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Steffi. O

@steffi_ortega

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City Planner 🌃
‘We will rebuild the broken cities and live in them’
Amos 9:13

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If you’ve met my mum, you know she’ll give me the biggest side eye for this post. But how can I celebrate my graduation without giving my mummy her flowers. From the moment I told my mum about my admission to Harvard, she probably carried my admission letter everywhere she went. There were at least two copies in her car😂. When I didn’t have funding for school, my mum knocked on every door she could to get my tuition together. Anyone who owed her money was in serious trouble because she was on a mission😂. When I finally got to Harvard, she didn’t stop supporting me. When I needed someone to vent to and cry, she’d be on the phone with me. When I needed to wake up to read and had no energy to get up on my own, my mum set her alarm to wake me up.My mummy won’t be at my graduation to see the fruit of her labor in person, but without her, I won’t be three days away from receiving a diploma from Harvard University. Thank you mummy. Thank you for turning everything that could have made me fall into a testimony I can share today. I love you 🥹Type ‘Thank you Mummy Tega’ if you get to end of this😘 by @steffi_ortega

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#graddiaries Entry 3If someone had told me 23-year old Tega she was going to meet a girl from Ghana who would make America feel like home, I wouldn’t have believed them. 2 years later, we hosted our first event together. We called it UNSEEN, a project to share fictional books about the places we call home. Isn’t it crazy how life works?When I moved to Boston in 2022, I was leaving a community of friends I had made since my UNILAG days. One minute we were 16 and 17 year olds walking into class for the first time and the next, we were renting homes 10 minutes apart from each other. The friends I was leaving behind for a new chapter had become family.A lot of the people I knew in my new city, Boston, were friends of those friends from college. But most of them had jobs already and I spent more time at school, so our schedules didn’t overlap as often. School was filled with a lot of new people, but there was something difficult about easing into adult friendships. One day there was an event for the black students on campus and I was determined to come out of my shell and start more conversations. But I failed at getting past one conversation with the girl sitting alone on the ledge. And honestly, that’s all I needed. I noticed her watching as the group sipped mimosas and chatted away. I’d never met her before, but she seemed so familiar. I decided to join her on the ledge and introduce myself.We got past the awkward points of hellos and I proceeded to ask questions. ‘Where are you from, what are you studying, do you live here?’ ‘Ghana, studying architecture and I live in Boston,’ she said. After a few moments of silence I asked her about her favorite book. I don’t recall why, but I remembered reading Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi and it was the only connection I had to Ghana. We bantered back and forth on why we loved the book until she had to leave for a presentation. I sat on the ledge a little longer. I realized I just met a friend who made me feel like I was home again. Thank you for this gift, Araba.If you’re navigating the unsettling waters of making friends in your 20s, remember it is a shameless affair. Be shameless🫶🏾 by @steffi_ortega

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#smile #2024 #fyp #fypviral #highlights #followforfollowback #followers #follow by @steffi_ortega

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Muah😘 by @steffi_ortega

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Somewhere down the line I stopped posting birthday pictures. So, I’m making up for the last 3 years. Happy birthday Tee🤍 Love ya. Ps: Share something you’re learning as you get older. Let me jot things down😅 by @steffi_ortega

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Alors, comment vas-tu mon amour?I’ll wait for my people to respond🙃 by @steffi_ortega

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Three months later, but she deserves a spot here. 📍Harvard 2024 👩🏾‍🎓 by @steffi_ortega

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Hi August✨✨ Hi you 🤍 by @steffi_ortega

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I’m the kid who started walking at 9 months. I’m the kid who started reading at a year and a half and started to ask my mum to fetch the morning papers from the vendors downstairs at three. Apparently, I loved to sit with my dad to read newspapers before work. Those were all the things my dad told me as we sat in my living room after graduation. I don’t remember much about that girl that he praised as he poured a glass of tequila for a toast, but I wondered if she’d believe we walked across Harvard’s stage yesterday. Thank you to the mentor who spent three years telling me I was Harvard material. Thank you to the woman who opened doors for me even when I had zero work experience. Thank you to the professor who told me urban planning could be much more and I will go places. Thank you to the friends who allowed me cry, bully them for food and lay on their beds when I needed comfort. Thank you to the friends who let me play and forgave me on the days I couldn’t show up. Thank you to the strangers who became friends at Harvard. Thank you to the strangers who honored me financially. I have stood on your shoulders these last two years. There is no me without the gift of you all. Thank you God for grace and mercy. Thank you for never letting me go.With all my love, Your Harvard graduate by @steffi_ortega

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#gradschooldiaries entry 4It’s been afros all week, and I’m feeling the vibes. I never enjoyed wearing my hair out in Nigeria. It always felt undone without braids or a wig but this week I wanted some freedom. Every week, I shuffle between MIT and Harvard for class. Most of that commute was during the winter months, so I always had to throw a big black puffer jacket over any cute outfit. Then I had my huge backpack with my laptop, lunch and a snack if I have to stay back after class. Between adding on an extra 5 kg with the jacket and another five with my bag, wigs or braids felt stressful. Should I tuck it in the jacket and feel a constant itch around my neck? Or let it fall over my bag and hang out all day? Getting a cute tote bag is not an option because my laptop is way too heavy to hang over my shoulders all day. So, my hair was the easiest thing to change. At first I felt awkward and honestly ugly walking around with a high puff, but I’ve played around with it in the last month. I may have found a sweet spot for now. I think I’m ready some braids again, but I wanted a little Afro appreciation post. Thank you to all the women who have made it easier to feel comfortable walking around with my little fro this week🫶🏾Hair aside, I have about 3 weeks left until my final presentation!! One paper and four presentations to go🥳 by @steffi_ortega

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#Graddiaries2024 Entry 2If you look long enough, you’ll find a sprinkle of madness and love in this post. The last few days have been tough. I had 3 assignments due on Monday, a deadline for work on Tuesday and tax errands to sort out. All equally important things which made prioritizing really hard. My coping mechanisms is typically to disappear. I don’t call or text anyone. I just hide until I feel better, but I’ve been forcing myself not to. I’ve been openly asking for love this year and a lot more encouragement. So today, as I broke down in tears from exhaustion, I reached out to a few friends and my mum. I cried about the frustration and asked them for comfort. I was shocked my the texts I received and I’ll be printing them to stick on my wall🥹If you’re feeling weighed down, I encourage you to ask for the comfort you need. There’s no shame in wailing hopelessly on the other end of a phone. I already lack a lot of shame, so maybe that’s helpful. Beyond the hustle and bustle of school life, I have a funny story to share. There was an eclipse on Monday and standing outside with my classmates as everything slowly went dark reminded me of a silly girl from secondary school. That girl had dream about the end of the world and somehow managed to convince our whole school to go into a state of emergency. I mean people were trying to get through any unfinished business in anticipation of ‘the end.’ That girl made me finish the small milk and milk I had remaining 😭 Let’s just say I made it to the next morning and had to live without my provisions for a while. I still have so many questions.Did you have any vision seers in your school? I know this caption took a turn but I’d rather end on a happy note than with my temporary sadness 😅 by @steffi_ortega

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I have less than a month to finish grad school, so I’m attempting to post weekly to remember this phase. I’m also trying to be comfortable with being cringe. Prepare to be sick of me.#Grad school entry 1Today, I had a group meeting for an assignment due on Monday. It’s a class I’m taking at MIT and a mix with undergraduates, so I didn’t know anyone. In a bid to get to know each other, the ‘how old are you?’ question came up. It made me realize the 1998 babies really aren’t kids anymore. The four people in the group people called out ages between 19 and 22 and all of a sudden, 25 felt like a big age to call. I suddenly felt like a big Aunty in the group. With graduation around the corner I always wonder if I’m too late to all the innovative things happening. Because where was I when these kids were clearly coding from the womb?All these inner thoughts made me forget the cup of iced coffee I held onto as we talked. I finally took a sip and maybe it was the ice resetting my brain, but I realized half of the overwhelming thoughts on feeling inadequate were driven by hunger and lack of sleep. My brain was clearly conjuring up scenarios from working on 4 hours of sleep. I sipped the last bit of coffee and decided to call it a night. I’ll still be working late tonight, but at least I know what the problem is. The moral lesson here is to eat or drink something when you’re questioning life. by @steffi_ortega

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