After graduation, I did some college in Nigeria and then a year later my parents decided to ship us all back to the US because they figured I would get better medical treatment for my sickle cell over there than back home. I’ve always wanted to go back to America so I voiced no objections.
I decided to go to college in Alabama. Only problem was that it was roughly 800 miles from home. It was a tug of war but my parents finally agreed and this little birdy got to fly on her own for a change. College was different…I was out on my own, I could make my own decisions and it was my prerogative what activities I wanted to participate in.
Diva wasn’t there to be the forefront of my social life, so I had to actually reach out of myself and make friends for the first time ever. My friends became my own group of sisters, we bonded together over the strangest things, late nights, spades & IHOP. We were all overachievers and motivated each other about the studying aspect.
I chose to be a nurse because over the course of my life I’d come to realise what an impact that a nurse could have on each and every patient and family member they came in contact with. It was hard—especially when during several critical times of the year my illness would act up, but my classmates and teachers both helped me to get back into the curriculum and stick to it. Yeah…that and my obvious brilliance of course;)
I was the patient hospitalized for a week that did homework in her hospital bed and studied like I was taking finals the next week. It didn’t matter what my body did, I was determined not to flunk out and graduate with my classmates.
I think I freaked out my roomies/suite mates alot with my intensity but they accepted it as they accepted everything else about me. My roomie actually became Lil Mama, and she got on me whenever she felt I was violating the fine balance that maintained my health. They would all come visit me daily when I was hospitalized and we would play spades and talk about boys until visiting hours were over. Okay…I’m really waxing nostalgic here.
In 2001 I graduated with my class and with honors and a new chapter of my life finally began.