While I was born in the Bronx and raised in White Plains, New York, my soul is African. At 29, I am an especially serious and mature woman because of my deep concern for my African roots, my passionate dedication to African affairs: my sense of connection to the land of my ancestors where I have spent a great deal of time. I want very much to attend your program and attain the MPA Degree so that I can devote myself 100% to the building of bridges between Nigeria and North America, and to work tirelessly to raise the cultural awareness of Nigerians who have immigrated to North America and Europe as well, maintaining and reinforcing our sense of community through the cultivation and strengthening of non-profit organizations dedicated to helping Africa, especially Nigeria. Your program will provide me with the most powerful springboard possible upon which I will be optimally prepared to do all that I can for my people, both at home in Nigeria and in the Nigerian Diaspora, taking full advantage of Internet media to bind us together.

 I am a member of an organization--founded by my parents--called the XXXX Association in North America (OANA). XXXX's main function is to deliver programs aimed at the prevention of HIV/AIDS in the communities in and around Okwelle, Nigeria, and to foster healthy and mutually beneficial relationships between Nigerians and Americans, and among Nigerian-Americans who are interested in and/or actively engaged in solidarity projects with or for Nigeria. We act as a medium for the dissemination of accurate and timely information to group members about developments in Okwelle and its surroundings, promoting the Igbo tradition in North America. And we assist with the development of basic infrastructure projects (water, roads, and educational facilities) in Okwelle, assisting needy and less developed communities in Nigeria. My parents have served as excellent humanitarian role models for me, and this is why I have such high ideals and the self-confidence to pursue them. As a volunteer, I have most appreciated my experience in soup kitchens, as a professional, I am currently employed as a paralegal.

 I have long been noted for my intense passion for justice and my involvement with social causes, especially those that have an especially critical importance for black people in America, both African-Americans and immigrants from Africa. This passion was the reason why I chose to study Criminal Justice as my undergraduate major, which I feel is a related field to Public Administration and a useful academic background that will help me to excel in your program. Over the course of my studies, however, and my research and human growth since I finished my degree, I have become increasingly interested in a career of public service in the area of health care. It is this area in which I am most engaged with Okwelle, especially battling back the scourge of AIDS in my homeland. And it is in this area that I look forward to developing a specialization in your program and focusing my research interests.

 Following graduation from your program, I plan to build a small health clinic in Nigeria and to work as the health care administrator, assisting locals in receiving the medical attention that they need. At the same time, I intend to stay actively engaged on the Internet, working with a broad variety of solidarity organizations that support an equally broad variety of groups devoted to health care development across the continent of Africa. I look forward to taking full advantage of being fluent in Igbo and also a practiced writer of French. I thank you for considering my application to your program.