Black History Month and CBA: Featuring Naydeny Chuol

Black History Month: Featuring Naydeny Chuol, BSBA Student

In recognition of Black History Month, UNO CBA is recognizing Black faculty, students, alumni, and community members making an impact in Omaha and beyond.

We're proud to feature Naydeny Chuol, a current undergraduate student in UNO CBA's Bachelor of Science in Business Administration (BSBA) program. We checked in with Chuol on her sources of motivation, where she's finding joy, and her hopes for the future.

Can you tell us about your education?

"I am originally from Africa, from South Sudan, so I came here with no English, and no educational background at all. I started at Iowa Western Community College in 2007 to begin with my ABC's and the ESL classes. Then I spent seven years on my GED at Metropolitan Community College, where I was doing both dual college credit and the GED program. After that, when I graduated from MCC last year, I just decided to transfer my credits here to UNO. This is my second semester at UNO. I'm a junior, because I had half the credits done at MCC. Now I am concentrating in Banking and Financial Markets, and I'm hoping that I can graduate maybe next year. I am a mother of seven, so my education is not my only priority, but at the same time, I am doing all I can."

What does it mean to you to be a student in business?

"It is important to me because, where I grew up, we didn't have the opportunity for females or for girls to have education. I am just competing with my own self as a young girl, being told I cannot go to school because I am a girl, and being told all I can do is stay home and set up other people's success, but not your own. Since I got here, I never take a break. I've been here for 17 years now and it's always about balancing all of it - education, working, motherhood, and my goal is to lead by example for myself, for my kids, and for all the other young girls back home, or anywhere in the world, who don't believe in having opportunity. It is a very touching subject for me because it keeps me going even when I am ready to give up, and it keeps me pushing, because I can show that I can do it."

Who or what inspires you?

"Within my home community in Omaha, there are a lot of women who are mothers, who sometimes lose hope and have no idea that education doesn't have an age or an expiration date. It keeps me going that I can do it, and that I can show them that it's doable, and once in a while I see some people that I talk to or see me, and they ask me about going back to school or ask me about 'where I can sign up?' or 'what do I need to do?'. Whether that's ESL or GED programs or college programs...so I'm just trying to lay the path for them, and since UNO was a goal of mine for a long, long time, it keeps me going."

Have any of the people you've spoken to decided to return to school?

"Oh yeah, a bunch of people. I told them, all you have to do is get back into it!"

When do you feel like your voice is being heard and respected?

"I'm also an interpreter, since I speak five other languages, so using that and meeting with people in many different situations, like when someone needs an appointment at a hospital or something, I share a little bit of what I'm going through and how I handle it. Each and every time, something like this comes up, and when I see that relief, that 'Huh, you know what? Maybe I can do it!', it makes me feel like maybe I'm making a difference. And when I see something on the news, that people keep trying, and I relate to that, even though it isn't about me, I feel like that has been my voice too. I have friends who are educators, working as teachers, and we share a bunch, looking back on the history of how far we have come as a community, as a country, and also as a minority that I am in many ways. Every time, when I see something that was better than last year, but next year it will be even better, that makes me feel like my voice is being heard, or somebody else's voice is being heard, and that could be my voice too."

What do you hope to accomplish during and after the rest of your college experience?

"Maybe not this year, but at the start of next year, I am looking for opportunities and networking. What I'm looking for most in my time in college is to learn as much as I can in my concentration, and networking with people that already have the experience and the background in financial institutions. Hopefully, eventually I will get a job, a better job that I could make a better living with, and also make a difference."