Excerpt from San Diego City College MESA – A Learning Culture:
Taking STEM Education to a New Level (Summer 2017)
BEFORE MESA
I grew up in Burkina Faso, and I am the first in my family to go to college in the U.S. Soon after arriving in the U.S., I started immersing myself to learn English since French is my first language. A couple months later I passed my TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language), and I began my studies at San Diego City College. Yet I was not completely proficient in the English language and had very poor skills for succeeding in the American college system, which is very different from the educational system in my country of origin. I was fortunate to find the MESA program during my second semester after failing a midterm in my chemistry class, being clueless on how to effectively approach the learning in classes.
WHAT THE MESA LEARNING CULTURE MEANS TO ME
My first MESA experience happened when I met MESA Director and my mentor Rafael Alvarez, whom we call Corner Man. He spoke with great passion about what it means to be a creator, and he spoke with complete confidence about my potential, the level of success I can achieve in school, and the impact I can make in life. As I heard him speak, I was moved, touched and inspired; I was ready to take action to achieve the success he was promising me. He not only inspired me, he also provided the tools for that success. The MESA program provided me a rich environment for studying, peers to work with and learn teamwork, and also personal tools for learning. With the creator mindset, I learned and embodied that life doesn’t happen to me, it happens by me — I create my reality, my academic success. The MESA program also provided amazing opportunities for me to attend conferences and participate in summer research programs. Because I learned the skills of personal leadership and networking, I participated in a research program each summer as an undergraduate, including CSP (Creating Scientists to address Cancer Disparities) and STARS (Summer Training Academy for Research in Sciences) programs at the University of California San Diego (UCSD), an epidemiology program at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and an international NIH funded program in Ghana.
MY FUTURE
I earned my Bachelors’ degree in Biochemistry (Cell Biology) at UCSD, and I am now pursuing a Ph.D. degree in epidemiology in the department of preventive medicine at the University of Southern California. I am using the MESA learning culture to create my success in my academic and personal life. A master student of the MESA culture lives a life of complete integrity because his/her words align with his/her action. All the time! A life of integrity births inspiration and creativity in such a way that we become not merely a creator of success, but an instrument for success, and we achieve a level of success so big we could have never thought possible. As an instrument of success, today I am a Ph.D. student, a research assistant, a teaching assistant, a tutor, a certified holistic yoga teacher, and a Landmark graduate. I am enjoying every unfolding of my life, and I know every new challenge is an opportunity for growth to the next stage of my life.
MY ADVICE
My advice for every powerful creator is to remember that only those who are up to something big in life encounter “big problems.” But remember that “problems” do not exist in the language of creators. Instead, these are merely challenges that provide creators with an opportunity for growth and an exciting chance for personal transformation, because that is truly what it is all about. Whatever you aspire to accomplish in life, do it with great enthusiasm. Finally, remember that a creator always lives in the mindset of complete freedom: freedom to dream, freedom to hold a great vision and freedom to live life to its fullest. Enjoy the journey!
Fatimata Sanogo transferred from San Diego City College to the University of California San Diego, where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Biochemistry and Cell Biology. She also earned a Ph.D. degree in epidemiology from the University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine. Additionally, she is a certified yoga instructor; she is the author of 31 Universal Spiritual Principles; and she is the Founder and CEO of non-profit Sahel and Sahara Peace and Empowerment, benefitting adolescent girls in Burkina Faso. She is currently an Observational Research Manager at Amgen.