#1 from 21 Before 21: Meet a Nobel Peace Laureate

I had to include this on my list when I found out Leymah Gbowee would be visiting my school prior to me visiting Ghana. As part of LeBow Business's leadership series, Mrs. Gbowee and other local notable women presented on the importance of innovative leadership.

The event focused on forging innovative leadership through collective power with Nobel Peace Laureate Leymah Gbowee and also featured Staci Moore (Co-Chair at the Women's Community Revitalization Project) and Oni Richards-Watily (Executive Director of the African Family Health Organization). The event was sponsored by the College of Arts and Sciences, the Office of International Studies, the Student Center for Inclusion and Culture, the School of Education, and the Women's and Gender Studies Program.

Leymah's speech was very invigorating and it was honestly one of the best. Her experiences are so rich and you can tell she speaks from a place of pure truth. I recorded her entire presentation but Blogger does not allow audio files to be included in posts. Here are a few pictures from the event. Enjoy!

Sincerely,
Samuella

#17 from 21 Before 21: Pursue my passion

I absolutely love cooking. That might come as a surprise to some people because very few people actually like the idea of the cooking and baking process but I absolutely love it. Even though I am still in school, I have decided to give "Samuella's Kitchen" a try and will be taking the necessary steps to make sure it keeps moving forward.

I got a customized apron with my official logo on it and did a small shoot for Samuella's Kitchen prior to leaving for Ghana and focused more on my signature dishes instead of making a lot of food. 

For the shoot I made my signature Fried Rice, Jollof Rice, Spicy Roasted Potatoes, Peppered Salmon and Chicken, Chocolate Fudge Oreo Cake, Ghana-Style Pound Cake, and Tres Leches Cake.

I will be sharing a few pictures from the SK shoot with you all below - enjoy!

Sincerely,

Samuella

#7 from 21 Before 21: Face my fears

I personally do not think I have a lot of fears, just things I would rather not do, lol! For #7 on my list I really thought long and hard on what I could do but in the end I decided to focus on my public speaking/presentation skills.

I have done a fair deal of public speaking and such but right before I go on stage at any event/presentation, I am always hesitant and a bit scared. 

A few days prior to traveling to Ghana, one of my primary school friends, Grenda, called me and asked if I could co-host her charity fashion show called the Splendor Christmas Charity Show. I was hesitant and excited all at the same time and quickly said yes without giving it much thought. As it got closer to the fashion show date, I started to regret saying yes so quickly and thought of calling her on multiple occasions to give an excuse as to why I could not host it.

Being Samuella, I do not believe in disappointing people and not following through so I just closed my mouth and started to make preparations in order to co-host the show. 

Several hours before the show, she told me to be the main host and I thought, wow! I had prepared to be a co-host and helping out from time to time but I certainly did not prepare to host the entire show!

Long story short, the show was an absolute success! Everything went really well and we thank God for giving me the opportunity to host a show. One of my friends, Nameita, was saying I have also added being a host to the many things I do and joked about me putting my booking details in my Instagram bio like so many people do, lol!

The professional pictures are not out yet but here are a few pictures I was able to get from the 2015 Splendor Christmas Charity Fashion Show! If you are interested in donating to the cause, please click here. There are two benefactors this year: Sweet and Honey Children's Home & Echoing Hill Village, a disability center. I hope you are touched enough to donate something, whether big or small, to such a great cause. God bless!

Sincerely,

Samuella

#12 from 21 Before 21: Make a semi-big purchase

Originally, I had planned on buying a car later on in the year but because I am barely home, I decided it was best to save it for later on and decided to invest in a KitchenAid Mixer and a professional camera instead. Since I am really passionate about baking and Samuella's Kitchen is slowly growing, I figured this would be the best time to buy one. After several months of searching online in order to find the perfect KitchenAid, I finally decided on the Artisan Stand Mixer in a silver color and it looks so good!  

I was making a Trés Leches cake for my Samuella's Kitchen photo-shoot and I was able to make the whipped cream topping in less than 5 minutes! Can you imagine? And I have been struggling with a hand mixer and a regular whisk all this time! When I use my hand mixer to make whipped cream, it takes an average of 15-20 minutes in order to get the right texture but using the Stand Mixer is definitely more powerful and efficient.

The other item I decided to get was a professional camera. I have always wanted one but did not really want to spend the money to get one. Again, after several long hours of searching on Google and getting industry-professionals to give their input, I finally decided on a Canon Rebel T5. 

I am way too excited about these purchases and I cannot wait to get my hands dirty!

Sincerely,

Samuella 

#16 from 21 Before 21: Give a heartfelt surprise to someone

For this item I really wanted to surprise my childhood best friend and planned it months prior to arriving in Ghana. The plan was for my Mum to call her over to the house and act like she had something to give her. Once she went into the room to grab this "thing", I would come out and it would be a big surprise.

When I finally arrived in Ghana, I spent a couple of days in Accra and then went to Kumasi in order to surprise my best friend, Abigail. The surprise went just as planned but I did not expect the tears that followed.

Granted, we have not seen each other in over 10 years but I did not think we would cry like little babies! I recorded the entire surprise on my Canon and I will be sharing the video soon with you all but until then, here is a picture of Abigail and I a few minutes before we said our goodbyes.

Sincerely,

Samuella

When we saw each other for the first time.  

A few weeks later during our official reunion.