From the Ivory Coast, to community college, to SMU: A journey in pursuit of education & the American dream
Story by Kenny Ryan
Where SMU senior Yann Olonade comes from, nobody asked, “Why do you want to immigrate to the United States?”
Born and raised in Ivory Coast (Cote D’Ivoire), Olonade always knew he wanted an American college education. The only question was where and how. American Universities are far more expensive than Ivory Coast colleges, where $500 a year is often enough to attend a public university.
Oh, and there was the whole language-barrier thing. The official language of Ivory Coast is French.
But Olonade would not be deterred.
“They call it the American dream,” says Olonade, who graduated with a bachelor’s degree in accounting from SMU’s Cox School of Business in May 2018.
“Being outside this country and looking at it, all you want to do is visit,” Olonade adds. “Most of my childhood friends went to study in France. But if you’re courageous, you learn English and try to go to college in the United States, or even Canada and face the cold.”
And Olonade is certainly courageous.
He started his American Odyssey in Washington D.C., where he followed a family friend’s footsteps by attending Kaplan International College for six months to learn English. It was a success, but then he saw the price tag on out-of-state community college tuition in Washington D.C.– $6,000 per semester– and realized he was going to have to be agile. That’s when an old high school friend who was studying in Texas told him that out-of-state community college tuition in the Lone Star State could be as low as about $2,000 per semester.
If that was Olonade’s first accounting exam, he passed with flying colors.
“The math was really easy,” Olonade says. “Looking at those numbers, it was like, ‘OK, we’re moving to Dallas.’ So I moved here with my cousins and sister.”
Olonade enrolled in Brookhaven Community College in Farmers Branch. On his first day of class, he had the conversation that directly led him to SMU.
“I met this guy from my country who told me he’d just graduated from Brookhaven and transferred to SMU as a finance major, with a full-tuition scholarship – the North Texas Community College Scholarship,” Olonade says. “That was quite convincing. I asked, ‘How do I get that scholarship?’ and he told me a few things and from day 1 I had that goal to transfer to SMU.”
“From day one I had a goal to transfer to SMU.”
Hailing from the Ivory Coast, Yann Olonade crossed the ocean in search of an American Education. Thanks to the North Texas Community College Scholarship, he found that education at SMU and is set to start a career at Deloitte next year.
Earning SMU’s North Texas Community College Scholarship was not going to be easy. Only 10 are awarded each year to students transferring from Collin, Dallas, Grayson, Kaufman, Navaro and Tarrant County community college districts.
Undeterred, Olonade dove headfirst into every activity he could find at Brookhaven. He was a student ambassador, a Phi Theta Kappa officer, and a mentor to early college high school students, all while maintaining an impeccable 3.93 GPA.
Two years later, it was mission accomplished – Olonade had earned a North Texas Community College Scholarship and entry to SMU. But he didn’t slow down after making it to the Hilltop.
“I couldn’t just go to class, that was boring,” Olonade says. “I had to get involved.”
In his two years at SMU, Olonade served as Treasurer of Mustang Transfers, president of SMU’s National Association of Black Accountants chapter (NABA), and attended numerous conferences. Professors like Steven Denson, an adjunct professor of management and director of MBA diversity initiatives, helped guide Olonade as he made the most of his SMU experience.
“He was my professor only once, but through my SMU journey, he’s been real impactful,” Olonade says. “For anything I needed, I could go to his office. He’s the one who challenged me not only to take on the NABA president role, but to make something out of it. He’s a good person to be around.”
As Olonade approached graduation, his future started to come into focus. During his last semester, he took an internship at Deloitte, which offered him a full-time job he’ll step into after earning his master’s in accounting (also at SMU) and CPA certification in spring 2019. He’s also supporting his younger sister, who has followed her brother’s footsteps and graduated from Brookhaven in May 2018.
Attending both graduations were Olonade’s parents, visiting from Ivory Coast.
“My family members have made sacrifices to allow me to be where I am today,” Olonade says. “So my long-term goals aren’t about me, they’re about them. My younger sister is applying to SMU now. Later, perhaps, I can buy my parents something back home. Being able to support them (and those who have helped me) in anyway I can, those are my desires.”
If Olonade has demonstrated anything, it’s that when he sets a goal, he accomplishes it.
