Liebster Award Nomination

Happy August everyone! Last week was a bit crazy for me, but I am back! Congrats to everyone who dominated their MCAT these past two weeks. It’s a great feeling to be MCAT free 🙂

Two weeks ago, I was nominated for the Liebster Award by serend1p1ty. The following week, I was also nominated by AwkwardBlackDoctor. A big thank you to both of these bloggers for nominating me!

Liebster, pronounced ‘LEEB’-ster, is a word of German origin and means beloved, preferred, or liked very much among others. It is a term of endearment and likewise, the Liebster award is one created by bloggers for bloggers as a way to acknowledge their work in the bloggersphere. source

I feel truly honored to be nominated by these two lovely bloggers! serend1p1ty is one of the first bloggers I stumbled into when I joined the WordPress world. She’s also in the midst of applying to med school and not only blogs about this process, but has some great tips and resources as well. Check her out! AwkwardBlackDoctor is also another blogger I really enjoy. She’s starting her first year of med school at UCLA and blogs about her journey to and through med school, as well as tid bits of her personal life. She’s a witty writer, which makes her blog really interesting to read. Do also check her out.

So in order to accept the Liebster award, I have to complete the following:

The Liebster Award Rules

Thank the nominator and post a link to his/her blog ✓
Display the award on your blog ✓
Answer the eleven questions provided by the nominator ✓
Nominate 5-11 blogs which have less than 1,000 followers, and let them know they’ve been nominated ✓
Make up and post eleven questions for your nominees to answer ✓
Post these rules on your blog ✓

Since I got two nominations, I figured I’ll do half of serend1p1ty and half of AwkwardBlackDoctor questions.

Serend1p1ty Questions

1) What is one characteristic or quality that sets you apart from everyone else?
My belief that impossible is nothing. This sheer belief drives a lot of the things I do – whether it’s doing a body building show (I’ve done this three times!) or applying to an ivy league college despite the nay sayers (now I’m an alum!). I truly believe this sets me apart. I don’t believe in putting limits at what I can and cannot do – physically, mentally, in both my academic/career and personal life.

2) What type of music do you listen to? Name three artists/bands that you would recommend.
I listen to all kinds of music to be honest, it all just depends on the mood. So three artists I’d recommend are:

Wizkid – He’s a Nigerian artist. His music makes you want to Pakuromo.
Sam Smith – have you heard his acoustic version of “Latch“? I’m obssessed.
Sade Adu – A classic. Her music never gets old to me.

3) What is your favorite quote?
I have a couple but I’ll leave you with the one in the signature of my personal email. It’s from my favorite poem “Still I rise” by Maya Angelou:

“Just like moons and like suns with the certainty of tides, just like hopes springing high, still I’ll rise”

4) What are three things from your bucket list that you hope to accomplish by this time next year?

Get into medical school.
Visit Ghana – Long story but I’ve been trying for the last 3 years. A lot of my friends are Ghanaian; in some ways, it’s my adopted culture.
Complete a half marathon – I’m doing the Rock n Roll Half Marathon next month. So let’s hope I don’t pass out before the finish line 😛

5) What are some things in your daily life that consistently makes you happy?
Music. Conversations with friends. Snap chats with my brothers. Writing in my journal. Working out. Random internet memes. Ha!

AwkwardBlackDoctor Questions

6) Why should someone follow your blog?
If you’re looking to get inspired, motivated or simply gain some lessons and tips about the med school journey, just click that follow button!

7) What is your stance on white chocolate?
Love. Me and white chocolate are match made in heaven.

8) Tell me about a favorite dish you think I’ve never heard of.
Pounded yam and Egusi stew. It’s one of my favorite Nigerian dishes. Oh yea, my dear followers, I am Nigerian.

Source

9) What is your favorite place you’ve visited internationally?
South Africa. I was taking a study abroad class on Contemporary South African Performances. Best time ever. I got exposed to a lot of culture, saw over 30 shows at the Grahamstown National Arts Festival. Just an awesome time in South Africa overall. You can find my travel blog for that experience here: http://footprintsandplanes.blogspot.com/

10) What is the best book you’ve read recently?
So recently is within the past year right? In that case, “Americanah” by Chimamanda Adichie. She’s the author of “Half of a Yellow Sun” and “Purple Hibiscus.” I am a huge fan of her work and Americanah is my favorite book by her thus far.

11) Do you think fate is real or a rationalization of occurrences?
I believe that “God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” So nope, I don’t believe in random occurrences. I am a Christian as mentioned in previous posts and I believe that God has designed an awesome plan for my life, so things that happen, don’t just happen. It was by God’s doing!

Wheew! Okay now I have to nominate some folks! I proudly nominate the following five blogs for the Liebster Award:

My questions: