EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW:
ONE ON ONE with NIGERIA’S Genius NKECHINYERE CHIDI-OGBOLU, 18year old Doctor of Philosophy degree American student…Howard University Alumna 2017 pursues Bioengineering and Biomedical Engineering in University of California Davis
* Nigeria Medical Institutions would benefit from my Areas of Research
* ‘I left Nigeria at 14 years, Graduated in Chemical Engineering and eyeing my Doctoral degree program since my Parents were fully behind me 100 percent’
* ‘I am Ready to IMPACT my Generation Positively’
* ‘I am an Active Member of US Engineering Honors Society, Tau Beta Pi’
*Fluent in English, Yoruba, French, learning Korean language
*PLUS her latest book: ‘Tales of an Über Minor in College’ NOT UBER TAXI
IN UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, she is regarded a genius, highly intelligent Nigerian born Naturalized American. NKECHIYERE CHIDI-OGBOLU attended a British O-level High School where she was promoted from 4th grade to 6th due to her exceptional brilliance. In this Exclusive Interview with our AMERICAN BUREAU CHIEF, GEORGE ELIJAH OTUMU, this pride of Nigeria reveales her plan to help Nigeria Medical Institutions in her Areas of Research, her remarkable journey into college, Plans to Impact Youths across the world positively, her latest TRENDING Book and she’s an active member of United States Engineering Honors Society.
Q: How are you feeling as an Howard University Alumna 2017 pursuing a PhD degree in the prestigious University of California Davis?
I feel pretty good. I’m certainly excited to be moving on the greater things (the PhD)! Going to Howard was a wonderful and empowering experience- one I am so glad I was a part of. I think going to UC Davis would be a different but just as wonderful experience and I just can’t wait!
Q: How were you able to accomplish these rare feats to have left Nigeria for college at 14years, graduated and going for Ph.D. at 18 years?
This question is a little difficult, haha. How was I able to do it? I would say because of the support I had from my parents and siblings as well as my own determination. I had a vision which my parents were aware of and they made sure to do everything possible to make my vision a reality. I had shown some academic promise quite early. I was promoted to the 6th grade from the 4th. The secondary school I attended was based on the British O-level system and so I graduated after the 11th grade. During the journey, I had fabulous mentors and friends that kept me grounded and once again my parents and siblings were there for me emotionally.
Q: Tell us how you were able to adjust yourself to America’s fast pace of learning bearing in mind your youthful age?
Once again I would say this was due to the support of my family and the wonderful mentors I had. Of course, in part, it could actually be that my age played a positive factor as it’s easier to adapt when you’re younger. I actually didn’t experience any form of difficulty adjusting. I can’t even say there was much to adjust to academically, it was more challenging to adjust socially.
Q: As a toddler, what were your aspirations?
As a toddler? Well, career wise, that probably changed weekly, or as I learned about more professions. One thing was constant though: I wanted to help people. I wanted to impact my generation and the ones coming behind me. I just wasn’t sure how I would do that at the time.
Q: What are those factors that inspire you into this genius height?
This goes back to me wanting to be impactful and also back to my family. We had always been taught to give back in anyway we can and so I always aspired to get to a level where I would be able to give as much as possible. My mom actually has a company, Croyden Consult, which aims to mentor, monitor, mould and, if necessary, mend the lives of youth all over.
I am also part of the US Engineering honors society, Tau Beta Pi, and a part of our mandate is to be of service so my life has always revolved around being impactful in my society.
Q: Did you ever feel intimidated in the class academically from your Bachelors degree days?
Oh yes, most definitely! I think everybody has a bit of impostor syndrome at some point in their life. A time where they have doubts in themselves and wonder if they are up to par with people’s expectations of them. This was a little extra for me, I think, because everyone who discovered my age called me a genius. This certainly put some added pressure and when I would find a class or a particular material difficult, I would feel like an impostor. It was like I found the academics any more difficult than my peers did (of course there would be some classes that some students understand really wells and others don’t) but I felt like I had a responsibility to be excellent all the time.
Q: What made you study Chemical Engineering, a course where most men fear for your Bachelors degree?
Haha! I actually didn’t consider it’s difficulty when I picked it. I figured any engineering degree has it’s set of challenges. I wanted to be an engineer because engineering is basically about practical problem solving, and as I said earlier, I always wanted to help people. I selected Chemical Engineering because I think it’s the broadest branch of engineering- you can go into any field at all as a chemical engineer. At the time, I knew I wanted to help people, but again I wasn’t fully sure how yet.
Q: What spurred you into planning to study for your PhD Biochemical Engineering with a focus on creating and discovering new medicines?
It’s in Biomedical Engineering actually. So as I said, I knew I wanted to help people and be impactful. I had considered medicine earlier in life but shied away from that when I realized how squirming I got at the sight of any internal parts of humans. I did a research internship in UC Davis the summer of 2016 and every Friday, we had one faculty member or the other present their areas of research to us. I discovered a lot of them where in health related areas but were not necessarily dealing with patients one-on-one. They had a much broader scale of impact. I liked that. I wanted that. So that was how I decided to channel my engineering knowledge into the health sector and become an expert in Biomedical Engineering. The research focus was selected based on really what interested me the most. It’s regenerative medicine and tissue engineering, with some interest in drug delivery. I hope to either improve the bodies ability to heal itself (through the use of medicines) or create fully functioning organs that could replace faulty one, thereby eliminating the need for donors, meaning one wouldn’t have to wait for someone to die so they could live. The drug delivery aspect is related to cancer research and could connect to many different areas- how do we get the medicine to only target the areas of the body that need it, without affecting the rest of the body? I just found these areas fascinating.
Q: Tell us about your latest book which chronicles your journey into college
Oh yes! Tales of an Über Minor in College. Before I go further, über doesn’t refer to the taxi service. It means super- so basically a super minor in college. I started college at 14 years old and while 17 a considered a minor, 14 is VERY minor! It’s like a look into my diary for those four years. My fears, my joys, my challenges, my experiences. It’s all in there. There also advice, from my perspective, for parents and their children who are young and have dreams as well. It’s about taken every opportunity to be exceptional. It’s about being informed. It’s about teenage antics and angst. It written in such an informal way, as though I am having a conversation with you. I think it’s a book people from all walks of life should read and enjoy and it’s for all ages as well! Right now, my desire is to get partners that are passionate about impacting lives to buy into the book and spread the message all over. Donate the books to schools and young people all around. There is currently no shelf price for the book as yet.
Q: After your PhD degree, what are your next plan forward?
I plan to have a career in medical research going forward- continuing to improve of healthcare world wide.
Q: How will NIGERIA gain from your rich repertoire of knowledge?
Again, I plan to have a career in medical research which I believe will stretch far and wide in its sphere of impact and so I do believe Nigeria will certainly benefit from that. Other than that, I still plan to be very active in helping young people actually their dreams and definitely my primary focus will be Nigerian youths.
Q: How many languages do you speak?
Let’s see, I speak English and Yoruba. I am conversational in French. I am currently teaching myself Korean because I love the culture and their movies and dramas.
Q: How did you feel when you read about our globally-TRENDING news story in you on?
I was very honored and very happy. The attention this story has garnered is quite amazing and I am happy to see people still celebrating education. Many young people have taken to entertainment at the expense of education because that is what corporate sponsors like. I sing as well and actually considered dropping my chemical engineering degree for a singing career at one point. I looked at the likes of Falz and Funke Akindele and decided I could have both if I wanted. However, with my book, which I came into Nigeria specifically to launch, I was initially discouraged because it seemed no partners were forthcoming to spread the message to youth all over. It was later I was made to understand that corporate sponsors are more likely to support entertainment rather than academic achievement which is rather sad. I will still keep the flag flying however and will continue to push forward. People like you who are still very interested in education encourage me.
Q: What are your words of advise for Nigerians at home and those in Nigeria?
I would say push yourself beyond your limits because you might just find that you exceed them and finally, you can always be the exception to the rule and end up being exceptional!
Q: How will you want President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria to assist you in ensuring you can help the nation generate Biochemical fuel, electricity, employment and training of other entrepreneurs?
While those are pertinent areas that do need to be tackled in our nation, my focus is more towards the herald sector and not energy production so I cannot speak on that issue.
Q: Are there ways Nigerian medical institution can learn from you?
As I said I plan to work in medical research and I am going into a Ph.D. For that purpose as it is research based and will further help me develop myself further. I believe Nigerian medical institutions would benefit from the areas of research I might go into in the future but I do believe it would be more of us working together and learning from each other as opposed to just them learning from me.
