Dr. Soronnadi Nnaji Legacy Scholarship

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.