The first part of Oussouby Sacko's story, which was printed in Thursday's newspaper, can be found at bit.ly/jtsacko1.
Upon graduating from high school in his native Mali, Oussouby Sacko received a scholarship to study architecture in China. He would spend the next six years acquiring his undergraduate degree in architecture, mastering Mandarin and trying to stay out of the crosshairs of angry Chinese racists intent on causing Africans serious harm.
During this tumultuous period, he had come to a decision about the area of architecture that interested him — a decision that would bring him to Japan, yet another country where he'd have to find his way, unable to communicate and ignorant of the culture.