She Said Yes! A Literary Proposal
James Grajales | October 4, 2023
Warren Wilson College (WWC) is a place where classes can take a turn for the unexpected. While I attended my English class - Hurston, Porter, O'Connor and Welty - on Monday, Sept. 18. Paula Garrett, chair of the Department of English and professor of English and American Studies, told us that a proposal was happening in class for Ruby Karyo.
Karyo is a day student at WWC and is in her junior year. Her fiance Eric Kojo Odoom proposed to her in class that day. It was a classic proposal with Odoom getting down on one knee and popping open the ring box. Karyo said yes.
“We met through a mutual friend of ours,” Karyo said. “The first date was seven hours on the phone. He bought me a ring before I even saw him.”
Karyo and Odoom had been together for three years before the proposal.
“I had everything already planned,” Odoom said. “I told her I wanted to come to the school because I knew how much she loved it here. It was something very special I wanted to do in front of the class so I arranged everything with Paula [Garrett].”
Odoom was in contact with Garrett on the day of the proposal. At first, Garrett did not know that it was Odoom contacting her over a text message.
“I get a text the week before the proposal. It said, “‘This is Sally.’ But I did not know him as Sally. I knew him as Eric because that is all I had heard Ruby call him. So I did not know who Sally was. Then I got a text that said, ‘Hello, Mom Paula. This is Sally. With Ruby.’ Then I realized who he was, so I called him,” Garrett said.
Karyo was unaware of the proposal that day even after Odoom insisted on dressing her for the day. The clothes they both wore were personal to them.
“The outfit meant a lot to us in its color,” Karyo said. “We wore it when we met and we wore it on a very special occasion. The white is for peace, the green is for us to be wealthy and for nature.”
The couple has been working on gaining residence in the United States. “We were on this immigration journey for 21 months,” Karyo said.
Garrett has been an important person in Odoom and Karyo’s life in the United States. They view her as a mother figure as she helped them with the process of coming to the United States.
“She’s like my mom in many ways,” Karyo said. “She’s a phenomenal woman that I look up to mother-wise. She’s someone I could never forget in my life.”
This sentiment was reciprocated by Garrett, “Ruby is an extraordinary student,” Garrett said. “Her perseverance is pretty amazing. I'm so glad I've gotten to know her, her children and now Sally.”
Because of how much WWC means to Karyo and Odoom, the ceremony is likely to take place on campus in the near future.