Coming to the United States wasa dream taht became a reality for Ibrahim Kargo and he tells us just how important it is for him to be here. "It's been very important to be in the United States fo America. Thank God to my auntie and uncle who help us come here by fighting for us. Being in America it has been a dream for us since I was younger I prayed to God about this to come here because this is the dream land you know you hear that it is like heaven and that is how it was symbolized to us," he says.
"Being here getting an education means a lot to me and I believe it is still important to me. It is still significance to the fact that I am still here studying and pursuing my educational goals which I believe a lot of people back in my country, waiting for me to go back and to do the same too and help them learn here as I've learned here," he says. "So it's absolutely important if it is not the first priority in my life I could say the second or the third. It is very important."
Ibrahim came from West Africa to play sports, particularly Basketball, but soon he realized that he would turn his attention to majoring in Business. "International Business and Marketing I think is very interesting because I was never interested in anything that was Business, anything that was absolutely corporate, then when I came to Clark it opened my mind because I wanted to be a Sports man," he says. "I thought I was going to be an athlete my whole life, but I always loved Basketball ever since I was a kid in Africa I never got to play the game, even when we was younger we use to take a tennis ball and we had this little toy hoop and we would play around and just have fun with it, but my thing was always Basketball and I just love the concept of the game," he says.
"Basketball was always in my heart and when i came to America, I got to pursue it. I truly feel and do believe that maybe someday I'll make it professional and as of right now that chance is becoming more lean and lean every day. It is something that I still love in my heart so I was willing to be a walk-on student and just play for the love of it, without getting any money because my financial aid was straighten out for me thank God, but when I choose Business as a major, it kind of just really opened my mind to a lot of things and a lot of things that I truly have talent in where I became the president of African Student Organization and so many other things I was involved in I never knew I had so much talent in me," he says. "So Business definitely opened up my mind and broaden my horizons."
Believe it or not, Ibrahim says by watching an American movie called 'Drumline' he was influenced to give Clark Atlanta a try. "I actually found Clark Atlanta from the movie 'Drumline'. I think it was just the fact that the way it was based on a main character name Nick Cannon I believe. He came on a scholarship and he himself had a narrow mind to things and some of the things he adventure in he didn't want to do as a band man when he came, but later on he got adjusted to it and became the best that he can and that is how I was when I first came they had different things I didn't want to do," he says.
"For example why do I have to dress up because as a Business major you have to dress up, but after a while I got use to it and I said, 'Wow, this is something I can do' because I never could envision myself dressing up everyday no way I couldn't do it. So,I think Drumline made it a reality because I workout everyday pretty much I'm an athlete and seeing Nick Cannon running the stairs in the movie, it reminded me of myself doing it now and I never could picture myself doing the same thing he was doing it. So I can say Drumline perfectly made it absolute that Clark Atlanta was the place I wanted an adventure."
Ibrahim says his educational experiences back home were mentally and physically challenging. He says being able to receive an education here is a blessing. "I can say of course it is absolutely different because in Sierra Leone dedication to it is very, very challenging in terms of helping a student to becoming the best that he can because Sierra Leone was one of the highest in the British system of education in West Africa. Everything was straight discipline you'll get beat up in school if you didn't get the right answer you would get discipline for it and your mother, your parents would not say anything about it," he says.
"I could say it was different because kids wouldn't do their homework and teachers would say this is college so it doesn't matter and sometimes kids walk out of class and be disrespectful to the teacher, but at the same time I learned that you really have to make decisions on your own nobody is going to force you which I did like because at times being too strict you will only do if because you have to do it because people are being strict on you, but here they ask why are you doing this, why do you go to class everyday and be the best that you can because if you think about it I want to make an impact on this world," he says.
"I want to help other people. So I can say America has given me that kind of opportunity I've been through the discipline life where I got beat up to do my homework, but now no one is beating me up I have passion to truly learn I have because this is what has been instilled in me every since I was younger was to learn everyday."
Ibrahim graduates from Clark Atlanta this year.
