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Humans of Duke Sanford

I was born asthmatic, and it has shaped my life. Growing up, I felt like a ticking time bomb. Every day was a privilege because I knew I could die at any time. My childhood was challenging because I’d see other people live normally, and wonder ‘Why couldn’t I?’ All I asked of life was air in my lungs and this air was freely available anyway. Yet, I was the one who had to do a quick mental audit to ascertain if I had my inhaler or drugs with me, or if my mum was close by before I got excited about basic things. It was like living, but not truly living. One of the things asthma did for me though, was help me appreciate the value of each day I could breathe unaided. I was determined to live intentionally if I survived the trauma of asthma. My trauma also helped me easily understand people's pains, even as a child, because I could relate and quickly imagine myself in their situations. Asthma inspired my career in public health. I started working in cancer control, but after a few years I realized the futility of trying to control cancer without addressing the social causes of the late-stage cancer cases I saw in my job. So, I pivoted to tackling inequality in access to basic education, a major root cause of poor health outcomes. I am at the Sanford School of Public Policy because I see influencing policies as one of my chances to fix gaps in addressing social determinants of health. I believe that our public policies would be better if policymakers put humans at the center of decision-making. Empathy is one single value that I think would make our world better if everybody had it. I want to eventually return home to #Nigeria after gaining experience in the US, learning how we can solve our world’s greatest challenges at the intersection of social impact, policy, and business. I’d like to see what can be adapted back home, and what unique experiences I bring here from Nigeria. My country needs the skills I am honing here at Sanford. Every child and family in Nigeria ‘deserves air’ and they can achieve their greatest potential with better public policies. They are worthy of the chance to have better lives. – Lola James MPP/MBA’26 #HumansofDukeSanford #MPP

I was born asthmatic, and it has shaped my life.

Growing up, I felt like a ticking time bomb. Every day was a privilege because I knew I could die at any time. My childhood was challenging because I’d see other people live normally, and wonder ‘Why couldn’t I?’ All I asked of life was air in my lungs and this air was freely available anyway. Yet, I was the one who had to do a quick mental audit to ascertain if I had my inhaler or drugs with me, or if my mum was close by before I got excited about basic things. It was like living, but not truly living.

One of the things asthma did for me though, was help me appreciate the value of each day I could breathe unaided. I was determined to live intentionally if I survived the trauma of asthma. My trauma also helped me easily understand people’s pains, even as a child, because I could relate and quickly imagine myself in their situations.

Asthma inspired my career in public health. I started working in cancer control, but after a few years I realized the futility of trying to control cancer without addressing the social causes of the late-stage cancer cases I saw in my job. So, I pivoted to tackling inequality in access to basic education, a major root cause of poor health outcomes.

I am at the Sanford School of Public Policy because I see influencing policies as one of my chances to fix gaps in addressing social determinants of health. I believe that our public policies would be better if policymakers put humans at the center of decision-making. Empathy is one single value that I think would make our world better if everybody had it.

I want to eventually return home to #Nigeria after gaining experience in the US, learning how we can solve our world’s greatest challenges at the intersection of social impact, policy, and business. I’d like to see what can be adapted back home, and what unique experiences I bring here from Nigeria.

My country needs the skills I am honing here at Sanford. Every child and family in Nigeria ‘deserves air’ and they can achieve their greatest potential with better public policies. They are worthy of the chance to have better lives. – Lola James MPP/MBA’26 #HumansofDukeSanford #MPP

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