Just Like Heaven

It was Summer 2009, my very first summer in Charleston. The weather was getting torrid and summer activities were in full swing. Summers in Charleston were absolutely my favorite. It was like God hand-picked everything I loved and put them all in one place. Everyday was an adventure. Saturday mornings were spent at the farmer's market at Marion Square Park a few blocks from my house. The farmer's market was an event that was held every Saturday morning as an opportunity for local farmers to sell their fresh produce. The best part of the farmer's market was purchasing food sold by a variety of food vendors and then sitting down in the park and enjoying live band performances. Saturday afternoons were spent taking long walks with friends at Folly beach or Isle of Palms beach, or cozying up in my room reading one of Karen Kingsbury's Christian novels. Some evenings were spent watching movies under the stars until mosquitoes started invading my space, or attending outdoor events like jazz on the pier, salsa on the pier, and reggae concerts. My favorite reggae concert was part of the Spoleto festival. Spoleto festival is an annual music and arts festival that brings artists from all over the United States like Broadway performers, comedians, singers, actors and actresses, and top names in the fashion industry to Charleston. I remember in Summer 2009, this male Broadway singer from New York rented a space in the same house where I lived for a month during the Spoleto festival as he was part of several Broadway shows in Charleston. Every morning, he would wake up bright and early and sit in his room or in the balcony and warm his voice, or practice for his show. He had a sweet operatic voice. I felt like I had a front-row seat to his concert everyday. I would clap softly in my room after each performance. "Bravo!!", "Bravo!!" I would say while applauding and would hope he didn't hear me across the hallway. He sang so beautifully that sometimes a teardrop would escape from my eyes, especially when he sang Ave Maria. He had such a high range and would sing at a high pitch and I would worry that his voice would cause the windows to shatter just like in the movies. I was always curious what the neighbours thought about our new super-talented friend. Summer 2009 in Charleston felt just like heaven. I enjoyed every bit of it!

At work (Institutional Research Office), I spent the entire summer learning something new and exciting. The college was in the process of moving away from a centralized data reporting structure where most reports came from our office, to a more decentralized data reporting structure where most non-teaching staff offices would be responsible for producing their own operational reports in a data reporting tool called Cognos. During the summer, most staff were in all-day Cognos training while I held the fort at the office. One day, my boss came by my desk after his training and dropped a huge Cognos training binder on my desk and told me, "I think you should learn this, it will be useful in future." I started learning Cognos like my life depended on it. I used my programming knowledge from graduate school to write code within Cognos to perform complex statistical analysis. With time, I became really good with Cognos and would occasionally do a little demo for my boss to share how much I was getting proficient with Cognos. He was impressed with how fast I learned it. As a result, I was invited by my boss to join the school's reporting team committee responsible for making decisions primarily regarding transitioning to the new reporting tool. I started networking with top executives in other administrative offices who were part of the committee. Later that year in the Fall semester, I got a Graduate Assistantship job with the Graduate Admissions Office and was initially responsible for helping in organizing graduate application materials and answering phones. I was still working part-time at the office of Institutional Research Office. One day, my boss from Institutional Research went over to the Graduate Admissions Office and told them how good I was with Cognos and that instead of making me answer phone calls, they should make me their Reporting Analyst. The Graduate Office loved the idea and moved me from the front desk to my own desk and made me their Reporting Analyst responsible for creating their operational reports in Cognos.

Once again, God ordered my steps so strategically in a way I never envisioned. God used my Cognos experience to open doors for me at College of Charleston in a mind-blowing way. I thank God for using my boss as my destiny helper in those days. I pray that God will cause your destiny helpers to locate you and grant you favor before them. May the Lord equip you so that you will be ready for the opportunities and open doors He has prepared for you. The best is yet to come! Watch out for the next blog post. The story gets even better!!

To be continued...

Double For My Trouble

It was almost the end of the Fall 2008 semester. It was quite a whirlwind with tons of papers due, and final exam preparations, but I was completely oblivious of the series of events that were about to unfold. The devil had some plans up his sleeves. While the devil was planning, and getting his team together and getting ready to strike, God was also planning to bring the plans of the enemy to nought and so He began to get His team together to frustrate the enemy's plans and turn them in my favor. One day, I was heading to my department to see one of my professors. As soon as I stepped into the J.C Long building, an older black man stepped into the building seconds later. I pressed the elevator button and then noticed that the man was waiting for the elevator too and couldn't take his eyes off me. "I know you from somewhere." He turned and looked at me. I turned around and looked at him and the face didn't look familiar. "Hmmm... I'm not very sure we've met before." I said. "Are you part of the Charleston Nigerian Association?" He asked. "No, sir! I know very few Nigerians here and I haven't attended any of the Nigerian Association events here in Charleston." I replied. The man was still convinced he had met me before and kept trying to place the face. Then he extended a hand... "I'm Dr. Edozie (Not his real name) with the History department. I'm from Nigeria." He introduced himself and then we shook hands... "I'm Sana, from Nigeria as well." "Wow, you don't say?! Do you have sometime? I would like to show you my office." We were heading to the same floor, so I obliged. We got to know more about each other and when we got to his office, he handed me his business card and said, "If you ever need anything, don't hesitate to call me, email me, or stop by my office." I thanked him and left the office. What I didn't know at the time was that this meeting was ordained by God, and the timing in which we met was absolutely perfect for what was about to happen.

On December 15th, 2008, after my final exams, a professor from my department forwarded me an email from one of the administrative offices about my financial situation and my inability to complete my tuition payment for the Fall semester. According to the email, the administrative staff had spoken to someone from the financial aid office and the financial aid representative said that the amount I was owing couldn't be rolled over to the Spring semester, and that they discovered that I was allowed to be put under a payment plan which according to them was illegal under federal law for foreign students. As a result, my debt from the Fall semester, and the Spring semester were due on the first day of the following semester before I would be allowed to attend classes and failure to do so would result in me potentially losing my status as a graduate student. The professor said in his email that based on the forwarded email, I may be running out of options and that I should go and talk to the parties involved to see if they would be willing to put me on a payment plan the next semester. I was alone in my room when I read the email and began to laugh hysterically. Then I got up and began to address the enemy. "Satan, you don't know who you're messing with! I'm a child of the Most High God and you're going to loose this battle!!" Immediately, a song by Clint Brown came to my spirit, and I sang it over and over again. "I have a friend His name is Jesus... He's the one, that I lean on, He's the shelter from every storm, I have a friend, His name is Jesus. Let the wind blow, let the rain fall, there is a place that I can go. I have a friend, His name is Jesus."  I sent a reply to the professor who forwarded the email and said, "It may look like I'm out of options, but when I am down to nothing, God is up to something!" The following day, I went to the financial aid office to speak with one of the executives regarding the email I had received and asked if there was any way he could make an exception and allow me continue with my payment plan, but he was adamant.

Few days later, I travelled back to Columbia for the Christmas holiday. I spent quality time with my family and they were completely unaware of what was going on. My parents were still paying tuition for two of my siblings in college and there was no way I was going to make my tuition their responsibility too. The new year 2009 came and as usual, I spent the first week in prayer and fasting about the new year and regarding my graduate school tuition and the false federal regulation that was made up to make it difficult for me to return to College of Charleston. Several days into my fasting and prayer, the Spirit of God told me to sit up and that He had a plan concerning my situation at school. Do you remember the Nigerian man you met at your school recently? Forward him all the emails you've received from all the parties involved. Let him know what is going on. The Spirit of God instructed me. I forwarded all the emails to Dr. Edozie immediately and informed him about what was going on. Dr. Edozie replied shortly and expressed how sorry he was about my situation. He also said he was not aware of such a law and that he was going to look into the matter. Dr. Edozie reached out to someone in the office of International Programs and asked if the regulation existed, he even reached out to someone from the Avery Research Center at the college, and they confirmed that such a regulation never existed. At this point, emails were flying back and forth and soon word got to the parties involved that they were being investigated. As soon as they were aware, I received an email from the professor who forwarded me the email saying that he had been looking for ways to help and that I should return to Charleston and see him. The financial aid representative called and explained that the law preventing foreign students to make payment plans was no longer enforced which was not true... it never existed. He told me that he would allow me to make a payment plan again.

I returned to Charleston on January 15th, 2009. That same day, the professor who forwarded me the email handed me a check of $2,000 towards my tuition, bought all my textbooks, and helped me get a part-time job with the Computer Science department as an office assistant. Double for my trouble!!! Thank you Jesus!! God brought the devices of the enemy to nought and turned them around for my favor. I continued to work part-time with the office of Institutional Research as well. The extra income went a long way to help with rent, food, and tuition to an extent. Thankfully, my elder sister gave me two months worth of rent money and my family continued to assist with tuition from time to time that semester. This was just the beginning of many victories in Charleston that I never expected. Are you fighting battles in life and everyday it seems like the enemy is winning? Step aside and let God fight for you. Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord!

To be continued...

A Blessing in Disguise

It was Summer 2008. I travelled back to Columbia for the summer holiday, and returned to the Glory Communications radio station for another summer internship. Once again, I was back to my GRE prep for my fourth attempt. Prior to the end of the Spring semester, my advisor had told me that I needed to get a score of at least 1,000 on my GRE exam before I'd be allowed to return for the Fall semester to officially begin my graduate studies. This time, I didn't tell a soul that I was planning on retaking the GRE exam that summer. After three GRE attempts without reaching the cut-off point, I was beginning to think that my village people were after me LOL, my African people can completely relate to this. I didn't tell any family member, co-worker, friend, no one! I would lock myself in my room and study at night after everyone had gone to bed. Two months later, and after many sleepless nights praying and preparing for GRE, I was back at Thompson Prometric Center again to retake the GRE exam. As I stepped into the exam center, I felt like Bill Murray (Phil) in the movie "Groundhog Day" who was forced to repeat the same day over and over again. Still, my faith was stronger than ever. I checked into the exam room, said a quick prayer, and started the exam. Four hours later, I completed the exam, hit the submit button and my scores were displayed on the screen. I quickly added up the scores and to my utmost surprise, I got exactly a 1,000 combined score. I couldn't believe it! I thought I may have miscalculated it, so I added the scores again at least three more times and indeed it was 1,000. I wanted to scream for joy. I quickly gathered my items and rushed out of the exam center and as soon as I entered my car, the tears of joy began to flow. I praised God who gave me the grace to finally pass my GRE exam in the nick of time after so many attempts. I returned home and quickly sent an email to my Program Director, and the Director of Graduate Admissions informing them that I finally passed the GRE exam. Four days later, I received an email from Graduate Admissions saying, "Congratulations, you have now met the requirements to become a degree-seeking student with the MS CSIS program..." I had waited so long for this. I give God all the glory!

The Fall 2008 semester began and I returned to College of Charleston as a degree-seeking graduate student. I enrolled in one Computer Science prerequisite course and two graduate courses and all three courses went great. However, I was no longer able to get student loans and life in Charleston became tough financially. My mother was no longer able to co-sign for student loans for me and I was completely distraught. My family had provided $3,000 for part of my tuition and upkeep. I made payment arrangements with the school and was expected to pay about $1,500 every month towards my tuition. My tuition per semester was about $9,000. The $,3000 from my family went mostly towards my tuition. I went from eating decent meals to surviving on cereals, and chicken noodles. I could only afford rent the first month of the semester and was scared my landlord was going to throw me out, but thankfully he didn't. He was very understanding and asked me to pay whenever money became available. I had a chat with my advisor one day and told him about my financial situation and he advised me to start searching for campus jobs on the school's website. I searched the school's job website daily and the only position that seemed feasible was a student office assistant position at the Institutional Research Office. They only needed a student for 2 hours a day and a total of 10 hours a week for $8/hr. I didn't think the hours were enough, so I decided not to apply and kept on searching for other campus jobs and submitted several applications with no success. The following week, my advisor reached out to me and told me that someone he knows from one of the administrative offices told him they were hiring. It turned out it was the same position I saw on the job website with the Institutional Research office with very few hours. I told my advisor that I had seen that job ad and that the hours were so few, and that I wouldn't be able to do much with my pay if I worked there. "But at least you can eat!" My advisor responded. That was enough to convince me that the job was worth applying for. I was eating really poorly those days but I decided not to tell my family because I felt like a burden.

Few days after applying for the office assistant job with Institutional Research (IR), I was invited for an interview. It was a brief and informal interview. At the end of the interview, I gave a little pathetic speech about how bad I needed the job and was almost close to tears. The interviewer was quite empathetic towards me. The next day, I was offered the job thankfully. I started work at the Institutional Research office the following week. It was a small office with just three other staff. The Director, the Assistant Director, and a Data Analyst. The IR Office handled official data reporting for the school and maintained huge data repositories that were analyzed and used for historical and ad hoc reports.  The IR staff were the most amazing people I had ever met, they were so kind and supportive. It was a quiet office environment with very little work for me and the phone barely rang. One day, my Director, a very poised, eloquent, intelligent, and down-to-earth man in his late thirties or early forties came by and sat down beside my desk and had a chat with me. He asked how I was enjoying the job so far, and then he asked me, "Are you learning anything on this job?" "Yes, sir!" I responded. "I want you to learn all you can on this job. Do you see those two ladies in our office? They are really smart and good at what they do. I want you to learn from them. Ask them questions, be inquisitive, and learn everything they know." I was so touched that someone of this man's calibre could really take time to speak to me in that manner. He really cared about not only what I could contribute to the office, but also all the knowledge and experience I could gain from working there. I took my boss's advice and became very inquisitive about the work my colleagues were doing. I found out that my colleagues were the best SAS database programmers ever. Coincidentally, I was taking a database programming class that semester, so I would share what I learnt after each of my database programming class with one of my colleagues and she would share how she applies that concept to her job. My boss gave me a copy of his SAS programming book and I began to teach myself how to write SAS programs. By the end of that semester, I had learned so much and was so sure I wanted to become a Data Analyst. 

Each time I remember how my financial struggles led me to getting a job at the Institutional Research office at College of Charleston, I shudder to think how my life would've turned out otherwise. My financial struggles were definitely a blessing in disguise. Institutional Research with the few work hours and low pay was a blessing in disguise. It's amazing how the Lord directed my steps to an office where I had no idea initially that they had anything to do with Information Technology. I'm so grateful to God for causing a bad situation to work together for my good. By the end of the semester, I was behind on my rent by a few months, I had a huge tuition debt, but the Lord continued to sustain me and was just about to prove himself strong and mighty on my behalf in a huge way. The story gets even better. Watch out for the next blog post!

To be continued...