Education as a Bridge by Tiwaladeoluwa

Education as a Bridge by Tiwaladeoluwa - April 2015 Scholarship Essay

There are fifty-five countries, approximately three thousand tribes, and fifteen percent of the earth’s population in Africa. With over fifty ethnicities in most African countries, a surfeit amount of languages and dialects, and an overpowering pride in ones culture and values, there is very little connecting the African countries together, save for the spread of a common language-English- and the increased technological advances. Yet one common ubiquitous drive had transcended the aforementioned lingual, cultural, and territorial restrictions; the need to acquire more and more knowledge has managed to connect the distinct nations to one another. That is what I believe the true purpose of education is, to eliminate the discrepancies that divide us and unite us in our pure instinctual efforts to learn.

Zvisina muganhu is a phrase in Shona which directly translates to "without boundaries". This phrase, I am able to translate into five different dialects, each conveying the same concept; that, as a global citizen and an individual who has had the privilege of living in multiple countries, the notions of cultural, racial and linguistic borders are obsolete. This mentality and outlook is what I intend to bring with me as I pursue higher education. I feel that in the course of my time in college not only will I be able to experience the best that the university and the United States of America had to offer, but I also will have the chance to give the institution a taste of a world without boundaries and virtues from all the cultures and traditions I have integrated in.

Laisi Ibode translates to "without boundaries" in Yoruba, my native dialect. In Nigeria, my home country, I would be considered part of a majority and, to some extent, of noble lineage. Yet the thirst for knowledge manages to transcend that idea. From an early age I had been taught that education is becoming a ubiquitous language that everyone deserves a chance to become fluent in. Naturally, that struck a chord in my psych as I reflected on the fact that knowledge does not discriminate and is ready to regale anyone with its vast reservoir of facts and information. All that is needed is to ways to distribute the gift of education to those in need regardless of differences in order to bridge the chasm between the nations. If one was to visit Nigeria, one would note that it is a prominent tradition for people to bridge ethnic differences with knowledge.

By the age of thirteen I had made several excursions to countries in Africa, one of them in which I was able to assimilate myself into the life of one of the native settlements. It was with the help native people of southern Africa I was able to learn how to say Go sena mabati, a phrase that they use to welcome outsiders into their community. This phrase, if my spelling if it is correct, roughly translates to "no gates," and is a strategy employed to bridge the gap between the seldom meeting cultures of archaic rural life and urban life. This mentality has succeeded in spreading in such a way that the more civic parts have begun to adopt it as a norm and way of life. Even South Africa, a country devastated by apartheid and infrequent clashes with other countries, has managed to fill its cultural cavity and become, as its flag implies, a rainbow country.

French, a language I had been educated in for about four years has allowed me to translate the clause "without borders" to san barrièrs. For a while, while learning French, I questioned why I had to learn a language different from my own. Yet after seeing how a simple clause could have a profound effect on diverse people and traditions I decided to become an unofficial advocate of a global village. I felt that my first chance at doing so would involve becoming fluent in a language, other than English, spoken by over 220 million people. This would be one step out of many in my journey towards, as the French put it, La vie sans limite.