Oluwamuyiwa Egunjobi and his Rexburg native fiancee Shila Tietjen became
internet sensation after their proposal photos went viral. The couple
will be married in Salt Lake City, Utah and will have a reception in
Rexburg on Dec. 17.
Tietjen is from Rexburg and was born in Pocatello. She served a mission
for the LDS church in San Jose, California and served as a performing
missionary in Nauvoo, Illinois.
In an interview with Idaho State Journal, the 23-year-old, who is
studying Spanish education at BYU-Idaho said she met Egunjobi through a
mutual friend, who invited him to a party.
"I met Olu in my car," Tietjen said.
She kept her distance at first because she had just gotten out of a
relationship. She later sent him a text and told him she didn’t want to
date him, but he asked her if they could talk about their relationship
in person. She put it off until one day she couldn’t avoid it anymore,
and the two sat down and talked.
"Everything he said was answers to my prayers," she said.
She was leaving for vacation for a couple of weeks, and the two decided
to see where they were after that. They kept taking, and when she got
back they spent time together and went dancing. When Egunjobi said he
needed to do some homework, Tietjen invited him to her house so they
could spend more time together.
"By the end of the night we were dating," she said. "That day was perfect."
It was February when they started dating. They had a lot of fun together
during the coming months. They eventually talked about marriage and
decided it would be a good idea for Tietjen to visit Egunjobi’s family
in Nigeria. She took the trip to Nigeria in September. They visited
Olumo Rock, a rock people come from all over the world to see because
of its rich history. The people used it as a hiding place during a war.
"It’s like an icon for the city," Egunjobi said.
It was there that Egunjobi asked Tietjen to marry him, and it was that
night the couple realized they had gone viral. Egunjobi thinks all the
attention was partly because of where and how he proposed, and also the
fact that he proposed to a white woman.
"It’s not something that happens every day," he said.
He said when people in Nigeria do propose it is not usually public.
Tietjen said she had gone to bed and couldn’t sleep when she received a
text from Egunjobi. The text showed pictures of them on a website.
"I was like, ‘What?’" she said.
She ran out and asked what was going on and was quite surprised at
first, but she said after that it was fun to see herself and her fiancé
being so widely recognized. She said it made them feel special. They
were recognized by multiple people in the area, and a security guard
even asked if he could take a photo with them.
Their photos were spreading all over social media, in newspapers and on blogs.
Although most of the people in the United States who hear about their
relationship react positively, others react with concern or confusion.
"I feel like in general most people are like, ‘Oh, wow, that’s pretty cool,’” Tietjen said.
She pointed out that the Rexburg community isn’t very diverse, and it
isn’t common to see biracial marriages in the community. But the couple
doesn’t blame people for the way they grew up.
Some have asked Tietjen if her parents were OK with the engagement, and
some were concerned about the clashing of the couple’s cultures. Some
have even said hurtful things out of ignorance or spite, but Tietjen
said the opposition has made them stronger.
"Everyone comes from a different culture," she said. We have a lot of
differences, but we have a lot of commonalities too. ... Olu’s a person,
and I’m a person."
Egunjobi said he, too, has definitely seen opposition to his decision
to marry a white woman. However, he says while he cares what others
think to a certain extent, if he doesn’t agree with someone’s opinion
or thinks it doesn’t make sense, he doesn’t let it get him down.
There are cultural differences and challenges, but the two make the most
of them and do their best to communicate. Tietjen said they both have
good communication skills, and this has helped them work through any
differences. She is learning to make African food and learning some of
Yoruba, one of the languages spoken in Nigeria.
Seeing other examples of interracial relationships has helped Tietjen’s
family become more comfortable with her decision. She said a couple in
her church ward is made up of one person from the U.S. and one from
Nigeria. Tietjen’s mother talked to the couple and asked how they
overcame their cultural challenges. They told her the culture
differences are a small portion of their relationship, and most of their
issues are just because they are two different people.
"In the end it’s not going to matter where we’re from,” Egunjobi said. “If the love is there the color shouldn’t be a barrier."
He said people shouldn’t be afraid of cultural differences. The
differences do pop up, he said, but communication and meeting in the
middle really helps. He said if there is someone out there who likes
someone of a different race, he or she shouldn’t let the differences get
in the way.
Tietjen said she not only loves Egunjobi despite the differences, but
she loves him for the things that make him different and special.
"I’m so in love with the guy of my dreams, and he just happens to be
from Africa, and that’s why he’s the guy of my dreams," she said.
She said they are grateful to live in a time in which they are able to
be together, as interracial marriage hasn’t always been legal in the
United States. Egunjobi said the first thing people often think of is
whether one will have to live away from their family, but he said if a
couple gets serious and they are from different countries, they can
figure that part out. They can travel back and forth and make a plan. He
added that Africa is a very safe place, and Tietjen said it is a fun
place to be. One thing she liked about Africa was that the people know
their heritage so well.
'These people know exactly where they came from,” she said. “It’s cool to be rooted."
The couple said for students and community members who want to learn
about other cultures, there are groups on campus that celebrate
different cultures. They said it is a good way to expose oneself to
something different. Egunjobi feels that differences make things
stronger and better, like a Yin Yang or the combination of black and
white on a piece of art. He said differences are supposed to make
people stronger, not tear them apart.
"In the end we all have blood running in our veins, and it’s all red," he said.
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