{"96171":{"#nid":"96171","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Oyelere Found Career as Teen in Nigeria","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAs a youngster, Ruth Uwaifo Oyelere dreamed about being a doctor, an engineer or even an accountant. But it wouldn\u2019t be until her family returned home to a politically unstable Nigeria that she\u2019d realized that none of these was the right fit.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIn the 1980s, my family moved to the United States while my dad was doing a post doc at the University of Southern California,\u201d Oyelere said. \u201cWe later returned to Nigeria during its military era, and our living standards plummeted. I became fascinated with the question of why an individual\u2019s education investment could yield different returns based on location.\u201d \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis was the beginning of her self-described \u201cjourney\u201d into her current field. As an assistant professor in the School of Economics, Oyelere has pursued her interest in education, development and labor economics. Here, Oyelere shares more about herself and her time at Tech.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp; \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhen did you arrive at Tech, and what are a few things people might not know about your job?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EI\u2019ve been at the Institute for more than five years. People might not realize that my research doesn\u2019t just focus on the economy\u0026nbsp; and money \u2014 I\u2019m examining social issues. For example, I am working with a colleague to investigate whether, over time, increases in immigrants in public schools have any effect on achievement of American-born children. Another unique aspect of what I do is that I work on some research topics with a lot of overlap with other disciplines such as public policy, sociology, political science and demography.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat have you learned from your students?\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;\u003Cbr \/\u003EI realize that even though they want to get good grades, the students still appreciate effective and engaging teaching and faculty who care about them \u2014 even when they don\u2019t get the grades they hoped for. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat is your favorite spot on campus?\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EIt would be the Clough Commons rooftop. I love nature, and the green roof concept is really cool.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat piece of technology could you not live without?\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe Internet, because I do research online constantly. I\u2019m always communicating with my co-authors, students and friends, and I prefer to do my shopping online. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhich do you prefer and why: Facebook, Twitter or a world without all of this social media stuff?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EI prefer Facebook, because it allows me to reconnect with old childhood friends. I also enjoy the option of being able to share photos selectively with family and close friends without having to go to the trouble of emailing them. I don\u2019t use Twitter. My whole problem with it is that the idea of following people or being informed about what they do constantly just doesn\u2019t resonate with me. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhere is your favorite place to grab lunch, and what do you order?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EAny Thai restaurant, and I usually order some soup and then jasmine rice with a green or red chicken curry. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EIf you could have dinner with one person, who would it be? \u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EI\u2019d have to say President Obama. Having dinner with him would give me the opportunity to suggest some of my own ideas on how to deal with some of the labor market issues our country is currently facing.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat is something that we didn\u2019t cover that you\u2019d like people to know about you?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EI sing and write songs. I wrote my first song when I was eight. I haven\u2019t had much spare time for song writing in the last few years, but whenever I get the chance, I sing \u2014 especially to my kids.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAs a youngster, Ruth Uwaifo Oyelere dreamed about being a doctor, an engineer or even an accountant. But it wouldn\u2019t be until her family returned home to a politically unstable Nigeria that she\u2019d realized that none of these was the right fit.\u0026nbsp; \u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"As a youngster, Ruth Uwaifo Oyelere dreamed about being a doctor, an engineer or even an accountant. But it wouldn\u2019t be until her family returned home to a politically unstable Nigeria that she\u2019d realized that none of these was the right fit."}],"uid":"27445","created_gmt":"2012-01-24 15:58:38","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:10:57","author":"Amelia Pavlik","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2012-01-23T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2012-01-23T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"96191":{"id":"96191","type":"image","title":"Ruth Oyelere","body":null,"created":"1449178133","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:28:53","changed":"1475894709","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:45:09","alt":"Ruth Oyelere","file":{"fid":"193911","name":"ruth_0.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ruth_0_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ruth_0_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":853404,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/ruth_0_0.jpg?itok=x1BjnDkj"}}},"media_ids":["96191"],"groups":[{"id":"1259","name":"Whistle"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"}],"keywords":[{"id":"18711","name":"ruth oyelere"},{"id":"167037","name":"school of economics"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:amelia.pavlik@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EAmelia Pavlik\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ECommunications \u0026amp; Marketing\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-385-4142\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}