Walking down Strand it seemed like a dream, but yet it was not. As I walked past Somerset House and I slowly made my way into the Strand Campus of King’s College I couldn’t help but look once more at the images and names of some of the famous Alumni of this prestigious school which I have just been accepted into.
Names like Florence Nightingale, Virginia Woolf, Desmond Tutu to name a few and there I was smiling and thinking to myself one day my image will be up there and wondering what would be said about me?
You see my journey to King’s may not have ever seen the light of day, as half way through my PhD proposal I was about to throw in the towel. I asked myself why I needed to go through this again, another bout of higher education and this time even more intense, but being one to never give up I resolved that the purpose for this research was far too important for me to quit now.
To understand my journey, I must take you back a few years earlier when I began a plan to establish an Institution of Higher learning in Africa (Nigeria) and it would be a specialized University for the Creative Arts. I was fascinated by the role of education in the Creative and Cultural Industries and I believed these industries could greatly impact development in Africa. That sparked my interest in doing a research in this field.
I looked at a number of schools but King’s College stood out for a number of reasons, top of that being their reputation for academic excellence especially in research and also they had a member of staff whose research area was the same as my research topic.
I met with her and it was inspiring learning about her work and her research, and the amazing research opportunities at King’s. She invited me to do a 6-month Residency as a Visiting Cultural Partner and Cultural Entrepreneur in Residence, which I was delighted to accept.
During the residency I explored the current research on developing countries, higher education and the creative economy. I also attended research seminars and activities across the department and talked with the students about Cultural Entrepreneurship and their Entrepreneurial ideas.
At the end of the residency we organized a workshop bringing together some key experts to review the current state of research on Creative and Cultural Industries in Africa and this birthed a new Research network. After that it was clear to me that the PhD programme was one I wanted to pursue, and Dr. Roberta Comunian was happy to supervise my work.
The process of the PhD application was very seamless and King’s looked at my case individually, which made it feel very personal. Everything was done online and I had a member of the Admissions team who was my point of contact and kept me updated on the progress of my application. I was very delighted when my acceptance letter came, and I look forward to the next few years at King’s and in London.
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