{"id":1995,"date":"2019-12-10T03:28:33","date_gmt":"2019-12-10T07:28:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/pr\/?p=1995"},"modified":"2026-07-13T22:27:35","modified_gmt":"2026-07-14T02:27:35","slug":"umes-helped-deans-list-student-find-her-voice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/scm\/umes-helped-deans-list-student-find-her-voice\/","title":{"rendered":"UMES helped dean\u2019s list student find her voice"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
Gbemisola Okesanjo<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Chicago native to deliver student commentary at 23rd winter commencement<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Tuesday, December 10, 2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gbemisola Okesanjo mastered time management and overcame adolescent insecurities to find her voice as a dean’s list student at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The results will be on display when she steps to the lectern Dec. 13 to deliver the class of 2019’s student commentary at the university’s 23rd<\/sup> winter commencement exercises. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSola,\u201d as she’s known around campus, insists she was an introvert when she came to UMES from Chicago in 2016 on scholarship to be a middle blocker on the volleyball team. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When she and the team parted ways at the end of the 2018 season, a series of new opportunities awaited – and she took full advantage of them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

She’ll graduate with honors a semester early – thanks to taking 18 credit hours a semester – and will enter a trainee program with JPMorgan Chase & Co., the nation’s largest bank. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sola, who turned 22 on Dec. 1, spent this past summer in Dallas working for JPMorgan in the company’s leadership development program, which turned out to be a dry run that resulted in the job offer. Her performance earned her an award for \u201cexceeding expectations\u201d in the merchant services: marketing intelligence division. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Co-workers also pushed her to apply for an invitation to attend the Forbes \u201cUnder 30 Summit,\u201d an annual gathering the periodical sponsors to bring together influential millennial-entrepreneurs. She was named a \u201c30 Under 30\u201d Forbes Scholar and traveled to Detroit in late October, where she heard pro athletes Serena Williams and Kevin Durant, and cosmetics entrepreneur Melissa Butler discuss their approaches to being successful business people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Butler, in particular, left an impression. Some of the advice Sola took away from hearing her included: \u201cWhen your gut tells you something, you should follow it\u201d and when you have an idea \u201cthe only opinion that matters is your own; not the people around you.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

During her three years on UMES’ volleyball team, she played alongside student-athletes from Croatia, Fiji, Russia, Montenegro, Serbia and Uganda. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI learned about their cultures, languages and experiences,\u201d she said, which \u201ctransformed my mind and broadened my view of the world.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When she stopped playing competitive collegiate sports, Sola experienced an \u201cah-hah moment.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI began to realize I was much more than somebody who played volleyball,\u201d she said. \u201cIt opened up a whole new world for me.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sola credits UMES faculty members April Stull and Leesa Thomas-Banks for providing the kind of guidance and advice that has given her confidence as she enters post-college life. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGbemisola has not wasted a moment \u2026 at UMES,\u201d said Thomas-Banks, interim chair of UMES’ business, management and accounting department. \u201cShe is inquisitive and continues to seek opportunities for development and improvement.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thomas-Banks calls Sola \u201cthoughtful and ambitious\u201d who promotes \u201cthe values of empowering others and striving for excellence.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI am certain she will become a powerful leader as she develops as a professional,\u201d Thomas-Banks said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her academic performance has earned her scholarships from the LaGrant Foundation and the Thurgood Marshall College Fund as well as qualified her to join Beta Gamma Sigma, the business honor society. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In her spare time, she was an officer in the campus chapter of Delta Sigma Theta sorority, and was a tutor with the university’s Center for Access & Academic Success who helped fellow business students. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI wasn’t sure (UMES) was going to be right for me,\u201d Sola said, \u201cbecause nothing in my background ever informed me or prepared me for this experience.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis university has allowed me to learn self-concept as a black body. It has allowed me to learn about diversity within \u2026 and outside my race,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd it has allowed me to grow among like-minded and contrasting minds.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The youngest of four siblings, Sola is the first to earn a degree from a historically black institution. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis was one of the best decisions I ever made,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Chicago native to deliver student commentary at 23rd winter commencement Tuesday, December 10, 2019 Gbemisola Okesanjo mastered time management and overcame adolescent insecurities to find her voice as a dean’s list student at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore.  The results will be on display when she steps to the lectern Dec. 13 to deliver…Read more UMES helped dean\u2019s list student find her voice<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1996,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[103],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-1995","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/scm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1995","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/scm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/scm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/scm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/scm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1995"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/scm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1995\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/scm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1996"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/scm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1995"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/scm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1995"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/scm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1995"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/scm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=1995"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}