Thanks

GboyegaD:


Interesting read. I guess stories well written are truly captivating. Congratulations!

Thanks.

Lete:



Big congratulations!

Date: Friday November 20
Location: Lagos

Duration: (The VO could make 58 seconds feel like ten minutes)

Status: Approved

Atmosphere: I was among the first eleven applicants ushered in for the 7AM interview. After the biometric screening, we waited for what looked like some good fifteen minutes or so before two windows commenced interviews. The VO at window 9 ( I believe the window that is directly opposite the only door that leads to the interview hall is 9) denied four people straight and approved two. From my observation, the four either didn't have adequate/ full funding as she went through the bank statements for about three of them or she wasn't convinced. All this time, the other VO adjacent to window 9 had just concluded two interviews and granted one approval and one denial. I didn't need to pass further maths to know that the dx/dy didn't balance in window 9. I wanted an escape from this mathematical disequilibrium. But before I could do so, I found myself presenting my documents to her.

I stood in front of her for a few seconds to allow her to finish up what she's typing.

VO: Good morning
Me: Good morning

VO: Let's first get your scanning done. You will have to put your four right fingers here for me….

VO: Where are you going to?

Me: I am going to Miami University in Oxford, Ohio for a master's program in Creative Writing.

VO: ( does as if she's not listening). You said you are going to Miami Florida?
Me: No. I'm going to Miami University, in Oxford Ohio.

VO: What did you say you are going to study in Florida?

Me: (temi bami). I'm going to Miami University, Oxford Ohio for a master's in Creative Writing.

VO: Okay. Why did you choose Miami University in Ohio?
Me: I chose Miami University because of the prospect of working with prof xyx. She's a brilliant writer and will be mentoring me on lyrical essays, a sub-genre I'm passionate about. But that's not all. Miami University provides a stimulating environment for the study of the craft, culture and criticism of …

VO: (cuts in) What will be your focus?
Me: Nonfiction Writing
VO: What do you write about?
Me: I write lyrical essays about losses, cities, people and places and the contradictions of contemporary life. As a writer, I don't see people or places for who they're or what they're but the stories that made them. I see a bridge and I want to know the story behind it. Did people try to blow it up during a civil war? What will life be like without it? I have written about my experiences about places I have been to. I write about these things because stories matter and shape how we see the world, people and ourselves. I submitted some of these essays to the admission committee.

VO: (behaves like she's typing and not paying attention to me, but was in fact listening as she spoke immediately I stopped speaking)
Who's covering the cost?

Me: I received a Graduate Assistantship that covers monthly stipend and tuition waiver. (She peers into my I-20). My cousin will cover the deficit.

VO: Where does your cousin work?

Me: He works with xyz construction company.

VO: Are you married?
Me: No
VO: Do you have kids?
Me: No


VO: (about three seconds of silence).She begins to rifle through a stack of papers for a white paper, and I thought I was done for. But she then added a yellow paper to my passport and confessed those words that we have read on this thread several times when a Visa is approved. By this time, I was retrieving my passport and the yellow and white paper and wasn't even capable of listening to anything from her. The music of approval had left me deaf to instructions.

Tips: I have no new tips. All the tips in previous transcripts here are mostly true and tested. I'm rather grateful to those who posted their transcripts here courageously, even when they experienced temporary delays to their pursuits, so we could all learn. You're the real deal and I wish you all the best. May your desires find expression soon.

Lol. I will post a transcript very soon. Thanks a lot ma'am.

missuzoma:
Let me drop this here. Visa Approved this morning for another MFA person going to study Creative Writing at Miami University, Oxford, Ohio. I've been praying he gets his visa and I got to know him because he and my daughter, Naijaeclectic, were the only Nigerians offered admission into the program. Naijaeclectic got her own visa exactly two weeks back and wrote a rather long transcript.
I have not found out if he's a nairalander. He said four people before him were denied and he wanted to leave the line and go to the toilet to avoid the difficult VO; the oga VO, however, seemed to relax when it got to him and asked a couple of easy questions before uttering the magic words.
Bia, Chief, if you're a nairalander, come and write this story yourself. The offer of a place for an MFA in the school comes with full tuition waiver plus graduate assistantship.

Then this country should be fair to all.

NgeneUkwenu:
Better Late Than Never!

I hope to see all threads on this Biafra nonesence , dumped on the Ethnic and secessionist Section, from now on.