Concern for global wellbeing isn’t something that most college students have. Others, like Bluffton student Manyil Dashe, plan to go into a field to help people all around the world improve their health and living conditions.
Dashe has lived in the United States for three and a half years. She was drawn to Bluffton because of its dietetics program and an encouragement from her high school chemistry teacher.
Manyil Dashe photo by Taylor Cook
“My high school chemistry teacher was a graduate of Bluffton who highly recommended it,” she said.
Dashe attended Hill Crest School in her hometown of Jos, Nigeria, and speaks multiple languages, including Hausa, Taroh and Goemai.
She plans to stay in the U.S. after graduating to begin an internship required of all dietetics students. She also would like to work toward her master’s degree while doing her internship. Her ultimate goal is to obtain her doctorate.
Dashe is a food and nutrition major with a dietetics concentration and a minor in public health safety. One of her career goals is to focus on women’s and children’s health globally.
“I would like to be a clinical nutritionist and certified diabetes educator,” she says. “I’d like to work at the United Nations or World Health Organization and make policies regarding women and children’s nutrition with special attention to Nigeria.”
One of the biggest struggles that an international student faces is being away from their family. However, most students have a way to communicate with their families back home. Dashe talks to her family on a daily basis.
“It is hard sometimes to stay focused, but as the years went by, it was easier because I got to visit home during the summer, which I always looked forward to,” she said.
She has one brother who will attend Liberty University in Virginia in the upcoming year.
Her hometown in Nigeria is very different from what she’s experienced in the United States.
“Bluffton is very small compared to my hometown,” she said. “The availability of resources or things to do is the major difference.”
Being imbedded in such a small community, Bluffton students have ample opportunities to develop close relationships with their professors. Many students have a hard time deciding who their favorite professor is.
“This is a hard one. I actually have three favorite professors,” said Dashe. “Martina Cucchiara, Deborah Myers and Jeanna Haggard.”
Not only is the population different, the climate and weather are also very different.
“The weather is also very different, it is mostly cool (60 degrees) most times and it is either raining or dry,” she says.
One thing that Dashe enjoys doing in her free time is cooking.
“I can make a tasty meal out of almost anything,” she said.
