Omoefe Ogbeide
Hometown: Alameda, California
Internships have been a crucial part of Omoefe Ogbeide’s educational experience at Landmark College. In 2014, she landed a full-time internship at Fulflex Elastomerics Worldwide Inc., working in quality control for the Brattleboro, Vermont-based international company that makes elastic materials for a wide range of consumer and industrial products.
Then, in summer of 2015, Omoefe—commonly known as “Omo” to her friends and the LC community—landed an internship with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Services. She found herself working alongside lawyers, economists, biologists, and statisticians.
While that might be a daunting thought for any college student, for Omo it was liberating. “My supervisor told me, ‘You should never create artificial barriers to your success’,” says Omoefe. “There are plenty of real barriers, so don’t let artificial barriers stop you. And my LD is an artificial barrier.”
Through her internship with the USDA, Omo took part in mentoring events in Washington, D.C., that convinced her she will eventually achieve a longtime goal: attending law school. “I always saw my struggles with reading and writing as a detriment, so I excluded myself from doing certain things. Within weeks of starting my internship, though, I went to an event with Washington’s top 15 law schools and I realized I really could do it!”
Omo was part of Landmark College’s first graduating class of bachelor degree students in May 2016, earning a B.A. in Liberal Studies. After she graduated, she was offered and accepted a full-time job with the USDA.
“Having struggled with reading and working memory, I feared going into law even though I’m really passionate about it, and in foreign policy and international business,” she says. “At Landmark, one of the top things I learned was active reading, which helped me comprehend and stay engaged with my reading. In reading-intensive classes at Landmark College—like Dan Miller’s 3000- and 4000-level classes—I’ve read things that I’m told even graduate students have trouble reading and comprehending!”
Her classroom experiences at LC were complemented greatly by her professional internships. With help from Career Connections, Omo landed at Fulflex and thrived in a position that allowed her to review and rewrite Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for quality control. Her internship at the USDA took her even deeper into the world of SOPs as they relate to food safety.
“Being in a classroom is invaluable—but then you have to apply what you learned,” Omo says. “When you work in internships, you recognize that there are different types of experience necessary for your education. And working in the field is the best kind of education you can get.”