NAPS PRESS: Can we meet you?
SEUN: Thanks for having me. My name is Oluwaseun Damilola Sanwoolu, I’m a graduate of philosophy from University of Ibadan and a Masters student at the University of Kansas, United States.
NAPS PRESS: How does it feel to have emerged as the best graduating student in the department of philosophy?
SEUN: It feels amazing as anybody would feel if this happen to them, it also feels very rewarding for the hard work and effort that went into this, I feel excited and happy about it.
NAPS PRESS: At what point did you know you are going to top your class ?
SEUN: Well... in all honesty, I would say maybe my third year, because i did not start my first year with a first class. I was on a 3.33 at that time, I honestly had given up on having a first class but in 200 level first semester I had a first class and I was like okay let’s see how it goes and then 200 level second semester my CGPA increased again and it kept increasing every semester and in the 300 level i already knew that I would be top of the class.
NAPS PRESS: To some, philosophy is an abstract discipline and cannot be applied to real life situations, what’s your take on this?
SEUN: Yes, a lot of time people say philosophy is an abstract discipline, but at the basics of everything we do lies in philosophy. We can say philosophy is the mother of all disciplines , in as much we think it is abstract we should be able to merge those things that interests us with philosophy. There are core areas of philosophy that applies to real life situations. In a nut shell, pick what you are really interested in and apply philosophy to it.
NAPSPRESS: Where you involved in any extra- curricular activities and how were you able to balance up with your studies?
SEUN: Yes I was involved public speaking, I joined the literary and debating society for the faculty since my second year, I have always spoken for the faculty since my second year as well and i did in my final year, then became the president of the literary and debating society for the faculty in my final year. It is tasking but I knew that at the end of the day my priority in the university was to learn which is number one. In places where I needed to focus more on school i did that. Another thing that worked for me was that I was able to balance my time, i knew what i wanted to do at a particular point in time and the truth is that we all have 24 hours so if you are able to manage your time well you can get things done as much as you want to. For me it was knowing which was really important and then creating time to attend extra- curricular activities and doing my best at it. So it was about balancing time and making things work. Also for debating it wasn’t just me, I had Excos and there were other people involved, we all deliberated on things we had to work on together, it is a lot easier when you have a good team you can work together with.
NAPS PRESS: What have you been able to achieve with a first class degree in philosophy?
SEUN: So with a philosophy degree, well so far, in as much that philosophy is abstract but because I studied philosophy that I discovered my love for the environment, I have been able to merge my love for philosophy with the environment. And an amazing thing is that I have a business, an Eco-friendly business where I create reusable straws, plastic straws and other eco friendly products such as tote bags, reusable bags, bamboo tooth brushes and these are just because I love the environment. Philosophy has been useable because I am really interested in environmental ethics. I have been able to create a very rewarding intellectual capacity in the sense that I am able to engage good conversations with different people even based on the things i really do not know, I have been able to have good conversations with people, to detect fallacy from real arguments. Right now am also doing my masters in philosophy. Philosophy has been quite exciting for me.
NAPS PRESS: What do you think philosophy department should improve on?
SEUN: Well I think the department is doing fine, the interaction between the students and the lecturers are amazing, our lecturers are people you can walk up to, to gain clarity on some things, or even issues outside your academics. They are friendly. I would say that the department should focus on encouraging our students to start writing papers for conferences, there are undergraduate conferences that they could start writing for, most times we wait for our long essay that is our final year project before we really start diving into research but the department helps to notify student on undergraduate conference even create a workshop on how to write a proper research work, so yeah.
NAPS PRESS: Any future plans?
SEUN: Well, my future plans, I’m trusting God to lead me anywhere he wants me to go, literally my life is in God’s hands wherever he leads me I would go. So my future plan is God.
NAPS PRESS: Shout out to anyone?
SEUN: Shout out to everybody in my class, i miss everybody. A very big shout out to my friends to Bolu, Neche, Beckley, Niyi Ninu. IK. Shout out to my lecturers, Professor Afolayan, Dr Wale, Dr Ikhane.
NAPS PRESS: Last words?
SEUN: My last words would be believe in yourself, trust God, do the best you can do in any situation, life is not always going to be fair or easy, make the most out of any situation and be the best you can be.
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