Humans of UNL

The first thing you notice about Victo Nalule is not that she’s differently abled or in a wheel chair; it’s her smile. As you get to know her journey through leadership and love, you realize just how inspiring this bright woman is. Working at a university, many of my friends joke with me that summers must be slow and relaxing. My response is usually a (half-crazy or sleep deprived) laugh. No, my summers are not slow and lazy; they are long but exciting days as my office works our way through hosting the Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders . On June 19th when the Fellows arrived, I had little idea just how incredible and inspiring these 25 young African leaders would be. Now, six weeks and a full heart of memories later, I continue to be impressed by each of them. And while I wish I had the time to write a story on each of them, one of the stories I knew I had to write is none other than the beautifully bright and optimistic Victo Nalule.

A passionate advocate for self-care and mental health, an inspiring artist and a lover of Japanese culture, Hope Anderson can teach everyone a lot about living a fulfilling life. As a UNL alumni and staff, there are at least a thousand different Huskers I could have chosen to write this feature on. But I find that we often don’t know enough about the story of those we interact with the most, such as our coworkers. Today, I want to introduce you to my friend and coworker, Hope Anderson . The first time I heard of Hope was from my director, when she explained that one of my office’s student workers was interning in Japan and how excited she was to have her return in January because, quite simply, she was great. My first thoughts were excited exclamations in Japanese (having just returned from teaching in Japan myself on the JET Program ) and wondering if we could geek out together over a mutual love of Japanese food, Daiso dollar stores and their superior stationery. The

  Dear Reader, Thank you for finding your way to my small corner of the Internet. I started this project, Humans of UNL , in the summer of 2019 in connection to a graduate course I was taking through the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's College of Journalism . Focused in digital media and analytics, part of our course work included creating a Blogger website and writing five posts throughout our five-week course, then use the visitor data to make strategic recommendations. My first reaction, upon reading the course syllabus, was a sigh; another course where I have to create another blog. As I wracked my mind on what topic I should select for this course, I was inspired by my recent birthday and goal to write thank-you letters to those who have impacted my life so far. There are far too many to count, and many who may not have an idea just how much they have impacted me. But they are important to me, and their story and our story together has become a small, yet crucial part