She’s a ball of energy with an infectious smile, and at just 17, Shalom Dubas has a clear sense of who she is and where she is going in life.
Although she was born in Seattle and said she’s from Florida, Dubas has spent most of her life traveling between America and Africa. Both of her parents are Nigerian and over the years, she has divided her time living in both countries. When in America, even at the ages of 8 and 9, she would usually stay with relatives while her parents remained in Nigeria to work. “I was a really independent child, and so it wasn’t a big deal for me, if anything I liked it a lot,” Dubas said of her traveling and living arrangements. Eventually, she moved to Orlando permanently with her mother when her parents separated, but the independence she cultivated during her upbringing and the love of exploring new things helped land her at Penn State Altoona. “When I had my college acceptance letters, I just decided with my mom that I was going to go here. I wanted to go somewhere far away, so we drove 15 hours and parked right behind Oak Hall, and I moved my stuff in. That was it.”
Having skipped the sixth grade and started college another year early, Dubas is making a home at Penn State Altoona, now as a sophomore. “I love it. I have a whole dream and a goal for myself, and being here fits into the plan.” She’s leaning toward studying business, but what she is really passionate about is her music. Dubas said she’s known since she was little that music would be her life. “I want to be a professional musician. And not just ‘Oh, you’re a singer or you’re a rapper.’ I want to be an artist, to create things.” She remembers being in Nigeria several years ago, listening to music by Nigerian artist 2face Idibia over and over. “I just put his CD on repeat, and I think that’s what really got me into writing my own songs.” Dubas dabbled with rapping and writing for a bit, then decided she wanted to play the guitar, as well. So she bought her first about two years ago and taught herself how to play. “I have calluses from my guitar because I play every day. I remember how hard it was at first and now it’s so easy. It’s definitely helped my music. There are songs that I write now that I couldn’t have written without the guitar.”
Dubas mostly writes about relationships and peoples’ stories. “Even though we’re unique, we all go through the same things. A lot of my stuff is about those experiences and unrequited love.” You could say that Dubas has something of a fan base at Penn State Altoona. She sings at many events around campus, and recently performed at “Puttin’ On the Hits,” a Gamma Phi Beta event. “The song I played there was one I wrote. Everyone was just so into it, and now people come up to me all the time and say, ‘Oh, you were so good at Puttin’ on the Hits,’ even people I don’t know. I love that.” Being able to write her own music is what makes Dubas most proud. She’s confident in her songwriting abilities and grateful for the way it fills her spirit. “I always wanted to be a superhero. Not the flying and jumping, but the saving. And when I write music, I feel like I’m saving something.”
Dubas called Penn State Altoona her “kick-off,” saying it’s molding her and strengthening her foundation for the future. She plans to transfer to University Park to challenge herself and gain more life experiences in a new environment. But here and now, she is excelling in her classes and getting involved with extracurricular activities, all the while remaining connected to her culture. “The person I am is like two different things in one. I have Nigerian ideals and Western culture ideals in me. I see the world not just from an American point of view or an African point of view, but mixed into one, and I love that.” Dubas said one major difference between America and Nigeria that has played into forming her personality is that of expression. “I feel like in Nigeria, it’s a ‘children should listen and not be heard’ kind of thing. I didn’t gel with that. I’ve always wanted people to hear me because I think everyone needs to be heard. America definitely taught me that it’s okay to use my voice and to be more open.” But it’s her Nigerian ethnicity that taught her about respect. “Here in America, you have kids who, when their parents tell them to go do something, they are just like, ‘No.’ In Nigeria, before your parents stop speaking you’re already doing it. I’m not a kid anymore, but if my mom called me on the phone and told me to go jump in the pond, I’d go jump in the pond. That’s just the way it is.”
Dubas has five younger half-siblings, four of whom live in Nigeria with her father and one who lives in Florida with her mother. She doesn’t get to see either family very often, in fact she hasn’t been to Nigeria in three years. There are times when she feels an overwhelming need to be surrounded by her parents and brothers and sisters, but it’s simply impossible. “It’s a really hard thing. It’s like I’m being juggled between two parents and two worlds, but we Skype and do the best we can.”
Dubas wants a lot for her brothers and sisters and hopes she is a good role model for them. “The one thing I want to pass on to each of them is that they should just be who they are. I want them to be strong-minded and be individuals. I don’t want them to be like me -- I want them to take their own talents and push them out to the universe and see what happens. I want them to know they are loved.”
In struggle or success, Dubas believes everything that has happened to her was meant to happen. She likens her life experience so far to a painting that doesn’t always seem beautiful until she takes a step back to examine it. “It’s like everything that happens in life is a different color. When you really look at it, it’s like, ‘Oh there’s that mistake I made in pink, but wait, that makes the shadow from that other mistake in green look really cool.’ Or it could be ‘There’s that one day I was so sad and everything looked so bleak, but, wow, it makes this other good thing I did look amazing.’”
Dubas is excited to one day, at the end of her life, take a long look at her masterpiece and be filled with pride over what she created. “I think everyone’s soul has a place it’s trying to get to, sometimes you don’t even know it, it’s just happening. Everything leads up to its final destination. For me, if I had stayed in Nigeria, I don’t think I’d be the person I am today. But I also think I was meant to come here, meant to do all of these things I’m doing now, because I need to be the person I am.”