Student Profile: Amandla Ooko-Ombaka ’10

Amandla Ooko-Ombaka ’10, a junior in Branford College, says she is most productive when she is happy. Judging from her impressive résumé, which overflows with both academic and extracurricular accomplishments, Amandla is very happy here at Yale.

Hailing from Nairobi, Kenya, Amandla is pursuing a double major in economics & mathematics and international studies. Like most Elis, she also has diverse interests that span the liberal arts curriculum. An avid dancer, Amandla is a member of Rhythmic Blue, a hip-hop contemporary dance group, and the ballroom dance team. Since coming to Yale she has also continued to take part in the Model United Nations, one of her passions from high school. A member of the Yale team since her freshman year in 2006, she served as Secretary-General for the Yale Model United Nation Conference, the largest student-run conference on Yale's campus.

In the future, Amandla hopes to return to her home country. In fact, she says, “If Yale was in Nairobi, I never would have left.” But first, she is taking advantage of all that the University has to offer. Below, she shares her thoughts on her experience so far and her plans for the years ahead.

I chose to attend Yale because:

I came to Yale for three reasons. First, because of the people. When I came for Bulldog Days, everyone I met was so much their own person, and it was so inclusive. Second, in high school I was very active in the Model United Nations, and Yale has one of the best traveling teams in the nation. The third reason is because of financial aid. I received grants and scholarships that I don’t have to pay back, and I also get a vacation allowance. It’s nice to be able to go home once a year to visit my brother and sister.

My favorite class:

My favorite class has been Capital Markets in Southeast Asia with Nicholas Clements. It was a seminar and examined the ways in which domestic and international capital is deployed in China and Southeast Asia. Professor Clements grew up in Kenya and, like me, studied in the UK, so I felt a personal connection to him and his background. Also, I loved how he taught the class. For the first ten or fifteen minutes we would talk about financial news from around the world. Then we would review the material for the week, and in the end two students would debate different sides of an issue. You can read the Wall Street Journal every day, but that doesn’t mean you understand it. In this class you learned about market structures, futures, and derivatives, and how they play out in the real world.

The professor who has taught me the most:

This is a really hard question because there have been so many. I would say Thomas DeFrantz. He was a visiting professor from MIT, and I took a course he taught on black aesthetics and dance history. I really had to think in his class, and he didn’t let me get away with anything. He was constantly asking me questions. What does this mean? How does this fit in? I learned a lot.

The greatest book I read at Yale:

I have to say it was the textbook for my econometrics class. I really wanted to read it and see the material explained in class.

My favorite place to study:

The common room in my suite. Last year, I studied in the Branford library a lot, but this year I have a great common room. It’s very homey, it has great light, and I can spread out.  

My plans for study or work abroad:

Over the summer I went to Argentina as a part of the Bulldogs International Internship Program. I worked for Infor-Med Corporation, a medical software company, and my boss graduated from Yale Medical School. He is one of the smartest people I have ever met. I had no experience in medicine or in computers, but he said he picked me because I was so excited about learning. We developed a great relationship, and now we talk about once every three days or so.

My preferred extracurricular activity:

I dance. When I first came to Yale I joined Rhythmic Blue, and it has been a big part of my life. I am also a member of the ballroom dance team, but I haven’t been competing for the past year.

After graduation, I plan to:

Be happy. Before I came here, I had a set plan for my life. Now I feel like I am more free to try new things than I was four years ago. After graduation, I plan to work for a few years, possibly in consulting, and then go back to graduate school for economics or get an MBA. I also want to go back to Kenya someday. I believe that if you get an education you have to do something with it. Now that I have it, I have to take it back home.

Something I learned at Yale that I will always remember:

There will always be people smarter than you and better than you at things, but it’s an opportunity to learn.

(April 22, 2009)