Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Heroes: Sadosky

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Dr. Cora Sadosky taught me Differential Equations and Fundamentals of Applied Mathematics at Howard University. She made most of her students feel very special. She fought for people, sometimes maybe too much. Dr. Sadosky dramatized mathematics in an appealing way one can only call sexy, with talk about live meetings with dudes we had read only about in books, an accent that belonged everywhere - what are you? Italian? Russian? , eclectic dress too: the necklaces of real coral (Cora loves coral) and Soviet-style boiled-wool suits and those up-to-the-minute stylish loafers she wore on the first day I met her, and this biography online (of course we looked her up online) that explained some of who she is.

She is unforgettable to me, especially because she fought for me to attend my dream summer program in Applied Math at Carnegie Mellon and my too-good-to-even-dream-of Institute for grad school, all the time claiming that I was that good.

I try to be an inspiring math teacher now, with examples like hers from my undergraduate days.

This weekend, I'm the Guest Speaker at the Speech Day and Prize-Giving Ceremony at my alma mater, Queen's College, Nigeria's premier (1927) secondary school for girls. I'm impressed.

Tuesday, June 01, 2010

Friends I just met

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The Wayfarer is a nice blog by a friend I just met.

I've been on a socializing blitz since at least Tuesday. Considering I like never go anywhere, this was a great effort. My parents are probably happy their recluse child chose to leave the house :) Olakunle, I even "met someone."

Let's see:
Monday - wrote a training manual and got very tired.
Tuesday - finished The Abyssinian Boy in an upstairs classroom in Unilag with a fresh fragrant forest breeze. Then hung out with "my children" at Creative Arts. Then to Taruwa, a poetry/live music gathering, where I actually first met Seun2 who gave a couple of us a ride home, lest I forget. Taruwa is nice. Bi-weekly. Hosted by Bez, a gifted musician and one of my favourite.
Wednesday - NLI Notes2Note launched, then I caught a movie, ran into Seun-in-a-suit, another movie, then followed him to his church fellowship where I met Seun2 who writes The Wayfarer. It was too cold so I waited outside like one witch.
Thursday - went to watch High School Musical (theater performed for Children's Day for rich kids, one of my children played a lead role otherwise I have no business with HSM) after work. It started hours late.
Friday - Met The Onyeka I Adore - that was a treat, and then went to this awesome Nigerian Leadership Initiative seminar as a visitor.
Saturday - nice lunch then the Farafina Writers shindig that had Seun Kuti and then to the dinner for the NLI seminar where people stayed up talking till 3am. See brilliance.
Sunday - chilled.
Monday - a holiday so to the movies with the "met someone" who revealed at the end of the evening that he was born in 1988. Great dramedy, you should have been there.