Alumni Profile: Àjọkẹ́ Bọ́dúndé
Alumni Profile: Àjọkẹ́ Bọ́dúndé was at HLC from 2014 to 2016 and was in Franklin and Tower. She was Deputy Head Girl and Student Voice.
Àjọkẹ́ is currently in law school in Nigeria and balances this with a career in the creative arts.
Àjọkẹ́ Bọ́dúndé – Alumni Profile
Please tell us more about your time at HLC – What was the best thing about the school experience? What are your fondest memories?
HLC was an environment where I thrived both academically and through extra-curricular activities. It was easy to make friends and get involved in school. The teachers were very supportive, and my love for learning was further developed there. Some of my fondest memories include being part of the school’s production of Dido & Aeneas, the annual House Music competition and Sixth Form Review. HLC had a lot of talented students in music and theatre, and it was always lovely to watch and be a part of these productions. I loved that students’ talents in the creative arts were nurtured by supportive, knowledgeable and talented staff!
What did you do straight after you left school?
I went on to study Law at Durham University. In my final year, I enjoyed Jurisprudence as a module, particularly Feminist Jurisprudence. This was one of the reasons I decided to pursue an MSc in Gender Studies at the London School of Economics. My academic journey did not stop there. I completed the Bar Practice Course and was called to the Bar of England and Wales in 2021 (Lincoln’s Inn). I am currently in law school in Nigeria and hope to get called to the Nigerian Bar in 2025.
Tell us more about your experience of what you do now.
I am balancing the early stages of my legal career with my career in the creative arts. I founded The Writers’ Room Collective this year. It is an enterprise invested in creating and platforming stories across various mediums, fostering the works of other creators through community building and nurturing the minds of young people, with hopes of expanding their imagination of ways they can take up space in today’s world. Submissions for our digital publication will open in 2025! I also support the incredible work of The Caine Prize for African Writing, an annual literary Prize in its 25th year that has supported the works of emerging African writers and their entry into the world of mainstream publishing.
I am a judge for the Abebi Award in Afro-Nonfiction, a co-editor of Noisy Streetss Magazines’ Love in Detty December Edition and a writer. My poetry has appeared in Aké Review (2017), Kalahari Review (2018), The White Review (2023), and Black Joy Unbound: An Anthology (2023). I have also been shortlisted for the Merky New Writers’ Prize (2019) (founded by artist Stormzy and Penguin Random House) and The White Review Poet’s Prize (2023).
Where around the World have you studied and worked?
England and Nigeria.
What advice would you give to someone looking to take part in/join what you do now?
Believe in yourself, work hard and smart and remember that rejection is part of the process. Don’t take it too personally.
What’s on the wish list for your future development?
I want to do what I do now but on a larger scale and in a way that makes more impact. I hope to practice law across multiple jurisdictions, and balance this with my work in the creative arts; building creative infrastructure that facilitates, supports and benefits African storytellers. I also believe I have a future in academia and might have been doing a PhD right now if I had not been rejected from the institutions I applied to. But rejection is part of the process, and it is often redirection we grow grateful for. Much later in life, I would love to teach at undergraduate and postgraduate level.
Are you still in touch with girls that you went to school with?
I am still in touch with girls I met at HLC! Shout out to Isabella Akahara, Annabel and Amanda Timitimi, Tejiri Okotete, Arajeane Aravindan and Tamara Orubebe! Social media has also been a useful tool in staying updated on everyone’s lives. And although I might not regularly text or call some of the other girls, I don’t shy away from leaving a lovely comment when I’m made aware of a life update on Instagram!
And in conclusion, how did your experience at HLC equip you for the successful role you are now in?
Being a boarder in an all-girls school far away from home instils a level of confidence, independence and responsibility in you. These are qualities that I am very grateful for as they have been useful to my life and career. I take ownership of my future, I am strong-willed and I am bold. These are all things that were nurtured during my time at HLC. What a gift!
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