Olatunde Olasunkanmi is from the western part of Nigeria, Osun state, in faraway Africa. He later moved to the commercial city of Nigeria, Lagos state, where he got his high school degree.

Olatunde is a loving, humble, and a church-going individual. He is from a loving and respectable family, which is a true reflection of the man he has become.

After his high school degree, Olatunde decided to work to relieve his parents of the burden of finances. He got a job with a fencing company, which took him all over Nigeria for work. After few years of working, he decided it was the right time to further his academic goals by pursuing a business administration/accounting degree in the United States.

Unfortunately for him, getting a visa into the United States wasn’t as easy as he thought. He was denied a visa twice by the United States of America’s embassy in Lagos state. But Olatunde was determined, and he wasn’t a quitter. He went back the third time and he got a visa to come study in the United States.

He got an F-1 (student visa) to go study at Minnesota State University-Moorhead. According to Olatunde “I decided to contact some of the friends I have in the States to seek advice and make enquiry about college life in the U.S.” He spoke with Kingsley Emuedue who was attending Seward County Community College/Area Technical School then and Kingsley advised him about starting from a community college to save on expenses for two years, and later transferring to a four-year university.

Olatunde enrolled in SCCC/ATS during the fall semester of 2012, and since then his academic record speaks for him. He consistently got the college’s academic scholarship; he’s been on the dean’s list, and he has also been initiated into the Kappa Beta Delta business club.

Olatunde came into the United States with the assurance from his parents that they would sponsor his academic goals.

A few months into Olatunde’s stay in the U.S., a fire engulfed his family’s properties in Nigeria, and they lost virtually everything. “I was devastated when I heard about the fire disaster, but I was determined to stick to my plan of getting a business degree in the states,” Olatunde said.

He decided to work to fund his studies, at one point he was working three jobs. He worked at a night club as a security guard, he worked at the cafeteria as a dish washer, and he worked at Mosaic nursing home as a direct support assistant.

Olatunde got married to Kylan from Las Vegas, Nevada, and together they have a son Kyson, and they are known as the Olasunkanmis. Despite the many hours he works to take care of his family, he’s still able to pull off an impressive academic GPA of nothing less than 3.5.

“Ola,” as he’s fondly called at the college and in Liberal as a whole, is also a hospitable young man. During the fall break he housed and fed Olakanmi Olowookere and Olayinka Lafiaji, two Nigerian fellows that just got into the U.S. to study. Unfortunately, they came in while the campus was closed for Christmas break.

Olakanmi and Olayinka are two who say they will always be grateful to Olatunde for being such a wonderful compatriot. According to Olakanmi, “He is always ready to help even when it is not too convenient for him.

” Ola often gathers most of the Nigerians in Liberal to his house and he cooks some Nigerian local dishes like rice and stew, eba and efo elegusi, beans and plantain etal.

Students, faculty, and staff who know Ola seems to love him. He’s someone who can be described as a gentleman. According to Rachel Taylor, former assistant registrar and current STEM transfer coordinator, “Olatunde is a motivated, humble, interesting and brilliant young man. I know what it’s like to work and go to college full time, and still manage to take care of the family. I’ve seen him around his fellow students, he’s usually seen wearing a smile on his face. I’m impressed with the type of man he is.”

There’s always something good to be said about Ola from his compatriots.

Juwon Togbeola, a Nigerian who also got a degree at SCCC/ATS and still lives in Liberal, said, “Olasunkanmi Olatunde is a very hard working man, and he is dedicated to his work, both in school and his job as well as his family. I know this because I have done a couple of projects with him and the way he handled them was just incredible. He is friendly, open minded and a motivator. He will bring himself up or down to any level to understand one’s view and try to help. To sum it up, he has the potential and skills of a leader.”

Olawale Olaoye is also someone who has some good words to say about Olatunde. “My friends in Oklahoma City referred me to Olatunde, ‘Olatunde is the guy to talk to if you need anything’ and I have been impressed with him as a person.

” Olayinka one of the guys he housed doing Christmas break said, “I respect Olatunde a lot because I was amazed how accommodating he and his wife were to me and my friend during our stay in his house.”

“I decided to contact some of the friends I have in the States to seek advice, and make enquiry about college life in the US,” said Olatunde Olasunkanmi, pictured here with his wife Kylan and son Kyson.