Ameerah discovers herself in Nigeria

By Ameerah Thomas, Undergraduate Student, Philosophy Major 
Yoruba Fulbright-Hays Group Project Abroad - Summer 2024 

My name is Ameerah Thomas, or Àdùké, a sophomore philosophy major from Miami, FL. This past summer, I had the amazing opportunity to study Yorùbá at the University of Ibadan in Nigeria for a duration of 8 weeks. Now that the fall semester has started and I’m getting back into my routine as an American student, I often look back at my recent experience as a Yorùbá student. My 8 weeks in Nigeria were nothing short of amazing, but equally as challenging. The many experiences I’ve had have shaped me into a more worldly person, more open than ever to take risks and experience different cultures.

Being a lighter-skinned African-American woman, I certainly had trouble navigating Nigerian culture at first, and truth be told, my experiences surely kept me down at times. However, I think it takes such experiences to make someone more worldly, to unlearn the conditions placed by American society, especially when it comes to culture, race, and language. Once I became comfortable with my differences, my heart was open to experiencing all that Nigerian culture has to offer.

The experiences I’ve had connecting with locals, eating traditional food, seeing different parts of Nigeria, and bonding with my group are all things that I continuously think about now that I am back in the States. It’s amazing how one person can live a completely different life from their own. I feel as though the Ameerah I met in Nigeria is drastically different from the Ameerah in the United States. It teaches you that there are so many versions of yourself to be discovered, and that travel and education are huge gateways for self-discovery. My experience was otherworldly, and words cannot fully express the gratitude I have for my group—my teachers, my peers, and the friends I made abroad. Peace and love!