Commencement 2021 profile: Princess Odus

People who are passionate about a particular career usually know what path they need to take to get hired for their dream job. But Princess Odus, MS ’21, was working in student affairs before she even knew this higher-education field existed.

“When I was an undergrad, I was involved in a lot of activities that were related to student affairs before I’d ever heard of student affairs!” said Odus, who attended SUNY Plattsburgh where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in criminal justice and corrections.

“For example, I was an orientation leader, an RA (resident assistant) and would host programs for students. Then, one summer I connected with the vice president of the Division of Student Affairs and he told me I should get a master’s in student affairs. He became a mentor to me and he’s the one who encouraged me to earn my master’s degree in student affairs.

After enrolling as a student in Binghamton’s Master of Science in Student Affairs Administration program in the College of Community and Public Affairs (CCPA), Odus wasted no time building on what she began as an undergraduate.

Over the past two years, the Brooklyn native has worked for the Multicultural Resource Center (MRC), was a graduate assistant for the Educational Opportunity Program’s (EOP) Binghamton Enrichment Program (BEP), served as a teaching assistant in the English Language Institute (ELI) and was also an assistant resident coordinator. Although Odus has served across many organizations and offices, there’s a common denominator among these seemingly varied groups.

“All of these positions allowed me to support and guide students and make sure their mental health and all the other factors that come with their college career are OK,” Odus said. “The college years are when students are trying to find themselves and what they want to do, and some students don’t really have that person that they can talk to, feel safe around or just hang around with. I want to be that person.”

Odus said each position proved to be great training for her future professional life. Teaching English made her reflect on her own Nigerian culture while learning about others’ backgrounds. She also had to quickly learn how to make sure students could succeed despite having to teach online after COVID-19 struck.

“Teaching English was great preparation for my long-term goal of teaching English in South Korea and prompted me to apply for a Fulbright,” she said.

Although Odus wasn’t awarded the Fulbright, she was selected as a semi-finalist. She still plans on going to South Korea and eventually earning a second master’s in teaching English as a second language.

Odus is no stranger to adversity and said that her experiences as a child and as a graduate student fueled her passion for helping others who are struggling.

“I dealt with a lot of grief soon after I started grad school. One of my closest friends passed away, then my mom got sick. I was also coming to terms with who I am as a person, my sexuality. As part of a religious family from Nigeria, that was something I had to deal with. I was also working to support myself, so I definitely know what it’s like to feel overwhelmed,” she said.

Odus credits a course she took and several faculty members with helping her through the tough times.

I took a class called “Helping Skills” where we would practice our student-counseling skills. Someone played the role of counselor, someone else the student and someone else would take notes. And then we would talk about how we could improve the strategy we used. We pulled from actual issues we were going through and it helped me get close to my classmates.”

Odus said she ultimately came to view her struggles as blessings.

“I’m a first-generation college student and when I talk to my family in Nigeria, they’re so proud of me. My mom cries when I talk to her about my goals. It just warms my heart to see how proud my mom is of me,” she said.

Odus added that she also views her success within the larger context of being a person of color.

“Being a Black woman in America and getting an education is one of the biggest blessings that we can give to our families and to America as well. We’re all going to have hard times, but you can always seek out help, and you’re more than capable enough to continue to progress and fulfill whatever goals you have,” she said.

Odus’ immediate goal after graduation is to pursue positions that enable her to work with EOP or international students or in a diversity role on a college campus.