Nigerian bags US student ambassador

A Nigerian undergraduate at the University of Wyoming in the United States of America, Aisha Balogun, has been appointed as one of the Global Student Ambassadors of the institution for the 2019/2020 academic session. Aisha, who hails from Ilorin in Kwara State, had a stint at the University of Ilorin before securing admission to the […]

A Nigerian undergraduate at the University of Wyoming in the United States of America, Aisha Balogun, has been appointed as one of the Global Student Ambassadors of the institution for the 2019/2020 academic session.

Aisha, who hails from Ilorin in Kwara State, had a stint at the University of Ilorin before securing admission to the US. Earlier this year, she carried out research workshops and donated engineering research kits to students of the University of Ilorin. She is currently studying Computer Engineering at the University of Wyoming.

In a chat on the website of the Wyoming varsity, Aisha said: “I’m finishing up my Bachelor’s in Computer Engineering. After graduation, I hope to start my career as a software engineer at Twitter,” she said.

She advised students to make the best of their time at UW. “Learn new things, travel, make long lasting friendships, explore the outdoors and get involved on campus. If you have a bucket list, now is probably a great time to get things checked off.”

According to the University of Wyoming website, “The Global Student Ambassadors were chosen by the International Students and Scholars office to act as our public representatives. Their duties include communicating to current and future students about life on the University of Wyoming campus, to organize activities that support our student population, and to manage the ISS social media accounts.”

Comparing Nigerian university system and that of the US, Aisha said: “The education systems are very different. Education in the United States does not just focus on theoretical knowledge like in Nigeria. I have had classes where I had to build projects that imitate self-driving cars like autonomous vehicles, and I had so much lab experience and practicality in general, which I definitely did not get in my first year at the University of Ilorin.“

“There is a lot of emphasis on having hands on skills, much so, internships both within and outside the school is highly encouraged. I had an internship with a simulation software company ANSYS last summer and I accepted an internship offer with Twitter for this coming summer,” she added.

She maintained that education in the United States is also very flexible, as courses are taken by choice.