Name: Ope Okuboyejo
Major: Math
Born in: Nigeria
Hometown: London, England
Year: Freshman
Her Campus: “What made you come to Bonaventure?”
Ope Okuboyejo: “Well I met a specialist on American universities, like an advisor, and they recommended that I visit here. I came in May, and fell in love with this place. Then I found out that about the rugby team, so I talked to the coach and he recruited me to come here.”
HC: “Why were you interested in coming to the U.S.?”
OO: “I wanted a change of scenery. All of my siblings came here, and my dad wanted me to come here too. He thinks the universities in America are more user-friendly; in England it’s a lot more competitive and difficult.”
HC: “What’s your favorite and least favorite thing about the U.S. so far?”
OO: “My favorite thing is that people are really friendly and they’re fascinated by my accent. But my least favorite is that the food is so unhealthy.”
HC: “What’s something that most people don’t know about you?”
OO: “I went to the school where rugby was created; it’s called Rugby School. The name of the town was Rugby before the school was made, the school was named after the town, and the sport was named after the school. The creator, William Webb Ellis, went there and picked up a ball one day and started running and so that’s how the sport started.”
HC: “How long have you been playing rugby?”
OO: “About five to six years.”
HC: “You get a lot of injuries playing rugby; how do you recover and keep yourself going?”
OO: “I’ve had about six to seven injuries. My worst injury was breaking my collarbone. A big guy came at me full speed on the field, I tackled him and he broke my collarbone. I had to do a lot of physical therapy–my dad’s a doctor so he tells me what to do. I keep going because I love the game and I have fun playing it.”
HC: “Is Bonaventure what you expected?”
OO: “Slightly better than I expected.”
HC: “How would you describe your experience so far?”
OO: “A lot of things I didn’t expect. I thought maybe because it’s in the middle of nowhere it would be more dull. But the people here make it great and I’ve had a lot of fun.”