well, it really does translate
because first of all, you learn.

How to be a social person.

I think the business world, you
know, you need to be sociable.

You need to be able to speak to people.

You need to be persuasive.

And that's really what
the assignment targets.

You get to pick any
restaurant of your choice.

It really requires you to dig deep,
figure out what is important to you,

what food you want to try, and you
basically just get to be a food critic.

And we had spent, like, classes beforehand
reading food critic websites and seeing

how they speak to these things, and we
were really able to tailor it in that way.

We also did some research to find
statistics about You know, food,

find some famous food bloggers.

So it required a lot.

It required research, but it also
required us to step out of our comfort

zone and really explore London.

Professor Regan really emphasized
that he wanted us to leave the

little bubble that we were in.

We stayed in, um, South Kensington
and he was like, I would really

love if you guys would go far
out and really try to explore.

I mean, it pushes you to try new
things, Step out of your comfort

zone and then you get to critique it.

You, you get to give your opinion and it
shapes how you give your opinion as well.

So, I mean, the assignment was great.

Almost all the assignments that we
did in London were great as well.

If you want me to speak about those two.

Oh, I certainly would.

But I wanted to learn a little bit
more about, so what did you do?

What did you choose?

Where did you go?

So what was the food like?

Tell us.

Of course.

So, like I said earlier, I grew
up in Nigeria and I've been

to London quite a few times.

I've also been to America a few
times growing up as well, but.

Staying in Boston, I had never
really found like a Nigerian

restaurant that was able to replicate
home cooking or even elevate it.

Um, so I knew that I wanted to find a
restaurant in London that represented

Nigerian culture and Nigerian food.

And I know that the Nigerian
community is huge there.

So I had A lot of options to choose from.

And that's also part of the
project is doing your research,

figuring out what has high ratings.

And so I found this restaurant called the
Flygerians, like 'Fly Nigerians.' Um, and.

I looked them up and they had, I
think like 4.5 stars out of five,

and they, it just seemed amazing.

The food seemed great.

I looked them up on TikTok,
great reviews on there as well.

Everyone loved the food, so I knew I
had to try it, and so I called one of my

friends that lived in London to, he hadn't
tried it yet, and so we both went over.

It was honestly pretty far
out from where I was staying.

Um, I believe it was in Peckham
and the food was amazing.

It elevated Nigerian food so much, but
in a way that it was still comforting.

It didn't take away from
what the real food is.

Um, it was, it was great.

Um, The food tasted great.

The ambience was amazing.

And that was part of what we had to do for
the project as well was describe, like,

he said we need to use the five senses.

He said describe what you're
seeing, describe what you're

hearing, how it tastes.

Like, the music that
was playing was amazing.

The ambience was amazing.

It was such a, like, cozy restaurant.

It had couches, colorful couches.

It really just felt like home, and I
think that was what I was looking for.

when I was looking for a restaurant was
I wanted somewhere that felt like home

and really brought those comforting
tastes and like made me feel like I

was back home in Nigeria and that's
exactly how I felt with still having

that vibe of I'm in a restaurant and
I'm still eating and you know it was

a great experience and I love that me
getting to go out and eat was my homework

and I got to just write about it so

yeah it's amazing and I love that and I
Like I said, I grew up in Hong Kong, and

you know, every once in a while, I'll
find places in my travels, you know,

that That would sell home, have, like,
they would serve, like, certain, certain,

like, Cantonese cuisines or street food
that you're like, oh, yes, that reminds,

it brings you all the way back to your
childhood or to certain parts, you

know, of your life that you might have
forgotten or, you know, had left behind.

Um, And I think that there is something
about that, that, and I don't know what

I'm overreaching a little bit, but there's
something about it that helps, you know,

using the senses to help create that sense
of belonging, a sense of groundedness, a

sense of, you know, identity and culture.

And to be honest, I think those are some
of those things that sometimes we talk

about in the abstract, belonging, for
example, you know, it's one of those

things that you go, well, you know,
when you know it, when, when, when

you, when you feel it, but it's hard
to describe those things sometimes.

And this, this is the type of
things that almost force you.

It's almost like visually, but
also, you know, like you said,

by the smell, by the sounds.

Um, right?

And certainly there's a lot more nuance
in, I'm sure, the language that was

spoken, the way that they treated you,
and so on, you know, all sort of things.

Brings all of that back, right?

So to me, it's one of those things
that I'm sure, like, and I felt this

way when I remember when I used to
visit once I moved and visit home

and quickly you kind of forgot, Oh
yeah, that's just what life is like.

But actually when you put it like
transplanted into a whole different

area, when you don't expect it, you
start to see all of the little nuance.

You really start to value it too.

Like the very little
things, like there was like.

Like, African print, Nigerian print on
some of the couches and it was like,

that was something that I never valued.

I would see these type of print styles
all over back home and then seeing it

on a couch, I'm like, wow, like that
was something I never appreciated.

Or they had some pictures of famous
artists that came from Nigeria as well.

And I was like, this is, these
are things I not think of.

I don't think about these
things on a day to day.

But seeing it was like, wow.

I think that is, I think
that's, that's beautiful.

Here's a preview of what's coming up
next in part two of my conversation

with Dami Akinbadi, a junior at Boston
University's Questrom School of Business.

How you manage yourself, how you feel
about yourself, how you feel about your

life, you'll be more satisfied with
life and you'll be More able to self

accept and have a better psychological
well being when you understand who

you are as a person, understand
what your weaknesses are, and you're

able to work towards those as well.