Dr. Soronnadi Nnaji Legacy Scholarship

I’m a second-generation Congolese immigrant studying Civil Engineering at the Ohio State University. Having been raised in an African household, faith has played a huge role in my life. I proudly embrace my Christian faith and integrate its values daily, emphasizing kindness and service to others. As a kid, I’d spend hours building LEGOs. When I got older, while traveling to the Congo, I saw the importance of infrastructure and that those LEGO pieces I used to play with, were foreshadowing my destiny. In the Congo, I saw the poor infrastructure. This inspired me to do something about it, thus my passion for the creation and improvement of infrastructure in developing countries was born. Infrastructure is crucial to our daily lives. I hope to use this drive to impact countless people and their surroundings. Ubuntu is an African concept that emphasizes the interconnectedness of individuals. The importance of community has always been a core value to me, given my Congolese background, which has driven me to serve whenever possible. In my senior year of high school, I went on a school trip to Jamaica, where we built two houses for the local community. Seeing the impact that these houses had on the families moved me. My service didn’t just stop there. I’m currently going into my second year at OSU. I am a member of ASCE, NSBE, as well as a leading member of STEM DRC, a nonprofit that promotes STEM in the Congo and the world. We also help low-income, marginalized STEM students in the Congo get the chance to reach their goals. My love for service has led me to join the Engineers Without Border (EWB) Ohio State chapter. I’m on the International Project Committee where we engineer projects to help communities in developing countries. Currently, we’re working on designing and constructing an open-air marketplace in the Gambia and a school in Ecuador. Being a part of EWB helps me use engineering concepts I learn in class to solve real-world problems, and it aligns perfectly with my passion. I was also Director of Community Service for the African Youth League at Ohio State for the 2024-2025 year. As Director, I helped execute the organization's philanthropic vision. This included doing acts of service in the Columbus area and fundraising for projects in Africa that helped the community. We were able to raise money for a local hospital in Columbus as well as support a project that made clean water more accessible in rural villages across the continent. I also spearheaded a campaign to raise money for war victims in Eastern Congo. This summer, I’m participating in an internship at Lathrop, a local general contractor. This has further helped my passion for infrastructure grow because I get to see the real-life evolution of a construction project and the impact it has on the community. It’s like piecing together a lego set. The thrill I get from seeing the construction drawings come to life is simply indescribable. After I obtain my bachelor's degree, I plan on getting my PE (professional engineer) license before landing a career with the United Nations Office for Project Services. From this position, I will most effectively be able to improve infrastructure systems throughout Africa and the world. Receiving this scholarship would provide the necessary support for me to pursue my aspirations in civil engineering, helping me contribute to the development of the world while upholding the legacy of love for one's community, a virtue embodied by Dr. Nnaji. This scholarship would empower me to continue my journey of service while contributing to the field of STEM.

My goal is to create a more accessible STEM experience by curating medical environments that affirm their different backgrounds. My experiences as a second-generation student from an underrepresented tribe in Nigeria, as well as having my pain dismissed due to my race drive me to create medical services that value equity, inclusivity, and different perspectives. In Cross River State, Nigeria, lies a rural village called Bendi. This is the village of my people whose culture and language are going extinct. With such little global influence, my people have limited medical resources and representation. Therefore, I am exceedingly passionate about my role in meeting the needs of this community and similar communities here in the United States. A personal memory I have of encountering this issue was at a sixth-grade summer camp. Instead of enjoying the waterslides, I was curled up in bed enduring immobilizing pain from menstrual cramps. When I went to the medical professional on-site and explained my symptoms, he remarked, “You don’t look like you’re in that much pain.” This was the first moment I recognized that being Black and Nigerian were not just labels, but apparatuses for how I experienced life. At age twelve, I found it emotionally jarring that due to bias and media misinformation, this framework negatively influenced my interpersonal and medical interactions. I channeled my emotions surrounding that experience through art and it helped me discover my enthusiasm for creation. Years later, I made the connection that art can be used for both my healing and the healing of others. Furthermore, art can spread awareness regarding marginalized groups' perspectives and mitigate the negative effects of bias in STEM. These circumstances led me to realize that I wanted to cultivate an experience in the medical field using art that encouraged empathy, cultivated variety, and produced medical tools such as medical models, procedural animations, and medical illustrations that represent diverse skin tones and body types. Reaching this epiphany I motivated people to include their cultural identities in tandem with STEM. At my alma mater, North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, I led the Black Student Union as director, where I coordinated events that acknowledged the diversity across the diaspora. As a director, I organized a cultural fest of over 100 participants, managed biweekly meetings, and encouraged black students to pursue their perspectives in STEM. Furthermore, during my time as a Nasher Teen, I collaborated with young creatives of all backgrounds to curate an exhibit that asserts the value of different perspectives in all environments. Finally, I worked at a Duke University lab to study the effects of genetic mutations on Sickle Cell Anemia patients' pain levels, a disease most prevalent in African descendants. Under my mentor, Dr. Allison Ashley-Koch, I analyzed data that will contribute to addressing pain in the black community. Within all spaces, I will act as a beacon for my peers and inspire them to resist compromising their identities for acceptance in STEM. I will ensure that the backgrounds of anyone in STEM positively inform their experience and research. The Dr. Soronnadi Nnaji Legacy Scholarship will aid me in reaching this goal. The financial support received from this scholarship will fund the books and technology required for my studies. In return, I will uphold the legacy and values of Dr. Soronnadi Nnaji as a Nigerian American in STEM. In every community I participate in, I will posit the importance of understanding different cultural identities and acknowledging how they enhance the STEM community through variety. With each exhibit and every table of data, I will cultivate epiphanies that lead to empathy.