Grad School Buddy

Seun and Chinemerem met at the University of East Anglia, where they are earning advanced degrees in Global Development and Finance & Economics, respectively. Their friendship and collaboration have since grown, but their journey into development and impact began long before grad school — through grassroots projects, nonprofit leadership, and bold work in public policy. Seun is the founder of The Development School Africa, an initiative focused on educating African youth about sustainable...

You can work in tech without writing a single line of code. In this episode, we are with Barbra Okafor, a media strategist, content creator, and digital leader whose career spans TikTok, BBC, Trace, and now the Isle of Wight Council. With Master's degree in media and communications from the London School of Economics, Barbra has carved a niche at the intersection of tech and storytelling. We talk about her journey from creating documentaries at Trace to leading content strategy at BBC and man...

In this episode, we connect with Chike Ivor Onyekwelu, a seasoned product designer with expertise in Figma illustration and brand identity design. Now pursuing a Master’s in Information Technology with Project Management in the UK, Chike opens up about his first few weeks as an international graduate student. He shares candid reflections on how reality compares to his expectations, the early challenges of adjusting to a new academic system, and how he’s managing to balance coursework with his...

In this episode, Dr. Ashley Ruba, founder of AfterAcademia, shares her journey from a successful career in academia to roles in UX research at companies like Meta and Arthrex. Despite her academic accomplishments, including publishing multiple papers and winning prestigious awards, she realized the traditional academic path wasn't aligned with her expectations. Dr Ruba opens up about the emotional and professional challenges she faced while leaving academia, including redefining her identity ...

Are you considering grad school as the next step for your creative career? Then this episode is for you! We are joined by Xorlali Plange, a Ghanaian fashion and costume designer, and Ernest Nweke, a Nigerian writer and multimedia storyteller. Ernest, who is looking to apply to graduate school, moderates this session as Xorlali, a Master of Fine Arts candidate majoring in costume design at the prestigious NYU Tisch School of Arts, shares his insights about the application and acceptance proce...

Conrad, Kosiso, and Chukwuma were classmates from the 2016 Class of the Department of Economics at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. Today, we bring you an engaging conversation between them as they discuss the different directions their lives and careers have taken since graduation. After earning their bachelor’s in economics, each has thrived in diverse career paths shaped by their unique interests and values. While Chuks and Kosy continue to further their careers in academia, with both cu...

Many people suffer from anxiety when starting something new, especially when in the company of equally good peers. This episode features Hope Eze, a humanities PhD student at the University of Alberta. Her research focuses on the literary depiction of food insecurity in Africa, particularly the possibility of achieving food sovereignty through sustainable agriculture. Hope shares her PhD story and how it has shaped her as a whole person. The journey from master’s to PhD wasn’t a piece of cak...