Derin Adesida was born in Nigeria and raised in Philadelphia, PA and got her start in the arts at Shawmont Elementary in the music program, where she was active with the choir and was first chair Viola. She attended The Hotchkiss School, a boarding school in New England, where she discovered her love for dance and writing. There she began formally training in Jazz and Modern. She wrote for the school's literary magazine and was awarded the Judge J. Howard Rossbach Poetry Prize. Derin graduated from Barnard College, Columbia University with a BA in English and concentration in Writing. There she performed and co-wrote plays for the Black Theater Ensemble and choreographed for the University's dance group, Orchesis. While at Columbia University, she also took full advantage of New York's performance scene as a spoken word artist. She is Nuyorican Slam champ, Youth Speaks Slam finalist and has had the honor or performing at the prestigious Geraldine R. Dodge Poetry Festival with the likes of Toni Blackman and Amiri Baraka. During her senior year, she earned a place in the University's Literature of the Middle Passage seminar with author and playwright, Caryl Phillips and was awarded the opportunity to travel and study in Ghana.