Building Better Budddies

Admission into a new school ends when you get a letter approving your application then what next? Making plans to resume and register for classes...

I arrived at Ports Columbus International Airport without knowing about the transportation system or the miles between Ohio University (OU) and Columbus. With my luggage delayed, I had to hang around until about 8pm after which I went to make some enquiries about getting a cab. I come from a big city where transportation runs close to 24 hours; the airport or bus terminals never sleep! “Sorry Ma’am, there’s no way you’d get a cab to Athens this night” was the shocking response I got from the airline representative.

While I cracked my head on what to do or how to position myself for the night, the cheerful lady at the baggage claim said “You never can tell, there may be someone going that way.” Before I could say “Iyanu” I heard an announcement over the airport radio “Good evening, would any one going to Athens please come over to the baggage claim, thank you.” Concise, direct, but she did not even ask me and that was not a message to anyone in particular but like an angel on mission, Mark walked towards the baggage claim office.

Apparently he thought they needed to deliver a package and were just being lazy but a good does not hurt so he decided to heed the call. It turned out it was a human package and he asked to inform his family. Now what happened next can simply be described as a miracle. Nancy, his wife, Arienne and Alex, his children returned with him to haul my luggage like they knew me from Eve. As we approached Athens gisting and catching up like long lost siblings, they asked for my contact detail but all I had was the name and phone number of the ISFS staff written on my I-20. We found out it was an office number and they had to figure out how to deal with the human package.

They decided to call the police who got a hold of the person and she in turn directed us to Bromley where I stayed the night and a couple of days before finding my feet. Mark, Nancy and the children left for Belpre after they had settled me in. The story did not end there; I found out that Nancy and Mark met while studying in OU. So, it must have been the OU-Athens community spirit that led them to me that fateful day. We have become great friends; a beautiful bracelet they gave to me at my graduation has become a symbol of the amazing friendship we share.

Settling down and finding your way around Athens is not an easy task but the Community Ties Initiative (CTI) is a program that seeks to help students navigate the Athens community waters while giving the Athens community residents a bigger window into OU. Whether you are a freshman, sophomore, junior, senior or graduate student, whether you are an American or an International student, there are times when you just can make do with a friend away from home.

If you would like to spend some time with an Athens community family or an OU student, if you would like to tap from the wealth of resources within the Athens community and the Ohio University, Athens campus, if you would like to enjoy home made meals or attend a family event, I invite you to join the Community Ties Initiative which I helped to re-engineer last quarter. For more information on CTI contact Mr. John Schmieding john_45701@yahoo.com who is the Director of the Athens Community Relations Commission.