SrA. Anatu Oyedeji

In 2006, SrA. Anatu Oyedeji moved from the crowded African coastal city of Lagos, Nigeria to the less-crowded coastal city of Jamestown, R.I. Four years later, she graduated from the University of Rhode Island with a bachelor’s degree in marketing and joined the Air Force Reserve. During basic training, she sustained an injury that she feared would be career-ending. She said her spouse, Olalekan Akinsete, “encouraged me and helped me to channel my pain towards achieving my goal.” She graduated from BMT and now serves as a services apprentice with the 439th Force Support Squadron. She joined the Air Force “to improve who I am as a person--mentally and physically--and to be a defender of the vulnerable wherever the service takes me,” she said. After emigrating, she was surprised to find that life in America was just like life in Nigeria, “except people are more comfortable,” she said, with more access to gas, water, and electricity. She grew up speaking English in school and speaking Yoruba, one of three main languages in Nigeria. One expression in Yoruba is, is Ire o! (Best Wishes). “It gives me satisfaction knowing that I am contributing to the growth of freedom worldwide,” she said of her reserve service. (By Lt. Col. James Bishop)