She had to resign from the company in 1995 because of conflicts of interest stemming from her marriage to Walter Carrington, a Harvard Law School alum who was then the American ambassador to Nigeria.

When the couple moved to the United States after Walter Carrington's ambassadorship had ended, Arese Carrington decided to reexamine her goals.

As a doctor, she was upset when patients came to her with conditions that the right public health policies could have prevented.

"I no longer felt satisfied with helping one person at a time," Carrington says. "I wanted to help populations at a time."

During her year at SPH, Carrington has studied in the Population and International Health Department and has also considered health policy management. She says Harvard was the right place for her since it excels in the field of international public health, and she has benefited from the many international students in her class.

"We've realized that to understand the issues we also have to understand the cultures we're dealing with," Carrington says. Public health policies that work well in the Western world might not be compatible with social structures in the developing world, she explains.

Carrington says that her practice at SPH in identifying the structures or policy adjustments needed to improve public health will help her, whatever she chooses to work on after graduation.

And although she has no specific plans as yet, Carrington says her career will definitely help the people in Nigeria.