Welcome to Student Life Radio

On Volume 1 of Student Life Radio you'll hear from Ezi Odozor (Head of Student Life) and Salimata Bojang (Assistant Head of Student Life) about what they love, what community means to them and what Student Life Radio is all about. 

As part of Student Life Radio, you can also check out the playlists they've created on Spotify. Check them out here: 

• Ezi's Playlist
• Sali's Playlist

Transcript

Salimata Bojang: 0:00

Music, hello, hello, everyone. Welcome to the Student Life radio. My name is Salimata Bojang, a.k.a. Sali. I'm a proud UEL alumni and currently the Assistant Head of Student Life. I'm also an occupational psychologist and an entrepreneur.So, Jack of many trades and master of a lot of them as well [laughter]. If I do say so myself, but yeah, I'm also a proud wife and mom, and I love to explore and learn new things about myself. I believe that there's so much to discover in this life, and there's so much time for us to do that it's never too late to find out new things about yourself. So that's one thing I love. Also love visiting new places, having new experiences, and also being here to support the wonderful students of this university, like we do on a daily basis. So that's just me in a nutshell. Welcome. Hi.

Ezi Odozor: 1:09

My name is Ezinwanne Odozor, also known as Ezi I'm the current Head of Student Life here at the University of East London. I was born in Nigeria. I grew up in Toronto, Canada, and I moved to London in February of 2022 when I started this gig here at UEL, I am a writer. I am also a business owner, just like Sali, and in my business outside of the university, I work with artists to write grants. I also work with organizations and municipalities trying to bring their projects to fruition. So recently, worked with the City of Toronto on a project around supporting vulnerable families. Other than that, I'm a University of Toronto graduate. So did that twice. I studied English, human biology, specifically global health, and that did a master's in education and global health as well. Beyond the school beyond the post secondary environment, I love things like boxing and listening to good music. So hopefully you'll enjoy my playlist, which we'll talk about later. I have a song in my playlist as well, so if you catch that one, let me know that's a song that's by me. Obviously, there's many songs on the playlist. [Laughter] That's a little bit about me, and we'll kind of get into more about me and about Sal. All right, so welcome to our first volume of Student Life Radio, and today we'll be just be talking to you about what student life is, who we are, that's me and Sally, and what community means to us, and what we hope that you'll get out of tuning into Student Life Radio. So as I mentioned in the introduction, what we're looking to do with this podcast that we've got going on is to really introduce you to the members of this community, our UEL community, and to show you the ways in which each person is different but brings something of value, from their different perspective, to the life of our community just by being who they are. So we'll start off with an easy one. I think Sal, right?[Laughter] So the playlists that are part of this podcast are all about music, and what music says about who we are, what we love and where we want to go. So firstly, for you, what does music mean to you?

Salimata Bojang: 3:08

Music means home to me, it means belonging and it means happiness. So maybe you can tell from my accent, but I am originally from The Gambia, which is in West Africa, and I listen to a lot of songs from our area: so Gambia and Senegal. Listening to these songs reminds me of childhood, reminds me of home, because I am so far away from home, so it kind of gives me that a bit of peace and bit of connection to my roots and my family back home there, and quite often brings me joy, and sometimes brings me tears, because I do miss certain aspects of it. It also gives me a sense of belonging, because they speak my language (Wollof), which is my native language, and it kind of it gives me joy, because you don't hear that a lot here. Everyone's speaking English, and to just be able to listen to that [my language] and know that there, I do have a community, there are people out there that are speaking my language, brings me a lot of joy and peace and also happiness, because then you get to dance, because we have a lot of instruments in our music, so you get to dance and jump around. My kids love it. Sometimes we'll just be playing music and running around the house and having fun. So it brings me a lot of joy. So it means all those things to me, really.

Ezi Odozor: 4:12

Yeah, music is a real source of connection. I mean, I totally agree with you, and I think that

Salimata Bojang: 4:14

Yeah! for me too, music is that is that same sense of like home and community for sure, also in my, I guess creative worlds as well, music is I really connect music a lot to the things I write about and when I and also to my practice of writing. Sometimes I literally, like, turn off all the lights and the song that's playing will be like the inspo for a short story, or inspo for, like, a screenplay that I'm working on. One of the screenplays I'm working on right now. The entire thing is based off of what I was listening to at that moment. Yeah, so definitely about family, community and things like that. But also, like for me, it's heavy on the mood. Yeah, yeah, absolutely, yeah.

Ezi Odozor: 4:51

There's a song for everything. [Laughter] All right. So beyond the music, this podcast is really about looking at how we show up for our community, and part of that is how we actually highlight and see the members of our community, and truly seeing somebody. In my in my language, because I'm Igbo, you know, the way that we say that you love a person is actually the literal translation is to say I see you, right? So it's not the seeing of the eyes, the seeing of the being, so I see you and who you are. And so this podcast is really about that, and these playlists are really about that. To say that we see you as students, we see you as faculty, we see you as professional services staff, but we also see you as these much more fuller, robust people with complex lives who bring things to this community that we never could have imagined and didn't know about. So we would like to know about it.

Salimata Bojang: 5:40

Definitely a loaded question. But the So what's the significance of community for you? Maybe that's significance of community to me, I mean, community is everything. a loaded question, because obviously community [is] significant, but what it is for you? I feel like, like most of us, and a large majority of our students here at University of East London come from distant places, and like they're moving here. So I feel like community means like belonging. It can mean music. It can mean that smile that you get when you come in to here. And I feel that, since we're on the topic of music, coming in and kind of hearing something familiar. A sound that's familiar to you, instruments that are familiar to you, and seeing other people actually relating to it and dancing to it and feeling joy from it. It's a great way to kind of form a community, bring about a sense of belonging and sense of happiness and feeling that, "Yes, I am away from home. I am here in a different country, in a different place, but I feel like this is a place I should be at. This is a place that I belong, and this is a place that celebrates me and what I am, and is a place that I could form a community. Like, these are my people." So I feel like that's what community means. It means not just familiarity in the sense that this person looks like me, but like this person can celebrate our differences as well as our similarities, and also be able to kind of respect and enjoy each other's company. So yeah,

Ezi Odozor: 6:55

Yeah. And I think that piece about differences is really important. In anti racist work, they talk a lot of the time about solidarities and critical solidarity. So not just simply allyship, because allyship is convenient for while the two allies have a shared cause.

Salimata Bojang: 7:08

Exactly!

Ezi Odozor: 7:09

But a critical friendship, a critical solidarity, is really looking at okay across these differences how can we move forward, you know, in solidarity towards some sort of [radical] end. And so really thinking about relating across differences and then the reality of differences and not in search of sameness, is really important.

Salimata Bojang: 7:23

Yeah, 100% because everybody's got different things to offer and amazing things to offer. So it's always good to be a bit open minded about different people's opinions different views, because we can't all just be thinking it the same way. Otherwise the world would be a boring place.

Ezi Odozor: 7:35

And the point, the point you made about like, seeing other people enjoying the music, that means much to you.

Salimata Bojang: 7:39

Yeah

Ezi Odozor: 7:40

We say that a lot in terms of student life events, because, you know, you have a lot with our international orientation. So we'll have, like, the DJ in the square--shout out DJ, David.

Salimata Bojang: 7:47

DJ David! [Laughter]

Ezi Odozor: 7:48

And so, you know, we have a large population of South Asian students. We have a large population of West African students, and to see them relating across the different genres of music that come from those regions is really cool, because they all get into it, right? And they all like really, and they even bring their different dance styles

Salimata Bojang: 8:03

Right!

Ezi Odozor: 8:03

across the different genres of music. So that's really cool.

Salimata Bojang: 8:06

It's really cool. I feel really happy when I hear other people like listening to music that I love, even though they can't understand the language and that And really kind of relating to it and being

Ezi Odozor: 8:12

[Laughter] happy to like when you go to Youssou N'Dour Yeah. [Laughter]

Salimata Bojang: 8:17

Yeah. It's amazing to see people from different areas and different walks of life, just dancing and enjoying it. Despite the fact that they don't even know what the person is saying really, but they can feel the impact of it, yeah.

Ezi Odozor: 8:29

Shared joy is an amazing thing.

Salimata Bojang: 8:30

Yeah.

Ezi Odozor: 8:31

So in Student Life, we love to say, learn, explore, grow. And what we're really saying there is opportunities to learn about who you are, what you love, where you want to go. And similarly then, in terms of exploring, exploring those opportunities, engaging in them, so that you can do those things, and then growing into the person that you want to be. But one of the things that's, I think, critical in terms of that pathway to growth is having a guiding principle for yourself, having a kind of core set of values that allow you to really stand on, as we say, stand on business. [Laughter]

Salimata Bojang: 9:01

Yeah.[Laughter]

Ezi Odozor: 9:03

Stand on who you are and move from that position. So for you, what's your guiding principle? What is it that you know to be true about yourself, and how is it that that knowledge guides you in what you do?

Salimata Bojang: 9:13

I feel there's three things that I always kind of put forward when I'm getting involved in anything like at work, engaging with people, and just in the job as being the Assistant Head of Student Life as well. So kindness, like, first of all, be kind. In everything that you're doing, make sure you're kind. Because we don't know what people are going through in this life, and we know that there's a lot of struggles. A lot of things that a person might be going through despite the fact that they'll be coming in and giving you the biggest smile. So always try to be kind. Be considerate in what you do. Be respectful. Be respectful of opinions. Like when we're planning our stuff at Student Life, we always ensure that we send them out, maybe before the event starts, like some sort of survey to ask them about what it is that they'd like us to provide. That means that we care about your opinions. We respect your ideas and respect your values and what you're bringing to the table. So respect people, respect their opinions, their needs, and what is that they require from us, because we are the people that are guiding them through these extracurricular, co curricular things that we're planning for them. But it means a lot more when they feel that their views are respected and their ideas are being taken into consideration. And also like being sincere and delivering that is one of the main things, because you have to be sincere in the things that you can do, don't promise or over promise them that I'm going to do this, I'll do that for you, and don't provide that. So be sincere and make sure you deliver on what it is that you're providing to them. So I feel like these three things we kind of incorporate in everything that we do, being a part of the Student Life team. Couldn't be part of a better team. I would say, we have such a lovely team.

Ezi Odozor: 10:41

Hear, hear! [Laughter]

Salimata Bojang: 10:43

We have a great team. I always say that, and I'm not being biased. I'm just saying, yeah. [Laughter] Well, you know, working with such amazing people makes it easy for us to implement these things in the things that we do. Because it's literally, I feel like it underpins a lot of the stuff that we do. But yeah, I mean learning, exploring, where you have to make sure that these things are put in there. Because a part of learning and finding out about yourself and things like this, it takes a lot. It takes a lot of strength, lots of effort, to do certain stuff. So implementing these things in what we do makes it easy for us and the students as well to be able to be open to these experiences that we're trying to provide to them.

Ezi Odozor: 11:21

And I think - so when you say kindness, respect and sincerity. I think those are values that are reflected also in your personality and who you are.

Salimata Bojang: 11:29

Well, thank you. [Laughter]

Ezi Odozor: 11:32

You're very kind person. You're a very effective person. So how have those things, those values, kind of influenced your journey and who you are?

Salimata Bojang: 11:42

Well, I mean, to be fair, I mean, I don't know if I'm being critical of myself, but when people come to me, they're like,"Oh, Sal, you're so kind," or"You're so great you do this, and that". It doesn't feel like I'm doing anything extra, because I feel like these are the bare minimum as a human being that you should do, or the qualities that you should have. Because I grew up being surrounded by kindness, being surrounded by respect, and being around people that are very sincere, and very honest to me. So it comes quite naturally for me, and I feel that it has shaped me in a way, that it's given me strength, like being kind doesn't mean being weak. It doesn't mean being a pushover. It just- it has strengthened me because I know how I want to react in situations, and to be able to put myself in people's shoes before reacting to certain situations. So it has moulded me in a lot of ways and saved me a lot of stress and agony. Yeah, the different things I do, and then respect as well. It's really important to respect people. I said I came all the way from West Africa to here. We don't all necessarily live the same way or practice the same way or do the things that we do the same way. But it's really important to respect everyone's opinion, everyone's views, everyone's choices, because that is life. It's a given, really. So if I can say sincerity as well, because I want people to be sincere to me. I want people to be honest to me. So I feel like that's also something that I need to be because you get what you give out. That's how I see it. If you give out kindness, you receive it. If you give out respect to people, you receive it as well as sincerity. So that has moulded me into, I would like to believe, a very strong, a very determined type of person that can thrive in different settings. That can take life as it comes and come out winning, basically. Yeah![Laughter]

Ezi Odozor: 13:30

Yeah. I feel, for me, in terms of, like, guiding principles, it's definitely a strong sense of integrity, fairness and uncompromising insistence on things being right. And I think that comes out in my work, because, yeah, we have shaped Student Life over the last - what is it two years, nearly three years - to be an area that people respect. That people expect good work from, and that people receive good work from. And for me, that comes from really being clear. I should add, I think a sense of creativity too is really important to me

Salimata Bojang: 14:08

Yeah.

Ezi Odozor: 14:09

Like being really, really clear on the purpose of what you're doing.

Salimata Bojang: 14:12

Yeah.

Ezi Odozor: 14:12

Why are you doing what you're doing? And so the purpose is, always, has always been, to enrich the experience of students.

Salimata Bojang: 14:18

Yep!

Ezi Odozor: 14:19

And what that- And if you're going to do that, you've got to do that well.

Salimata Bojang: 14:21

Yeah.

Ezi Odozor: 14:22

Right? And you have to really, really think about, what are you trying to deliver? And what can you allow to be"Okay, maybe this piece we won't do, but what must be at the core of that thing?" and insisting upon that, right?

Salimata Bojang: 14:34

Yeah.

Ezi Odozor: 14:34

And I think getting there involves having integrity in how you do it.

Salimata Bojang: 14:38

Yeah.

Ezi Odozor: 14:39

So for our us in our team, you know, it's always treating everybody else that we're interacting with respect...

Salimata Bojang: 14:44

Yeah

Ezi Odozor: 14:45

Not treating anybody else's work like it's less than, you know? Like really holding up all the people that come into work with us to deliver on this thing, because we're delivering on this thing together. So having integrity about what we're doing, but also about how we're doing it. And I think that shapes also how I interact with people.

Salimata Bojang: 15:03

Yeah

Ezi Odozor: 15:04

Same thing, you know, I'm a very stubborn person.

Salimata Bojang: 15:06

Yeah, that you are. [Laughter]

Ezi Odozor: 15:10

I am a stubborn person, but that stubbornness is informed by a sense of rightness.

Salimata Bojang: 15:15

Yeah?

Ezi Odozor: 15:16

That comes from a sense of care for other people.

Salimata Bojang: 15:18

100%

Ezi Odozor: 15:19

Yeah.

Salimata Bojang: 15:19

You're a very, very, caring person.

Ezi Odozor: 15:20

Bless you.

Salimata Bojang: 15:21

You care deeply about people. And as the Head of Student Life, like we are very fortunate to have you there as our Head. Because you care deeply about the members of staff, and you care deeply about the students, and you care about your work, and you always put in 100% in everything that you do. Even when obstacles present themselves. So as much as, you know, everybody's all raving about how amazing these Student Life events are. It takes a lot sometimes to get these things done, and you always put in your everything to make this work, which is why it comes out fantastically.

Ezi Odozor: 15:53

Aw, bless you.

Salimata Bojang: 15:54

Yeah. I mean, you're always giving credit to the entire team, and we love it, but also we have to give credit where credit's due, and we are very fortunate to have you as a Head, yeah.

Ezi Odozor: 16:03

That's so nice. We're gonna take a break to have a cry. [Laughter] But thank you so much. Appreciate you. I really do. I really do. Yeah, it's good to have a strong team, and it's good to do that with care and integrity and creativity, really. Because we do have to be creative about the obstacles. [Laughter]

Salimata Bojang: 16:16

You are the most creative person I know, honestly!

Ezi Odozor: 16:19

No more, no more! Thank you! [Laughter]

Salimata Bojang: 16:23

You are extremely creative, and you come up with ideas and things that I'm like, wowed all the time. And I know you've got a lot of experience, because you've worked in Higher Ed for a long time, but the creativeness doesn't come from just experience. It's just who you are. You're just a creative person.

Ezi Odozor: 16:40

Well, I mean, the next bit of the questions are about what we love, right, and how that influences your journey. So I love people, personally.

Salimata Bojang: 16:47

Yeah.

Ezi Odozor: 16:48

And so that interaction with people, I've always been really curious about people.

Salimata Bojang: 16:52

Yeah.

Ezi Odozor: 16:52

And so when I used to write stories, it used to a lot of the times come from like, me watching somebody at the playground and being like "That was weird." And, you know, writing a story about like, that interaction or that person, my dad still has, like, in his filing cabinet of all the

Salimata Bojang: 17:04

[Laughter] things, like, all these, like, drawings, crazy drawings. And then it was a time I was obsessed with Anne of Green

Ezi Odozor: 17:10

'Anne and the Magic Necklace' 'Anne in the Skating Gables so every character that I'd write about was named Anne. Rink'. No, but in a sense of who you love, like I love people. I love being creative. I love thinking about something like,"How about this, how about that, how about this". And so I'm always writing those kinds of things down. And you know, we recently did a presentation together at the AMOSSHE conference where we talked about purpose, right?

Salimata Bojang: 17:35

Yeah.

Ezi Odozor: 17:35

And planning with a purpose, and programming with a purpose. And not letting the obstacles be your starting point.

Salimata Bojang: 17:43

Yeah.

Ezi Odozor: 17:44

Right, letting the dream be your starting point. And yes, there's dreams and there's reality, but people have made their dreams real.

Salimata Bojang: 17:52

Yeah!

Ezi Odozor: 17:52

Right? So how can we make those dreams as real as we possibly can? And that's where the insistence, that's where the stubbornness comes on, comes along. Because I know it can be, and I refuse to let anything tell me it cannot be

Salimata Bojang: 18:04

Yeah.

Ezi Odozor: 18:04

Especially when I can nearly touch it.

Salimata Bojang: 18:06

Yeah.

Ezi Odozor: 18:07

You know what I mean? So yeah. So it won't always be perfect, and I accept that, but it can be possible.

Salimata Bojang: 18:12

Yeah, that's a really, really powerful quality to have the resilience and the push or the zeal to know that this is this, is this can happen, and I'm going to do my absolute best to make it happen. Because if it doesn't happen, in the end, you'll know that it's not because you didn't try. It's not for the lack of trying. You have done everything you can. Obviously things didn't work out, but to have that resilience, to be able to do that, that is an incredible quality, and that's one thing that you definitely have.

Ezi Odozor: 18:37

Yeah, and I think we try to also make that true for our team.

Salimata Bojang: 18:41

Yeah.

Ezi Odozor: 18:41

We always tell them we'll never be upset if you put everything you've got into something and it doesn't work out.

Salimata Bojang: 18:46

And it doesn't work out.

Ezi Odozor: 18:47

Because that's life

Salimata Bojang: 18:48

Yeah!

Ezi Odozor: 18:48

But what we won't accept [laughter] is you not trying.

Salimata Bojang: 18:52

Yeah.

Ezi Odozor: 18:52

Yeah, because we're here to support you to try.

Salimata Bojang: 18:54

Yeah.

Ezi Odozor: 18:55

Right, yeah. So what are some other things you love? Tell me about some other things you love.

Salimata Bojang: 18:58

My most favorite thing to do is to watch series.

Ezi Odozor: 19:00

I know, that's right! [Laugher]

Salimata Bojang: 19:01

I watch an incredible amount of TV, I'm working on it! Trying to reduce it.

Ezi Odozor: 19:07

I'm in awe.[Laughter]

Salimata Bojang: 19:08

I love it, like I would watch- [Laughter] Don't make me start a series late at night, because I'm coming into work the next day, like exhausted because I have to finish it. So I do love that, but I feel like when I was much younger, I wasn't really into going out a lot. I'm the type of person that would come back from school, eat, and I've already got, like, plans for what I'm gonna be watching up until it's time for me to do my homework. But it just it opened up a lot of curiosity for me, like, different places that I wanted to go to, different career prospects, different things that could do. I was obsessed with Grey's Anatomy, so in my head, I was going to be a doctor. But that didn't work out.

Ezi Odozor: 19:45

[Laughter]

Salimata Bojang: 19:45

I found out I didn't really like touching blood.

Ezi Odozor: 19:49

[Laughter]

Salimata Bojang: 19:49

I was like"This is not for me!" But it just showed me about the possibilities, like places I could visit, things that I could do, different stories that I wasn't exposed to, and things like that. And it really like heightened my sense of curiosity, to kind of move out of my bubble, the little bubble that I had down there, to explore different things. So that's definitely one thing I love. The thing I love most is being a mother to my kids.

Ezi Odozor: 20:15

Your wonderful children.

Salimata Bojang: 20:16

Oh, I love those guys. I mean, they drive me crazy, but I do love them. They're so funny. They are funny. They keep me laughing all the time. My husband's great too. Let me just put him in there, in case he listens to this.

Ezi Odozor: 20:29

[Laughter]

Salimata Bojang: 20:29

He's wonderful. I love it like they, they make me want to do better. They're so open to learning. They're so different. They're so so different. And I see myself, the best parts of myself in each of them. And, yeah, it's wonderful to see.

Ezi Odozor: 20:43

Yeah, kids are cool.

Salimata Bojang: 20:44

You love kids.

Ezi Odozor: 20:45

I love kids. Yeah, I love kids. What else I love? I mean, you know, we talked about/you mentioned that you're a jack of all trades.

Salimata Bojang: 20:52

Yep!

Ezi Odozor: 20:52

Same same.

Salimata Bojang: 20:53

Oh god, yes.

Ezi Odozor: 20:55

And I think yeah, like I mentioned that love, curiosity and wonder and those kinds of things, has also influenced in terms of my journey as well.

Salimata Bojang: 21:03

Yeah.

Ezi Odozor: 21:04

So I studied English, because I really love English. I really love books. I really love words. Like words are juicy to me.

Salimata Bojang: 21:11

Yeah.[Laughter]

Ezi Odozor: 21:11

Words are a snack. So I love words. So I did that. But I also did my undergrad, initially in human biology, And how we can unwell each other through kind specifically global health as well. Because I love like, the world and the complex social problems, and thinking about health. Not just in terms of biology, but also in terms of of the interactions that we have, or how we can promote the like, how that then manifests in terms in our relationships with each other. well being through the interactions that we have, and through the systems that we set up. So I'm a big systems girl, structures girl. So that's why I was interested in global health. But I'm also love to be in a basket, a little bit of everything, right?

Salimata Bojang: 21:49

Yeah.

Ezi Odozor: 21:50

Little bit of everything is a bit of me. Yeah,

Salimata Bojang: 21:51

Yeah![Laughter] so other than obviously being in post secondary, post secondary world, higher education world, which I've been working in since The fountain of youth! 2008. Don't let the skincare routine fool you! [

Ezi Odozor: 22:05

Well, yeah, we're working in higher education since 2008 and I worked at the University of Toronto, and I studied the University of Toronto. But outside of that, I also work in the arts. I've worked on children's TV shows. I've worked for the city, and I like doing all those things because I feel like, yeah, it makes life flavorful to me.

Salimata Bojang: 22:20

Yeah.

Ezi Odozor: 22:21

There's just so many interesting ways in which different things can interact. So how I came into working on that children's TV show that I worked on was through my anti racist Master's education route. And so, working with them to think about, how does a child learn about racism? Right. So that's me bringing the arts, that's me

Salimata Bojang: 22:37

Yeah. Yeah.

Ezi Odozor: 22:39

Because that will make what you do so much more bringing the higher education, that's me bringing all those rich to you.

Salimata Bojang: 22:43

Absolutely. And I feel it's never too late. It's different aspects of myself to bear in different arenas. And my love of children and my respect of children into that into that never too late to actually find out what it is that you really space. So yeah, the things that you love, like we try to tell students, all this, all that, all the time, don't just focus on what you think you want to do. Focus on who it is that you want. Because a lot of the time, like growing up outside of the are and what you love. UK, we're all kind of, it feels like we all kind of pre programmed to follow a certain structure and be certain things. So sometimes you think these are the things that I want to do. When you're younger, like I said, I wanted to be a doctor because, yeah, Gray's Anatomy. But then you grow up and you find out that, no, this is not me. There's so much more to me. There's so much more that I want to do. What I want to do is completely different from what I thought I wanted to do. And I feel that we at Student Life, we give them the opportunity to explore these things about themselves, learn new, transferable skills. We do, like, for example, CPR training, and also to explore things. I believe that it's it's wonderful what we do, and I am so proud of what we have achieved in these what - two to three years that we've been there. Because the amount of feedback we get from the students - as to how much certain things that we've done for them has impacted them and has kind of broadened their view about things, and the way it's heightened their curiosity about certain aspects about themselves- is wonderful to hear.

Ezi Odozor: 24:18

Yeah, it is. And that's and that's and that's who we do it for. Like, obviously, you know, we have KPIs just like everybody else.

Salimata Bojang: 24:24

Yeah.

Ezi Odozor: 24:24

Institutional objectives, but really, our objective is always the students. Yeah, it is great. It is great. And, you know, from the from the kind of research led side to social capital is something that is so important for people to have access to.

Salimata Bojang: 24:39

Right.

Ezi Odozor: 24:39

And not everybody has that just by going through the routine of going to school.

Salimata Bojang: 24:44

Exactly.

Ezi Odozor: 24:45

Because obviously your wider life, in fact, impacts that. And so a lot of what we do is about building that social capital as well. So you might not have the money ordinarily to go and visit this place, but we ensure that you're able to or at least can potentially have access to doing it.

Salimata Bojang: 25:01

Yeah.

Ezi Odozor: 25:02

And then also building connections. So social capital is not just about what you have access to, but who you Right, so being able to build those connections for have access to.

Salimata Bojang: 25:07

100% students and with students as well, I think really, really, really key. Yeah, we do some cool stuff. What do people say like you should talk to yourself like you would talk to a friend, because you never tell a friend they suck. That is true.

Ezi Odozor: 25:20

Yeah, but you should be your own friend.

Salimata Bojang: 25:21

100%. Look at yourself in the mirror and say all those great things, because the tongue is a powerful tool. You know, you say something often enough, it becomes real. It becomes something that you truly believe.

Ezi Odozor: 25:33

It becomes your reality.

Salimata Bojang: 25:34

Exactly. So, yeah, I should do that a lot more.

Ezi Odozor: 25:38

All right, obviously, part of our learn, explore and grow is the grow. So who do you hope to be? I know we're old heads, but we still have time left. So who do you hope to be in the time? Are we still growing? Oh, God.

Salimata Bojang: 25:50

Who do I hope to be? That is a very difficult question, because I like me. I mean, I would want to kind of become more established in certain parts of my life. Like, I would like to grow certain aspects of my life, business area wise, and also career wise. But in terms of who I want to be, I feel like I'm pretty much there. Because to me, it's more- My fulfillment comes from a very different area, to me. And I feel like it has something to do with maybe my career, what it is I'm doing. A very small aspect of it, but mostly internal aspects that I might be able to discuss later on. And I feel that I am very close to reaching that level that I want to be at.

Ezi Odozor: 26:46

Of internal satisfaction.

Salimata Bojang: 26:47

Exactly. I am very happy with my life and the way that I view life in general, and there are some aspects that I would like to work on. But I do believe that I am who I want to be when I grow up. Like they say, I want to be you when I grow up. I definitely want to be me when I grow up. [Laughter]

Ezi Odozor: 27:06

[Laughter] I love that for you.

Salimata Bojang: 27:07

Thank you. It's hard. I've never actually thought of that because now I'm like, Oh, I'm already old.[Laughter]

Ezi Odozor: 27:15

Old is a perspective.

Salimata Bojang: 27:17

That is true. That is true.

Ezi Odozor: 27:20

Old is a privilege.

Salimata Bojang: 27:21

100%. There's still of growing to be had. But I feel like as much as I am growing, I feel like I am the individual that I wanted to be like in 10 years, in 15 years, or when I'm like 80 and 90. I would look back and go, yes...

Ezi Odozor: 27:37

You're happy with that person.

Salimata Bojang: 27:38

I'm happy with this person.

Ezi Odozor: 27:40

Yeah. I was listening to something the other day, and it was saying, Don't focus on what will bring you happiness right now. Rather, what will bring you pride about who you are.

Salimata Bojang: 27:49

Yeah. Yeah.

Ezi Odozor: 27:50

So even if it might, you know, be difficult at this Because you have to look at life as an overall sense particular moment, does it make you proud that you're doing that? of satisfaction.

Salimata Bojang: 27:57

Exactly.

Ezi Odozor: 27:58

Which is interesting. Which is interesting, for sure, I think.

Salimata Bojang: 27:59

It is, I feel like-

Ezi Odozor: 28:00

I think there's pieces of both that you can take, but

Salimata Bojang: 28:02

Right. I feel like as individuals, like everybody's got, like, we've all got these goals, all these things. I want to do this, I want to do that. I always look at it as, when you get to a certain age, would all that matter as much as the like, other bits that are not material. Other bits that you probably put as secondary to the things that you were working on whilst you were this age, like, when you get to that age, would that really be the thing that you would look back on and go, Okay, I'm the person. This is the person that I wanted to be. So I tried to focus more on the other bits that I would see myself as being proud of when I get to, like, 80/90 years, instead of the things that I would say I have done this, or I've achieved this,

Ezi Odozor: 28:40

What will make you feel a sense of fulfillment.

Salimata Bojang: 28:42

Exactly, yeah.

Ezi Odozor: 28:44

Who do you hope to be, yeah? I mean, similarly, there's, obviously, there's things in terms of career and...

Salimata Bojang: 28:50

Yeah.

Ezi Odozor: 28:50

You know, life that I- but I think for me, who I hope to be is a good person.

Salimata Bojang: 28:55

Yeah, but you are.

Ezi Odozor: 28:56

Yeah. I mean, being a good person, but I think I hope that to be the story of my life.

Salimata Bojang: 29:00

Yeah. What people would say. Yeah.

Ezi Odozor: 29:00

You know what I mean? Yeah. So you were a good person. You were a fair person. You cared about people. Like, those things I think really matter, like, and that, I think, is a measure of even how I relate to my career. Like, does what I do matter in terms of supporting other people? So if it is, for example, if I'm writing a research project, and that's about supporting vulnerable families.

Salimata Bojang: 29:23

Yeah.

Ezi Odozor: 29:23

So even the lens that I take to then write that is, I'm not writing it for- My client is the city.

Salimata Bojang: 29:28

Yeah.

Ezi Odozor: 29:29

But the people that I'm focused on are these families. So, yeah. So you know not to make it this huge

Salimata Bojang: 29:31

Yeah. philosophical question, but that it can be taken in terms of everything that you're doing on a daily basis, or even the goals that you've set for yourself. How does that relate to your principal idea of what you want your story to be? At the end of your time. Yeah.

Ezi Odozor: 29:47

At the end of your time here on this earthly plane? Yeah? So that's who I hope to be, that's that's who I hope to grow into being. That's what I want the fullness of my picture

Salimata Bojang: 29:58

Yeah, I feel like. A lot of the time when to look like. somebody says, "Oh, I want to be this person when I grow up," But how do you know that you're not better than that person that you're aiming to be when you grow up? Because we are human. We're flawed. We are flawed. So you don't know what that person has struggled with or what has happened that is not out there. So I always feel like we should not aim to be anyone, but to rather, kind of see those qualities in ourselves. And if we don't see it, work hard towards getting those qualities that you think that the other person already has, which is kind of the reason why you want to be that person when you grow up.

Ezi Odozor: 30:32

And also sometimes look at yourself and be fair, because maybe you already have those

Salimata Bojang: 30:36

100%. You probably have all of those already.

Ezi Odozor: 30:39

And maybe, why do you think you don't have those things?

Salimata Bojang: 30:42

Right!

Ezi Odozor: 30:42

Right.

Salimata Bojang: 30:43

Yeah, but that that kind of takes time. I believe that, yeah.

Ezi Odozor: 30:47

And courage.

Salimata Bojang: 30:48

A lot of courage.

Ezi Odozor: 30:49

It takes courage to look at yourself and be like, We can talk about age, the years are going."Hmmm".

Salimata Bojang: 30:51

Yeah, 100% right? I feel that maybe we're just getting to that now, because, you know we're getting Yeah. We don't want to talk about age, but Yeah, oh God.

Ezi Odozor: 30:59

The years are going, and it's and it's giving us pause to reflect on how the years have gone.

Salimata Bojang: 31:07

I just don't understand though, because I was at my prom, like two years ago.[Laughter] Girl, ooh. Listen, that could be lit.

Ezi Odozor: 31:12

[Laughter] We can throw you another prome! We can refresh the clock. Student Life prom![Laughter] Yeah, life comes at you fast.

Salimata Bojang: 31:24

But yeah, it takes a lot of courage to kind

Ezi Odozor: 31:24

It does. of see those [things] in yourself. Because we're very highly critical of ourselves, like we would see all of the flaws in ourselves, but not see it in a lot of people. Yeah, turn up the volume on the kindness. Yeah.

Salimata Bojang: 31:36

Yeah, be kind to yourself. Yeah.

Ezi Odozor: 31:37

All right, so last question. Last question is, why does the work that we do matter, in your opinion?

Salimata Bojang: 31:45

I think because of the students. Like, what, what, what we do. I feel-- because when you come into university, it's not all about just coming and getting that education and going. The education's there, but the experiences that you have will shape your life for years. These are the things that you would remember years from now. Like, what is, what it is that I did at university? What kind of experiences I have? What- did I feel welcome? What exactly, who did I meet at university? Things like that, I believe that what we do is just that. Give them all of that, all of the good experiences, all of the good opportunities to go out there, meet new people, see new places, explore things about yourself. And learn new skills, and things that are not within the curriculum that you're supposed to be getting, but things that would actually help you thrive amazingly. Equip you with all of the soft skills that you need, as well as the hard skills to be able to maneuver the employment industry, or if you want to be an entrepreneur. Or other things, which, right now, I believe are the most important things that you can have outside university. Yes, you have a degree, which a lot of people have, but experience part of it is just the one the single most important things that I feel that employers and people are looking for outside. Yeah, and I feel Student Life, Student Life, just creates all of that for them, and that's why I feel that what we do is just, it's just so amazing. It's just so amazing. The feedback we get from students make makes it all worth it. Like to be able to actually hear the students say, you have done this, and this is what it has done for me, makes everything worth it in the end.

Ezi Odozor: 33:16

Yeah, and I think, you know, Student Life sits within Student Services. And Student Services as a whole, really, that is the support system for students. And I would also say, you know, even broader than that, Professional Services, because you have your library team that's beyond Student Services as well. Yeah, really tries to make sure that students have the resources. You know, the library is more than just books. Never just books, because books are [kissing sound].

Salimata Bojang: 33:39

We love books.

Ezi Odozor: 33:40

We love a book. My mom was a librarian, so.

Salimata Bojang: 33:41

Yeah. Oh, were you?

Ezi Odozor: 33:44

Yeah, she's principal now, but she started as a teacher librarian.

Salimata Bojang: 33:47

Oh?

Ezi Odozor: 33:47

Yeah. But you know, all these spaces that really work to enrich the lives of students, and then Student Life being a part of that. Yeah, to try and, as we mentioned, just really, really give you opportunities to think differently, see differently, do differently, because what do we always say at International Orientation. It's not just about memorizing.

Salimata Bojang: 34:05

Yeah.

Ezi Odozor: 34:06

Right. It's not about sticking all the knowledge in your head and hoping it stays there.

Salimata Bojang: 34:09

Yeah.

Ezi Odozor: 34:09

It's about what you do with that.

Salimata Bojang: 34:10

Yeah.

Ezi Odozor: 34:11

Right, how you challenge that? I learned this. I heard this, but life tells me this. And you know, yes, we want to do research, and yes, you want to combine research and life experience, right? Because, just because we experienced it as a unit of one doesn't make it a true thing, but allows you to actually ask that question and go in search of the answer in novel ways.

Salimata Bojang: 34:27

Right.

Ezi Odozor: 34:28

Yeah, sometimes people look at it as fun and games, right? We do have fun, and we do play games. [Laughter]

Salimata Bojang: 34:32

We do, we do. We do have a lot of fun.

Ezi Odozor: 34:34

We do! But in that fun, and in those games, there's all kinds of other opportunities, and it's not just games.

Salimata Bojang: 34:42

Yeah.

Ezi Odozor: 34:42

And so I think sometimes that might be what gets missed around the robustness of those experiences.

Salimata Bojang: 34:47

Yeah.

Ezi Odozor: 34:47

And as you said, the classroom is an invaluable space of learning and of experience.

Salimata Bojang: 34:53

Yeah.

Ezi Odozor: 34:53

Right, because what you do and experience the classroom also matters. But certainly beyond the classroom and the ways in which we also work to actually enrich the classroom experience as well, because we do do co-corricular activities too.

Salimata Bojang: 35:04

Yeah.

Ezi Odozor: 35:04

I think is really significant. So go us, huh?

Salimata Bojang: 35:06

Very significant. Go us.

Ezi Odozor: 35:07

Go team.

Salimata Bojang: 35:08

Go team.

Ezi Odozor: 35:09

Team UEL! [Laughter]

Salimata Bojang: 35:09

Yeah. Like Stanni said yesterday "So when I

Ezi Odozor: 35:10

Yeah, we had International Orientation say Student, you say Life!" [Laughter] yesterday. [Laughter] Yeah, but team UEL.

Salimata Bojang: 35:21

Team UEL, yeah.

Ezi Odozor: 35:23

Yeah. So that's it. That's episode one. And what we're gonna do in the future episodes is we're gonna have students on here, we're gonna have members of community on here. We're gonna have staff on here talking to you about who it is that they are.

Salimata Bojang: 35:36

Yeah.

Ezi Odozor: 35:36

What it is that they love, and where it is that they want to go. And we hope that allows you to see yourself in the community, see your differences in the community, and respect those differences and love those differences about yourself, and also be inspired to grow.

Salimata Bojang: 35:50

Yeah. Learn, Explore, Grow.

Ezi Odozor: 35:52

That indeed. Thanks Sal.

Salimata Bojang: 35:53

Thank you.

Ezi Odozor: 35:54

Bye.

Salimata Bojang: 35:55

Bye.