Nigerian graduate student adjusts to life in Colorado

Written by Britta Winans

In the next few weeks, 24 year old Aniekan Inyang is going to see snow for the first time in her life. In her hometown, Makurdi, Nigeria, the temperature rarely gets below 90 degrees Fahrenheit.

“People keep saying ‘it’s not cold yet.’ I’m like ‘YET?’” Aniekan said while giggling. “Well I’m adjusting. Yesterday I went outside when it was 80 degrees, and I didn’t die.”

This is just one of the many adjustments Aniekan has had to make as a Nigerian immigrant studying in the U.S. She has made tremendous leaps to get to where she is today. Just this year, she made the big move from Nigeria to Denver to get her master’s degree in computer science.

Her goal is to work for a big tech company as a data scientist or as a machine engineer building intelligence models. Ideally, she’ll end up starting a company back in Nigeria with the incentive of solving problems to help the community. But as of now, they don’t have the data or processing capacity for what she wants to do. Either way, this woman has big plans and the work ethic to get there. 

What growing up in Nigeria was like

Growing up, Inyang was constantly immersed in lively culture. There are 36 states and about 200 tribes in Nigeria. Although the nation’s official language is English, each tribe has their own language and complex history. “It’s very diverse with unique people”, Inyang said. “They look like you, but they may not speak your language or have the same beliefs and traditions.” 

Inyang’s dad is from a tribe called Ibibio and her mom is from one of the biggest tribes in Nigeria, Igbo. Growing up in an intertribal family, Aniekan was integrated into multiple cultures and traditions. 

Nigeria is largely family based and big on celebrations. According to Inyang, “There’s always extended family around.” She has an especially close relationship with her maternal family. Every Christmas, they go to her mom’s village and relatives from all over Nigeria and the world come.

“There’s masquerades, dancing, and lots of food,” Inyang says with a big smile. The next time she can afford to go back to Nigeria will likely be Christmas of 2022. 

Inyang has two older sisters who are only five and six years older than her. They grew up going to school together with similar friends, so they’re all very close. She tries to stay in touch with her family as much as she can, but the seven hour time difference can be difficult. Usually, she tries to call at around 11:00 P.M. our time, so she can catch them before they go to work. 

As a first world country, resources like electricity and clean water are fairly easy to come by in the U.S. The reality has been quite different for Aniekan, “Water, electricity, internet. When I was growing up, those weren’t accessible.” She went on, “We didn’t have phones, internet, or colored TV.”

Getting clean water was a whole process for Aniekan’s family. Like many families in Nigeria, they have a borehole in their house that they manually pump water from. On top of putting water treatment into the tank, they would boil it to ensure it was safe to drink. 

Why Aniekan came to the U.S. and her future plans

Inyang’s passion is in the field of artificial intelligence. In Nigeria, “it’s not very popular yet in terms of schools to train you, companies to work at, and just the relevant skills.” she says. In order to thrive and grow, she had to make the transition to another country. 

When talking about applying to schools in the U.S, Inyang says “the actual process really isn’t favorable to Nigerians.” She wanted to come to the U.S. in 2019, but because of lack of financial aid, wasn’t able to come until this year. 

In Nigeria, everyone has generators. Data takes a really long time to buffer and runs out quickly. She says she enjoys studying in a big country because of “the amount of data and processing capacity we have.”

Ideally, after her two years at DU, Inyang wants to start her early career at a big tech company like Netflix or Amazon, building intelligence models that use data to perform actions. Eventually, she’d like to move back to Nigeria and start a company there. “The good thing about developing countries is that there are many opportunities to solve problems.” 

Cultural differences and challenges Aniekan has faced since arriving

The societal differences between Nigeria and the U.S. are substantial, “it’s just a different world,” Inyang says. 

Generally the U.S. is a lot quieter. Aniekan talked about how the people here like to mind their business. She reflected back on the day she moved into her apartment in Denver, and was struggling with her bags on the sidewalk. No one helped her, “everyone was just busy,” Inyang exclaimed. She said that if that were in Nigeria, people would be running to lend a hand. “Nigerians are nosy,” she remarked with a laugh. “It can be good and bad, but people are always looking out for you.” 

“It’s like a powerplant out your window,” Inyang says when referring to Nigeria’s noise. Generators are always running, people are always honking, and in general, everyone is constantly on the move. 

Inyang reflected on some of the key cultural differences as well, “What we term as respect in Nigeria is different from what we term as respect here.” A rule of thumb in Nigeria is that you must greet elders with your right hand. There are also very particular rules with how you address different people.  

Going to school in Denver, Inyang has multiple classes where she is the only black person in the room. “You just don’t see people that look like you,” she recalled. She didn’t deem it as a particularly bad thing, but an isolating feeling nonetheless. 

Inyang has faced some communication difficulties as well. She talked about how she has a hard time understanding people when they speak really fast, and vice versa. 

Although the transition has been complicated, Inyang is on the path to a very successful future. Her story is representative of the leap of faith immigrants all over the world have to take to make a better life for themselves.