8th Annual Clinton Global Initiative Conference

Let me start of by saying I will never travel with US Airways and American Airlines again in my life. Never again. Between delayed flights, de-icing the plane, and a pilot oversleeping and not arriving on time, it took 12 hours to get from Philadelphia to Miami. Yup, 12 hours for a trip that usually takes only 3 hours, 3 hours tops! I might as well have used those 12 hours to fly to Ghana! But we thank God for travelling mercies.

After landing at MIA, I was given flowers as a courtesy of MIA for celebrating International Women's Day. I found that so sweet and my anger from the irresponsible pilot and all the flight delays began to dissipate. I mean, who does not like flowers?

 MIA Celebrates International Women's Day!

My ride from MIA to the hotel was epic! My driver was extremely nice and funny! He gave me a tour of downtown Miami in between our conversations on education, life in America, and the purpose of my visit to Miami. He asked how I was paying for Drexel (because he knows how expensive it is) and I told him, “I am blessed.” He looked at me in the rearview mirror with a raised brow and said:

“Uh-huh! From your answer I’m guessing you go to church. That’s good. Most folks your age don’t know the value of church. Between technology and the company they have, they do not have good principles. Too many entertainment, too much freedom, the company, you know…you need to be around good, good company.”

I started to record our conversation because I knew I was going to learn something valuable from him. I asked him how far South Beach was from the hotel and he said, "AHH! Now you are looking for fun!"

Fast forward to conference

Personally, I believe every student (undergraduate and graduate) should experience this conference at least once in their life. It does not even matter if you are not into the whole idea of “changing the world” but the people you will meet and the conversations you will have with people will literally blow your mind.

I have attended a lot of conferences centered on professional and leadership development but CGI U has got to be my favorite thus far. From the speakers: Hans Rosling, Diane M. Bryant, Doyin Oluwole, Wanjira Maathai, and Pussy Riot, to the hosts,  President Bill Clinton and Chelsea Clinton, I felt like I gained a ton of knowledge just by being in everyone’s presence. You can view the full list of 2015 Program Participants here.

Another portion of the conference that I loved was getting the chance to meet a lot of people, particularly Nigerians and Ghanaians. I often hear students say that they will not go back home to help but those I met had big, big ideas on how they were going back home to contribute. I was so inspired because they were not just talking - these students had already begun their projects!

And on a lighter note, the boys…well the men I met were all good looking. Literally the perfect combination. I immediately thought of a recent conversation I had with a good friend of mine about how she was patiently waiting for me to decide on my asoebi colors. LOL! Talk about pressure!

In one of the sessions, The Power of Big Data, Hans Rosling, a Swedish medical doctor, academic, statistician, and public speaker presented on how the population of Africa would exponentially increase:

“Africa will double its population in the next 35 years...people with two arms and a brain, they work hard…and I have an advice to Americans and Europeans: start being polite to Africans already today, because they are going to outnumber you and whether you are going to have them as enemies or friends, yes start being polite as of today.”

The crowd erupted with laughter and claps. I thought to myself, “FINALLY, someone who gets it.” I will post my takeaways from the conference soon but in the meantime, I highly recommend Hans' presentation – definitely worth it.

Overall the conference was fantastic. I was honestly surprised that the Commitment to Action that I pitched was selected, not because I am not confident, but because it is not as grandeur as everyone else’s project but then I remembered something someone told me a while ago on opportunities:

“It does not matter if you think you are NOT worthy of being at the table or HOW you got to the table. The point is you got to the table. Someone thought that you deserved to be at the table. So be at the table and take it all in. JUST BE.”

I wish I remembered who told me this. I would thank them a million times.

Sincerely,

Samuella