Growing up in a town far from civilization, the hope of achieving great academic feat seemed bleak and unachievable. By providence, relocating to Ibadan, Oyo state, Nigeria, and accepting the challenge to scale the difficult path was the starting point. The determination will further instill in me the resilience required to succeed in my academic journey, resulting in my emergence as the best-graduating student from the Faculty of Engineering, with First Class Honours in Mining Engineering, University of Jos, Nigeria (The first to ever emerge with First Class at both faculty and departmental level). My passion for imparting knowledge and organizing tutorial classes for intending undergraduates and university undergraduates introduced me to EducationUSA (Opportunity Funds Program); this positively changed everything. Applying to and being selected for the opportunity funds program has been a lifelong journey to discovering many privileges and opportunities I never imagined possible. I must say OFP by EducationUSA is a life-changing opportunity to be harnessed by any high-achieving yet financially disadvantaged scholar. As a beneficiary of the Opportunity Funds program, I am excited about the boundless opportunities awaiting my exploration. Now I am hopeful about leaving Nigeria's shores for a Master's and Ph.D. program in Mining and Mineral Engineering at the Prestigious New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, United States. OFP is a dream come true for me. Before this time, I had never boarded a plane (locally or internationally), but OFP has given me a change of story. With an overwhelmed heart of gratitude and the warmth of emotion, weaved into a candid expression of joy, I must say that EducationUSA (OFP) is a launching pad for great intellectual potentials who will, in turn, revolutionize the world, of which I am proudly a beneficiary

Michael Temitope KADIRI is a first-class graduate of Industrial Chemistry from the Department of Chemistry, University of Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria. While Michael was at the University of Ibadan, he excelled both academically and in several leadership positions he held. Michael was the Deputy Editor-in-Chief of the Chemical Press for the session 2018/2019, where he amply worked closely with the team members to edit the weekly publications and also the release of the annual magazine of the department. Michael was also the Welfare Head of the student chemical society electoral committee, where he oversees the well-being of the members of the committee.

Michael loves to give back to his community, and this has been a massive part of his life, from volunteering to teach first and second-year students during his undergraduate days to reaching out to the less privileged under the auspices of Humanity Project Africa. Also, as the Vice-President of the Sustainable Development Goals group during his National Youth Service (NYSC), he created an awareness program for high school students on quality education and good health during his national youth service (NYSC) in Bayelsa state. Furthermore, he had teamed up with ACS (American Chemical Society) members at the University of Ibadan-being a community member himself- to organize programs for secondary school students by teaching them hands-on practicals on the making of liquid soap, air freshener, hand sanitiser etc.

Michael is an EducationUSA Opportunity Funds Program (OFP) scholar. He was selected as one of the 34 successful applicants out of over 2500 applicants in 2021. Under the guidance of EducationUSA, he secured a fully funded offer for his PhD program in Chemistry from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Michael is interested in Polymer Chemistry with a particular interest in additive manufacturing, where he would use comput er-aided design for rapid prototyping and design of equipment.

Mirracle graduated with a record-breaking CGPA of 4.90/5.00 at her university. After our combined convocation in 2020, she was awarded the Overall Best Graduating Student for all 5 sets in a combined convocation. That was one of the highlights of her life. She had the privilege of meeting the Governor of Oyo State Seyi Makinde, and many prominent people. Her tweet went viral. she was featured in Vanguard, Punch, and lots of other news channels.

I am grateful to God who made all of these possible and aligned my steps on this journey. EducationUSA has been a blessing to my life. It has connected me with great minds. This is definitely not the end. Because as one journey ends, another begins. And I am positive that it can only get better from here at Michigan State University where i received full funding to pursue a Ph.D. program in Medicinal chemistry.

Mojisoluwa Catherine Oludare was born and raised in Ondo state, where she also completed her primary education. Ever since childhood, Mojisoluwa has kept a record of academic excellence. At age 10, she was awarded a fully-funded scholarship by Shell, Nigeria, to study at one of the most prestigious private schools in Lagos State, Nigeria.

At Edgewood College, Mojisoluwa proved to be a hardworking and distinguished individual, breaking various academic records, occupying numerous leadership positions, and actively participating in various charity/ fundraising events at the school. She has also won various national and international leadership and academic recognitions, such as the Duke of Edinburgh Young Leader's Award and the Cambridge Outstanding Learner's Award- May/June 2019 Cambridge IGCSE, best in Nigeria- Geography.

After her secondary school graduation, Mojisoluwa completed a one-year accelerated A-Level Program, after which she graduated as the Valedictorian and best graduating student of the set. She then decided to take a gap year from formal education to apply to universities abroad.

During this time, Mojisoluwa also served as an administrative intern at EducationUSA

Mojisoluwa received admission into various competitive institutions with partial to full/almost full scholarships to nearly all of them. These include Minerva University, Howard University, the University of Illinois at Springfield and more. 

Mojisoluwa resumed  at Swarthmore College, Pennsylvania, on a scholarship worth over $75,000, where she hopes to double major in Biochemistry and Economics.

Nkwocha Stephen is a unique student, "the prof," as those around him popularly call him, due to his exceptional Intelligence and excellent academic accomplishments. 

He holds a bachelor's degree in Chemistry Education from the premier University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN) and a First Class Master's degree from the Prestigious University of Lagos, where he graduated with a CGPA of 4.64/5.0 with a specialization in Physical Chemistry. 

During his undergraduate studies at the UNN affiliate campus for Education students at Alvan Ikoku Federal College of Education Owerri Imo State, he engaged in several leadership activities that assisted in developing a strong leadership personality. He was elected Secretary General of the National Association of Science in 2007. He was also elected the Secretary General of the Degree students association in 2008. He also served as the Electoral Committee chairman for the Students Chemical Society of Nigeria A.I.F.C.E. chapter, where he recorded a free and fair electoral process. 

After graduating in 2009, He participated in the compulsory National Youth Service program in 2010/2011 at Ile-Ife east local government, Osun State. During this period, he volunteered to mentor over 1000 students in Adolescent Reproductive Health, HIV/AIDS prevention, and teenage pregnancy. The State Peer Educator Trainer coordinator gave him a commendation letter for his achievements. 

Stephen has served as an outstanding Chemistry tutor at Dansol High School. He also served in various capacities, such as the Head of the Science department, Head of the e-learning and Technical Committee, Head of the Robotics and Innovation committee, Head of the Summer School planning committee, member of the Academic Board, member of foreign examinations committee, and member of external competitions committee. He won several awards, such as "The teacher of the year in 2019 and 2021''. He also won the outstanding teacher's award in the 2021 Avogadro's Chemistry challenge by the University of Waterloo, Canada. He also got nominated for the Lagos State Best teacher of the year award in 2021. He currently has a YouTube Channel where he explains Chemistry topics to students preparing for the annual West African Senior School Examination.

Stephen is also an Innovation coach. In the past four years, over eighty (80) students from Dansol High School have been awarded Conrad Innovators in the annual Conrad Innovation Challenge. 6 teams have been Alternate finalists in the competition, and two teams (RET Innovate and Team Biocon) have made it to the Global Finals in Florida USA.

Stephen got a fully funded PhD scholarship that covers his tuition, medical insurance, and living expenses from the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee where he is presently majoring in Chemistry.

Nmesoma Ebelechukwu Precious Onyejekwe attended Loral International Day Secondary school, Lagos, where she graduated as the valedictorian and had 6A's and 3B's in her WASSCE and 307 in her UTME. Having shown exceptional leadership qualities as class prefect from 7th-11th grade, she was unanimously appointed as the Head girl of the school in her graduating class. She served as President of the JETS Club and led inventions, which she and other club members displayed at interschool science fairs and competitions. She won a gold medal in the National Mathematics and Science Olympiad in 2018 and emerged in first place in the Junior Science category in Lagos state. In the 11th grade, she volunteered at the Loral Math clinic after school, where she taught mathematics to 7th -9th graders till she graduated.

Nmesoma participated in other extracurricular activities: literary writing, sports, and music. She was captain of the girls' basketball team and won a SIFA basketball gold medal in 2019. 

After secondary school, she took a gap year and learned python programming as a new skill. She continued volunteering at church as a fundraising committee member, raising donations for orphans, widows, cancer and HIV/AIDs patients. Conforming to her ambition to work in the health field, she also volunteered at Sirona Hospital in Festac town, where she gained a lot of clinical experience.

Nmesoma joined North Central College, Illinois in fall 2022, where she currently majors in Biochemistry. She is a recipient of their International Trustees Scholarship- a full-ride scholarship- awarded to only one international student.
 
 
 

Ogenna had been a trailblazer, in high school she was also granted a state award for being one of the Best students in the FCT Basic Education Certificate Examination(BECE) in the 2016/2017 Academic Section.  She graduated from Bristol Academy in Abuja as one of the Best Graduating Students and salutatorians of the Class of 2020. She took a gap year and joined EducationUSA Abuja where I was awarded the 2022 Undergraduate Unsung Hero for significantly supporting the 2021/2022 undergraduate cohort and for helping organize a charity outreach with EducationUSA.

As a result of my academic achievements and extracurricular activities, I was awarded various scholarships ranging from partial to full funding and will be majoring in Computer and Information Sciences at Rust College a full ride.

While in secondary school, I had the dream of studying in the US one day, and though I didn’t have the means, I always thought that if my mind can conceive it, and my heart can believe it, I knew I can achieve it. Joining EducationUSA has honestly been my best decision yet and my stepping stone to success. 

There are those who look at things the way they are, and ask why… I dream of things that never were, and ask why not?”- Robert Kennedy

Olaniyan Olawale Abiodun is a First class Statistics graduate from the University of Ibadan. He had a diploma in the same field from The Polytechnic, Ibadan, where he graduated as the best student in his department. 

He has gained relevant experience through internships and symposiums. For example, he interned at the Department of Epidemiology and Medical Statistics, College of Medicine, the University of Ibadan where he participated in a data management short course and was introduced to the use of analytical data software like SPSS, Microsoft Excel, and R programming language. In April 2021, he participated in a physical symposium on Applied Statistics with R Syntax, which was organized by the International Association of Statistical Computing - African Members Group. 

Part of his research experience was his undergraduate thesis, where he worked on "Assessing the Effect of Socioeconomic Predictor Variables on Under-five Mortality: Evidence from 2018 Nigeria Demographic Health Survey '' where he applied the Wealth Index combination to show how poverty influences child mortality.

Olaniyan is interested in computational statistics and data science, biostatistics, medical statistics and statistical genetics. He got a fully funded scholarship from Western Michigan University where he is currently majoring in Statistics.

During his undergraduate study, he made the dean’s honor list for five consecutive academic sessions and received the University of Ibadan Alumni scholarship award and the much-coveted Agbami Medical and Engineering Professionals Scholarship Award. Moreover, he served as the disciplinary committee member of the Pharmacy Leadership Club, and chairman of his graduating class’ symposium committee. With a motivated spirit, he journeyed through the rigors of pharmacy school, winning scholarships and finishing fourth out of a graduating class of 92 students: with a grade of 6.5 out of 7.0. He also gained teaching and research experience during his internship at Obafemi Awolowo University and his National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) program at the University of Uyo. His passion for drug discovery was birthed in the final year of his undergraduate program and since then, he has been threading that path

For Ozioma Colins growing up was pretty challenging due to his physical disability and financial background. His parents struggled to see him and his siblings through the university. His motivation was not giving up; it was about hard work and passion for challenging the status quo at the time.

He obtained a baccalaureate degree from the University of Abuja, where he graduated with a First Class and the best-graduating student, being the first student to achieve this feat. He had the honor of breaking 26 years-long records at the university. Ozioma also held several leadership positions and appointments; He had more than ten achievement laurels and awards as hallmarks of my hard work and contribution to academia.

He has six publications to his name. Opportunity, they say, meets preparation; for most, this might be an abstract phrase, but reality has shown me otherwise. I would love to express my gratitude to EducationUSA Advisors (Abuja),  they have been instrumental in this achievement The opportunity funds program made it all possible to see myself as a graduate student with full funding to pursue my Ph.D. program in computer science and engineering at Notre Dame University. To you reading this right now, I want to encourage you to keep going, persevere, and don’t give up. Dreams do come true; Dare to achieve! Join EducationUSA!" 

Peace Adegbite acquired a first-class honors degree in Engineering Physics from Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria, and graduated as the ‘Best Student in the Engineering Physics Programme, winning the Foundation Alumni and Professor A. F. Oluwole awards. Her undergraduate project was also conferred the ‘Second-Best Undergraduate Materials Project’ at the 19th Nigerian International Materials Congress (NIMACON) conference in a competition that involved several universities nationwide.  She will be attending the University of Nebraska-Lincoln with full funding for her Ph.D. Program in Physics.

Peace began her quest to study in the united states during the National Youth Service in 2020, her first attempt toward graduate school. At that time,  she only applied for popular government scholarships because she did not have any information about my studies in the USA. After 15 graduate school rejections, she saw my dreams crash before her eyes and wondered at the sheer possibility of ever achieving her dreams.
She got to know about the opportunity funds program applied for it and was selected. This better prepared her because she had the required mentorship, community, and support to achieve my goals. As a result, applied to other graduate schools in the USA and got accepted into four schools.
This experience made her believe that she grew stronger and more resilient, and most importantly, developed a clearer understanding of the importance of graduate school to my career. Hence, this fully-funded master’s degree in Biotechnology at the University of Texas at Tyler Health Science Center.

Josiah Aminu Peter was born in a slum of Kaduna called Television to a family of 6. My parent, currently retired, made sure my siblings and I stayed in school despite our crippling financial situation. My teacher-mother started me off elementary school pretty early, and due to my tiny size, I was always the smallest in my class. To avoid getting bullied, I grew up reticent and low-key, all in a bid to stay invisible. To make up for my quietness, my mind became very lousy. I would constantly soliloquize and ask myself many questions and try to provide answers. As a result, I grew inquisitive, which led me to choose sciences in secondary school.

After my junior secondary school examination, my mum came back home and told me she had brought me a gift. My joy quickly turned to a subtle disappointment when I saw her unwrapping the new School Chemistry and Physics. What I was expecting, I still do not know, but in a few months, those books gradually became my most valuable belongings. I will forever appreciate my mother for that gift that changed my life because if she had gotten me a shoe, I doubt I would be able to remember the color today.

During my undergraduate studies at Kaduna State University, where I studied Biochemistry, my parent lost their job, my oldest sibling passed away, and things got so difficult that my pocket was often empty. Still, it seems as though the more life got tougher, the more focused I got. I found a way to turn that negativity into motivation which was reflected in my excellent academic performance. During my studies, I would help other students with assignments, project lab work, and seminar and project write-ups to make ends meet.

In 2018, a friend and mentor of mine, Emmanuel Musa, who is currently a Ph.D. student at Oregon State University, told me about Education USA and the Opportunity Fund Program and encouraged me to keep my grades up and engage as much as possible in any research activity. Fast forward to 2021, I graduated top of my class with a first-class degree in Biochemistry, got into EducationUSA opportunity funds Program in 2022,  applied to five universities, and got fully-funded Ph.D. offers in three schools,  I accepted and will be attending the University of Colorado Boulder, where I was offered Graduate Assistantship, Fellowship and the Prestigious Shurl and Kay Curci Foundation Scholarship worth over $60,000 that would cover my tuition, health insurance, monthly stipend and also exempt me from teaching assistant duties for my first two years so I can focus solely on research.

To my teachers, lecturers, mentors, my loving family, my friends, my OFP advisors, and everyone who has inspired me to pursue my dreams,  my Ph.D. will be in the Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology Department at CU Boulder. 

Peter Josiah Aminu

Kaduna State University

University of Colorado Boulder

In 2021, I graduated top of my class with a CGPA of 4.70/5.00 and a first-class degree in biochemistry from KASU. I maximized every opportunity I had to get into the laboratory because of my passion for research. Throughout my undergraduate, I was always assigned to lead my lab group which has helped build my confidence on the lab bench. I also was elected the pioneer president of the Kajuru L.G.A Student Association Kaduna State University Chapter in 2019. During the Covid-19 Lockdown, I enrolled in a five-week virtual computational biology internship hosted by HackBio where I learned a lot and collaborated with internationals to perform a project. The project, which attempts to elucidate the COVID-19 mortality risk assessment among various age groups using phylogenetic analysis, gave me my first collaborative publication in an international journal. Also, as a person who loves to inspire and impact knowledge, I found myself constantly tutoring my mates and many other students even after university. Currently, as a serving corps member, I left a biotechnology research facility so I could teach chemistry and biology in a government secondary school in Abuja.

Reuben Ogba Onwe is a first-generation graduate who obtained his bachelor of science degree in Microbiology (First Class Honors in 2019) from the University of Nigeria Nsukka. He finished as the best graduating student in his department, with several awards. Before his undergraduate studies, at the tender age of eight, Reuben lost his Uncle Ndubuisi Onwe to what he learned in his later years as liver cancer (hepatocellular carcinoma) due to a late diagnosis of Hepatitis B virus. This changed his thought process and made him curious about viruses. Although at that age, it was unclear which profession he would major in. However, he made up his mind that the career would be one where he could contribute to putting an end to the emotional trauma people go through when they lose loved ones to what seems to him as preventable diseases. Paradoxically, his dad had a penchant for the law profession and was opposed to his vision of pursuing a career in the sciences.

Interestingly, during his high school days, after several disagreements, he was allowed to choose a career for himself. That was a great victory for him, as it marked the beginning of his journey in sciences. Furthermore, part of the things that shaped Reuben’s career were the numerous mentorships he got during his penultimate year as an undergraduate. After his compulsory National Youth Service, his research penchant made him return to his alma mater to volunteer as a research assistant in his undergraduate supervisor’s lab. This further shaped Reuben’s interest and made him join some peer research groups, notably, The Viral Seroprevalence Research group chaired by Professor Anthony C. Ike. This thus helped Reuben to coauthor some research and review papers, and he has thus far had two publications and two conference proceedings.

Apart from Academics, Reuben is a very social person with good leadership and mentorship qualities. Among other leadership positions he has held, during his National Youth service, he served as the president of the Culture and Tourism Community Development Group, Agwada Development Area, Nasarawa State 2020/2021, and also the Drama Director in the Christian’s Copers Fellowship Agwada, Narasawa State. In addition, Reuben has demonstrated various mentorship roles by assisting numerous students in multiple departments in the faculty of Biological Sciences, University of Nigeria Nsukka, notably anchoring the Nigeria Association of Microbiology Students’ week for 2020/2021 and 2021/2022 academic sessions, respectively.

Reuben applied for the EducationUSA Opportunity Fund Program Abuja, 2020/2021 cohort but was not shortlisted. Nevertheless, he reapplied for the EducationUSA Opportunity Fund Program Lagos, 2021/2022 cohort and got accepted. Reuben secured two fully funded PhD offers at the SUNY Upstate Medical University and The University of Pittsburgh for fall 2022. He is presently at SUNY Upstate Medical University, where he is pursuing research in virology and cancer biology.