Hephzibah Ohihoin

Jesimiel Banjiram

Jesimiel Banjiram works as the program coordinator of student leadership at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. Leading up to this role, Banjiram completed most of his academic journey at UWL starting in 2016 as an undergraduate student. 

Banjiram graduated with a major in political science and minors in criminal justice and sociology in 2021 from UWL. In the fall of that same year, he pursued his master’s program in student affairs administration.  

“There was an opening in the Office of Multicultural Student Services (OMSS)  and I think it was my second year as a graduate assistant. If I moved into that role as a graduate assistant and continued I would eventually be given the job,” said Banjiram. 

Banjiram works with all the multicultural student organizations at UWL. 

“Given I work with eight multicultural student organizations it’s very common to see me at some of their events or some of their general meetings because I feel like building that relationship is how I can lead students towards more leadership [roles],'” said Benjiram. “And sharing stuff about my life too you know, it’s kind of like leadership by example.”

Banjiram credits his passion for multicultural student organizations to his desire to work with international students and other students of color. 

“I am an international student myself,” said Banjiram. “I know what it is like to come into a whole country and just try to navigate the whole system. It’s hard, it’s daunting but having someone that has already been in the system and has gone through all those challenges and can help other students to navigate college in America in itself was initially what drew me to international education,” said Benjiram. 

Being in America, Banjiram takes a lot of domestic things into consideration like “politics and everything else,” he said. But from his own lens, he evaluates situations from an international student’s perspective. 

“For example, it’s normal for advisors to advise or give advice to students like they understand what’s going on but I like to give them the full perspective, there’s a lot of things that people don’t know. I treat everyone like an international student that [sic] doesn’t know, I give the full advice,” said Banjiram. 

Banjiram is also very involved in the La Crosse community. He coaches and plays soccer and is also involved in Rush Wisconsin West and Hope Restores. His avid involvement comes from his passion for helping others. 

“I just like being that person, that point of contact for people, to kind of like navigate and have a good experience here at UW-La Crosse, because like obviously this is a predominantly white institution so it can be really tough if you don’t find your people.” He continued, “Being that I’ve had that experience and built a lot of relationships and connections I think I can leverage that in making sure that the students and everyone else who comes here feel like they’re at home.” 

Banjiram believes that his Nigerian origin has shaped his positive and driven attitude to his work and goals. 

“Back home in Nigeria, you have to be disciplined, you have to be meticulous, you have to focus on your studies,” said Banjiram. “My dad was in the army so just growing up with that family background where education was super important and was the main thing to focus on for you to blossom in the future helped in a lot of my hard work, my commitment, the things I’m interested in and just looking forward at my goals and thinking of what is priority [sic].”

When asked about his coworkers Banjiram said, “They’ve been a major, huge part of my development as a person and in my emotional intelligence as well.” 

He also expressed his gratitude to the students adding that they made his job easier. 

“Just anyone stopping by my office and just saying hi and having those little conversations is really what makes my work interesting,” said Banjiram. “When students come to my office and they’re like ‘Hey, hello. Wow! Without you, we wouldn’t have been able to figure this out’.”

He concluded, “That’s where I find my fulfillment and so that’s what makes me happy at the end of the day…that other people are happy.”