Oluwatomisin Olurotimi Obafemi
Browsing through my blog, it hit me that I had committed a cardinal sin.. I never introduced myself or shared my background with you, the reader. This is my effort to rectify this, please forgive me :)
My name is Oluwatomisin Olurotimi Obafemi, due to the length of my name I go by Tomi (nicknames are Triple O, Tomz, Tomsta) I was born in Lagos Nigeria, May 4 1992 ('May the 4th be with you' -Francesa).. In the wee hours of the morning I'm told. Like almost all Nigerians my name has meaning behind it. Mine means God is sufficient for me and gives light to the role God plays in my life. Im grateful for all the blessings he has granted me and the future he has in store
My family left Nigeria when I was 11 months old and moved to Chicago. I attended Walt Disney Magnet School where I received a great foundation for my subsequent education and became fast friends with members of the clique Kaldo Umer and Aimee. As an African child I experience something called 'Double' School. I not only received public education, I also attended school at home where my mom and dad were acting principals. As a result I found that I was always one step ahead in class. While I didnt enjoy the extra classes back then I'm grateful for them now and how they have helped me! The memories I have of Chicago are blurry but I do remember being that skinny, gap toothed kid who secretly idolized the classroom Prima Donna's Jessica and Dana. I remember surviving math class with the infamous Ms. Henry and adopting the role of teachers pet with Ms Bulbolos. I remember stuffing my face with pizza at the Honors Roll Lunches and reading feverishly to earn free tickets to Six Flags! When it was time to leave I remember the tears and the confusion. People wondered why we were leaving; people even wondered "where in the world is New Zealand" During our time in chi-town my pops did his residency at Cook County Hospital; and when he had graduated from this period in his life, it was time for us to move.. and move we did me and my bros dutifully packed our bags and boarded the plane which would take us to the next part of our journey.. Dunedin, New Zealand
We lived in Dunedin for a year and it was there that I was introduced to sports. I tried my hand at everything; from basketball to track and field; rugby to cricket...
Though it might not seem like it now I used to be tall back in the day and I used my height advantage to dominate in most sports ...
Basketball and track and field are two sports at which I really excelled at. As I grew into my body I began to dominate on the court.
Things really took off when we moved to Ashburton. Even at the age of 12
I began to become recognized in the region. I made All-Tournament teams
and was fortunate enough to rack up a few big victories. The height of
my basketball career is when I got called up to play for my age groups
new zealand national team. However coming from an academic family my
parents steered me away from accepting this opportunity... I wont lie, sometimes I
look back on that situation and think, 'what if'.
Track and field really became a huge part of my life during my freshman year of high school.
I burst onto the seen during the school annual athletics day and it felt like every other race I was running a personal best. Even though track is considered an individual sport the one thing that I loved about it was the comraderie I shared with people I trained with and my coach. We suffered together in training and shared so many fun experiences travelling to meets. S/O to teammates Jack McDonald, Sam Briggs, Ryan William, Francesa McAdam, Hayley (Gertrude) Whiting, Anna Bolton, Kayla Frew, Jemma Mcwilliam and the legendary coach Trevor Cochran!
Placing fourth in the Junior Boys 400m at Nationals was my most memorable moment on the track (http://placings.co.nz/nzsstf2007/event/11.html)
Ashburton was our next stop after Dunedin and is still a place I consider home. I lived in Ashburton from the age of nine till I just after my sixteenth birthday. While there is not much in terms of things to do; the poeple are friendly and memories made there are priceless. Below are a few class pictures, a pic of me and the fellas acting a fool during my last night in New Zealand and me and one my high-school crushes... (shh dont tell her I said that though). Also special mention to Gemma Wragg, one of the best friends one can have. She always thinking of others before herself!
Final stop on the journey so far was Tucson, Arizona. When I first heard we were moving back to America I wasn't sure how to feel. I had made a lot of good friends in New Zealand and it would be very hard to say goodbye so abruptly. However I knew that America presented a lot of opportunity for me schoolwise and going forward in my career. My last day at Ashburton College is still one of the saddest moments.
In the days leading up to our first day at Catalina Foothills my brother and I did not know what to expect. We had only experienced an American highschool through what we had seen on televison or at the movies. The expections was that it would be very cliquey and while we had never struggled to make friends we did wonder how we were going to fit in. Fortunately for us our ability to excell at sports made the transition pretty smooth...
Some of you might have seen the hairstyle I rocked while in Nz. After about a month in the states I realized a) it was too hot to have so much hair and b) black people just arent supposed to look like this (haha).. Ever since then I've been rocking the short cut. (However I'm open to any suggestions when it comes to possible new styles)
I cant quite put my finger on it, but it seemed like once I got to Arizona i couldnt stay healthy for the entire track season. Whether it was the heat or the fact that Basketball season always overlapped with the conditioning phase for Track, Tucson was the site of the death of my track career.
I did well academically in my two years at Cat Foot and after all the dust had settled from the frenzy of applying to colleges I was left with acceptance letters to Cornell University; University of Southern California and University of Arizona. My first choice was USC. Cornell was and still is a pretigious Ivy league but I desired to go to a place where I would have the option letting my hair down from time to time and UofA didnt appeal to me because it seemed too close to home. So I enrolled in USC, selected my dorm and began to prepare mentally for a life in SoCal. Two weeks before the commencement of the 2010 fall semester I received a letter from the University of Arizona granting me a full tuition scholarship renewable for four years! This set up an epic showdown between myself and my parents... I put up a valiant fight but in the end my parents had there way and I became a Wildcat
Three years into my undergraduate degree I have no complaints about attending UofA. Ive had so many good memories here and access to a great education. In addition being able to go home from time to time for a little pampering from my momma came in clutch during my freshman and sophmore years
In the next few months I will be taking my MCAT; I thank God for what he has done in my life and believe that this is only the beginning. My career goal is to become a surgeon and to one day run my own practice. My reason: I really just want to impact the lives of as many people as I can in a positive way!
My name is Oluwatomisin Olurotimi Obafemi, due to the length of my name I go by Tomi (nicknames are Triple O, Tomz, Tomsta) I was born in Lagos Nigeria, May 4 1992 ('May the 4th be with you' -Francesa).. In the wee hours of the morning I'm told. Like almost all Nigerians my name has meaning behind it. Mine means God is sufficient for me and gives light to the role God plays in my life. Im grateful for all the blessings he has granted me and the future he has in store
My family left Nigeria when I was 11 months old and moved to Chicago. I attended Walt Disney Magnet School where I received a great foundation for my subsequent education and became fast friends with members of the clique Kaldo Umer and Aimee. As an African child I experience something called 'Double' School. I not only received public education, I also attended school at home where my mom and dad were acting principals. As a result I found that I was always one step ahead in class. While I didnt enjoy the extra classes back then I'm grateful for them now and how they have helped me! The memories I have of Chicago are blurry but I do remember being that skinny, gap toothed kid who secretly idolized the classroom Prima Donna's Jessica and Dana. I remember surviving math class with the infamous Ms. Henry and adopting the role of teachers pet with Ms Bulbolos. I remember stuffing my face with pizza at the Honors Roll Lunches and reading feverishly to earn free tickets to Six Flags! When it was time to leave I remember the tears and the confusion. People wondered why we were leaving; people even wondered "where in the world is New Zealand" During our time in chi-town my pops did his residency at Cook County Hospital; and when he had graduated from this period in his life, it was time for us to move.. and move we did me and my bros dutifully packed our bags and boarded the plane which would take us to the next part of our journey.. Dunedin, New Zealand
We lived in Dunedin for a year and it was there that I was introduced to sports. I tried my hand at everything; from basketball to track and field; rugby to cricket...
Though it might not seem like it now I used to be tall back in the day and I used my height advantage to dominate in most sports ...
Basketball and track and field are two sports at which I really excelled at. As I grew into my body I began to dominate on the court.
Track and field really became a huge part of my life during my freshman year of high school.I burst onto the seen during the school annual athletics day and it felt like every other race I was running a personal best. Even though track is considered an individual sport the one thing that I loved about it was the comraderie I shared with people I trained with and my coach. We suffered together in training and shared so many fun experiences travelling to meets. S/O to teammates Jack McDonald, Sam Briggs, Ryan William, Francesa McAdam, Hayley (Gertrude) Whiting, Anna Bolton, Kayla Frew, Jemma Mcwilliam and the legendary coach Trevor Cochran!
Placing fourth in the Junior Boys 400m at Nationals was my most memorable moment on the track (http://placings.co.nz/nzsstf2007/event/11.html)
Ashburton was our next stop after Dunedin and is still a place I consider home. I lived in Ashburton from the age of nine till I just after my sixteenth birthday. While there is not much in terms of things to do; the poeple are friendly and memories made there are priceless. Below are a few class pictures, a pic of me and the fellas acting a fool during my last night in New Zealand and me and one my high-school crushes... (shh dont tell her I said that though). Also special mention to Gemma Wragg, one of the best friends one can have. She always thinking of others before herself!
Final stop on the journey so far was Tucson, Arizona. When I first heard we were moving back to America I wasn't sure how to feel. I had made a lot of good friends in New Zealand and it would be very hard to say goodbye so abruptly. However I knew that America presented a lot of opportunity for me schoolwise and going forward in my career. My last day at Ashburton College is still one of the saddest moments.
In the days leading up to our first day at Catalina Foothills my brother and I did not know what to expect. We had only experienced an American highschool through what we had seen on televison or at the movies. The expections was that it would be very cliquey and while we had never struggled to make friends we did wonder how we were going to fit in. Fortunately for us our ability to excell at sports made the transition pretty smooth...
Some of you might have seen the hairstyle I rocked while in Nz. After about a month in the states I realized a) it was too hot to have so much hair and b) black people just arent supposed to look like this (haha).. Ever since then I've been rocking the short cut. (However I'm open to any suggestions when it comes to possible new styles)
I cant quite put my finger on it, but it seemed like once I got to Arizona i couldnt stay healthy for the entire track season. Whether it was the heat or the fact that Basketball season always overlapped with the conditioning phase for Track, Tucson was the site of the death of my track career.
I did well academically in my two years at Cat Foot and after all the dust had settled from the frenzy of applying to colleges I was left with acceptance letters to Cornell University; University of Southern California and University of Arizona. My first choice was USC. Cornell was and still is a pretigious Ivy league but I desired to go to a place where I would have the option letting my hair down from time to time and UofA didnt appeal to me because it seemed too close to home. So I enrolled in USC, selected my dorm and began to prepare mentally for a life in SoCal. Two weeks before the commencement of the 2010 fall semester I received a letter from the University of Arizona granting me a full tuition scholarship renewable for four years! This set up an epic showdown between myself and my parents... I put up a valiant fight but in the end my parents had there way and I became a Wildcat
In the next few months I will be taking my MCAT; I thank God for what he has done in my life and believe that this is only the beginning. My career goal is to become a surgeon and to one day run my own practice. My reason: I really just want to impact the lives of as many people as I can in a positive way!
Comments
Post a Comment