Name: Oyinda Bola
Hometown: Columbus, Ohio
Hobbies/Interests: Music, reading, research, watching documentaries
HC: What’s your favorite quote?
OB: Hmm, nice question! I have tons of quotes stored up on my Tumblr, here’s one: “Comparison is an act of violence against the self” by Maya Angelou
HC: Who’s a person who has influenced you, or piqued your interest lately?
OB: Well, lately I’ve been interested in Warsan Shire- she’s a British poet, please check her out!
HC: What’s your major and year?
OB: I’m a second year sociology major.
HC: Why did you choose sociology as your major?
OB: I love this question, well – I’ve haven’t always known that “sociology” was a subject, but I’ve always enjoyed the content – if that makes sense. I grew up watching PBS “Frontline” with my mom – about the Mormon church, Cambodian sex slavery, and inner-city Nashville.
HC: What activities are you currently involved in on campus?
OB: I hope to get more involved in certain clubs, but I’m currently involved in research. This past summer I traveled to Poland to study abroad and for research purposes, and just last week I got to present my research at the OSU fall poster forum. …And I hope to start my senior thesis soon!
HC: What did your research overseas consist of?
OB: The academic answer is “social capital and religiosity”, but in relaxed terms I used survey data to look at how church attendance in Poland affected how the number of friends one has, and the quality of those friendships.
HC: What did you think of Poland? And what’s one great experience you had while there?
OB: I have conflciting thoughts on Poland, and I got see Drake peform (again) at a Polish musical festival!
HC: You’re presenting at your former high school, what topic will you be presenting? Is it difficult at all to connect with a high school audience as opposed to college students?
OB: I’m going to talk about religion in Poland, and all the contents of my research. It is difficult thinking about connecting and engaging high schoolers – I just want to attempt to get them to critically think through my research and apply the themes of it to the US.
HC: What do you hope to be doing next year?
OB: Hopefully next summer I’ll be out of Ohio (again), doing an internship and heavily in the throws of my senior thesis.
HC: And finally how do you hope to implement your sociology degree and research into a career?
OB: Whoa! I want a career in sociology research, so a merging of the two! I am a bit unsure, at the moment of where I want to end up. But, I’m not worried- I know I’ll end up somewhere.