GWENDOLYN SISKA
Staff Writer
It takes about a day and a half to fly from Lagos, Nigeria to Malibu. The trip involves long layovers in Europe as well as the United States. For freshman Oluwatomi Jaiyeola, this is a long trip, but not so long that it would stop her from coming to Pepperdine University.
Oluwatomi means “God is sufficient for me” in Yoruba, which is the language from Jaiyeola’s hometown. Even though friends say this phrase describes her perfectly, everyone knows her as Tomi, the happy-go-lucky girl with an ever-present smile.
She said she had never been to the United States prior to attending Pepperdine.
“I didn’t have an idea of how life was going to be here,” Jaiyeola said. “I had to let go and let God just have His way with me.”
She attended one of the top all-girl high schools in West Africa and held many exciting jobs the year before she came to Pepperdine. She worked for a small economic firm, an Alliance Consulting business where she helped research asset management companies all over the world, and at Junior Achievement of Nigeria, which is a non-governmental organization that teaches young people entrepreneurial skills. Jaiyeola is an economics major and hopes to be an economist one day.
How did you decide to come to Pepperdine University?
At first I had wanted to go to UCLA (or any UC school), but I did the wrong SAT II test, and I wasn’t able to be admitted.
So then did you actually want to go to Pepperdine University?
Deep down, I loved Pepperdine University ever since my cousin told me about it. God made everything happen for a reason. He brought me here. I’m glad I’m here. I wouldn’t have it any other way anymore.
What’s you favorite thing about Pepperdine University?
Campus Ministries.
What do you like about it?
I like the deep real love that people have toward one another. It just feels like home, being around the people there. If you need a place to feel loved or you want a hug, come to Campus Ministries. It’s a hugging place. Campus Ministries totally rocks.
Since living far away, are you ever homesick?
I do get homesick. I miss my family, I miss my friends and I miss Nigerian food. Nigerian food is great. My favorite food is rice and vegetables. It’s very different from how they make it here.
Tell me about your faith.
I am a Christian. I love God so much. I don’t get into conversations about different denominations and their religions because religion is very sacred and it might lead to fights. Some people feel one denomination is superior, and that’s not true. If anyone is looking for the truth of having a relationship with God, everyone should base their thoughts on the Bible — that’s where the truth is. What’s most important to me is God and the Bible.
What’s a normal Saturday like for you back home?
I wake up, and then my family has quiet time together. The family gathers together, and we sing and pray together. Then we also have personal quiet time. We do this every morning. Then we do house chores; we all split the jobs. We do laundry and clean the rooms. Then my parents usually go out. We have a teens’ meeting at my church in the afternoon, which ends at 5:00. Then we clean the church for Sunday morning and we hang out. We go home, do homework and get stuff ready for church for the next day. I always do my sister’s hair on Saturday for the next week. When my sister found out I could do hair well, she stopped going to the salon and paying them to do it, and started let me do it every week. (Laughs) But she doesn’t pay me.
What do you want to be?
I would like to be an economist, but the fact that I don’t know what God has planned for me is awesome. I want to be able wake up in the morning and have a big smile on my face and joy in my heart and know that whatever I’m leaving my house to go do that day is what God has planned for me.
10-06-2005
