In 2015 Killian, Ernest and I decided to leave our homes in Brooklyn Park, Minn. The idea came shortly after a college tour hosted by an after-school program where we had an opportunity to visit schools in Atlanta, Houston, and Dallas during spring break in 2015.
We decided shortly after graduation in May of 2015 that we were going to buy a 1985 Ford Econoline van for $900 and drive it twenty-one hours to Houston. We got the funds from our part-time jobs. Ernest and I worked as game assistants at chuck-e-cheese and Killian worked Fleet Farm as a plumbing and electrical clerk.
Once the day finally came. On July 22, 2015, after spending almost 1500 dollars total on the van to make it ready for the trip. I said my goodbyes to my family, and we headed on down to Houston. During the trip, the van broke down on us two times. One time, in Arkansas we had to take the van to the mechanic shop to get new spark plugs. We barely made it to Houston a day later. This is when we came upon the next road bump.
Where are we going to stay? The apartment that we applied for denied us because we had no previous credit as 18-year-old, so we were forced to stay in the van. We parked the van at a motel 6 for a few nights.
After a few days in the van, we buckled up and drove down to Texas Southern to talk to someone and get more information about taking care of the business summer program at Texas Southern University. this is when we were fortunate enough to meet a housing ombudsman Joseph Greenwich who offered us a job and housing after we explained our story.
Though my parents were furious about our plan, I stuck to my guns and figured they would come to accept the situation sooner or later. It made it a little easy for my mom because she had trust in the friends I left with.
I met Killian and Ernest while attending North View junior high school in Brooklyn Park, Minn. It didn't take me long to find two friends who would eventually come with me on a life-changing journey.
I met Killian in social studies class when we were all introducing ourselves to Ms. McGowen, our social studies teacher.
"My name is Killian Okere, and I'm Brazilian, "said Okere. I immediately started to laugh because I knew he was Nigerian from his last name. I leaned over and called him a liar. Then it was my turn, "My name is Segun Adedeji, I was born in Nigeria." We immediately looked at each other and started laughing. that's how the friendship started.
The next day Killian introduced me to Ernest Nornie in the cafeteria after a fight broke out between Ernest and Gideon who was new to the city. Soon after that, we formed a pretty popular group that was well-known around the school.
We used the spotlight to create clothing brands, music groups, talent shows and even create a studio for the city from 2010-2015. We even played on the same sports teams.
It almost seems like a coincidence how we all ended up at Texas Southern University. We didn't originally plan for it to happen. Shortly after the college tour, we had in 2015. We decided we would at least apply to Texas southern university since our application waiver got waived from the visit, we had to Texas southern as a part of the bundle special for visiting high schools.
No one thought anything about it when we applied but soon after we each received acceptance letters to attend the TSU.
As for the van, it became a staple at Lanier East. The whole freshmen class knew the story behind the van. We even took students to parties, events, and to eat in the van. The sad part of it all is that the van got towed on our way to South Padre to spend a few nights at my friend Moseye's grandparent's beach house. We parked the van at a church and by the time we came back outside, the van was gone. Don't worry, we still have the key to the van. The key now represents the hardship we endured to be where we are now.
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