MINESOTA: Attending a Graduation at University of Minesota

The reason I, traveled to Minnesota, was to attend the graduation ceremony of my oldest and truest of friends. Agnes and I, are childhood friends. We went to two schools together and continued to nurture our friendship through the years, it has grown stronger both socially, emotionally and professionally. I could ask for no better friend. A year ago, Agnes was one of only ten Ugandans who were awarded scholarships under the Fulbright program to pursue Master’s, PhD, Post-Doctoral Research and Hubert Humphrey fellowships in 2010. Agnes was attached to the University of Minnesota as part of the Hubert Humphrey International Fellowship Program. If any of you know about fellowships, you know that the selection process is grueling, and only the best of the best get chosen. My friend Agnes has served 14 years in the Government of Uganda’s Ministry of Internal Affairs. I still remember when she got the job. She is currently a senior immigration officer/training coordinator for the Directorate of Citizenship and Immigration Control in Kampala. .She is responsible for planning, designing, and conducting training activities on such topics as irregular migration and counter trafficking, passport/document fraud, organized crime, and effective boarder management.

On arrival in Minneapolis, I was picked up at the airport by Agnes’ boyfriend Don. I had arrived 5 hour later than previously scheduled due to delayed and canceled flights by US Airways. This was the second time in 7 years that US Airways had delayed a flight I was on, and ten rescheduled it for 5 hours later. I cannot begin to describe my frustrations at the situation that day. Nonetheless, I made it to Minneapolis on the same day. I had called Don ahead and explained the change in arrival time, which apparently worked pretty well for both Agnes and him. Both had spent their day running around trying to meet deadlines: Don, for tax filling, while Agnes needed to submit in her paper.

I waited patiently at the airport upon arrival, as Don made his way through the rush hour traffic to pick me up. My wait was not long; soon we were headed towards Minneapolis. As we approached the city, the Minneapolis Skyline came in view, unfortunately due to the bad weather; the sky was gray and gloomy, making it impossible to take a good shot. We had to pick up Agnes who was still at the University finishing up with some assignments. When all was done, the three of us headed off to get a bite before going to watch a play at Guthrie Theater.