Woman gets AMBI skincare scholarship, attends optometry school

About 10 years ago in Nigeria, there was an optometrist who gave free eye exams to anyone who wanted them. A 12-year-old girl watched in awe as her fellow churchgoer tried to help so many people in one day.

“Oh my gosh,” the girl thought, as she realized one person can have such a large influence on so many people’s lives. She hoped to eventually do the same.

Linda Adebisi, now 23, is a second-year School of Optometry student at IU.

“People wait until things get really bad before they see a specialist so there’s (little) preventative care (in Nigeria),” Adebisi said.

Adebisi was born in Atlanta and moved to England when she was 2 years old. She then spent about 10 years in Nigeria. Her parents, she said, thought it was important to instill a strong Nigerian culture in her.

When she was about 15, Adebisi decided she wanted to move back to the United States.

“I feel like I didn’t get the chance to really live in America,” Adebisi said. “Why not take the chance?”

She moved in with her uncle in Atlanta, where she attended high school. Adebisi received her undergraduate degree in biology from the University of West Georgia before she came to IU.

Adebisi said she applied to about five graduate schools, and IU was the first one to offer her an interview.

“As soon as I came here, I felt like it was really where I wanted to be,” Adebisi said.

Adebisi said last year she received an e-mail from an optometry school faculty member about the AMBI scholarship, which gives African-American and Hispanic women $10,000 to use toward their schooling and careers.

Adebisi doubted she’d be awarded the scholarship because only five women in the nation receive it.

Luckily for Adebisi, she applied and along with four other women, was named the 2009 scholarship winners.

Joe Boes, associate director for Recruitment and Marketing at the IU School of Optometry, has known Adebisi for about two years.

Boes said Adebisi is conscientious, goal-oriented, positive, poised and articulate.

“I think she embodies the whole idea of being an advocate and ambassador for this particular scholarship, and we’re just very fortunate and honored that someone of her caliber has been recognized for the AMBI scholarship,” Boes said. “I really have admired Linda in the short time I’ve known her.”

Adebisi aspires to one day have her own practice and has set a goal to travel every year. However, she hasn’t been back to Nigeria since 2005 because travel costs are so expensive.

Adebisi said her parents, older sister and brother still live in Nigeria.

While her family visits her sometimes and Adebisi said she’d like to visit them again soon, she has no desire to live in Nigeria again.

“This is home for me,” she said.