As a boy, Izu Iwueke listened to his father's stories about men leaving Nigeria and finding success overseas. That inspired him and doing well in the United States became his childhood dream.
The chance to leave Nigeria came as Iwueke was getting ready to go to a University. His father won a visa lottery to come to United States. The victory meant Iwueke's family had to leave their native land within three months.
He had to put University studies on hold to help support his family when they first arrived, and had to continue working when he began studying again.
"It bothered me a little but it was just what I had to do," he said.Now, after winning a $25,000 scholarship, he won't have to work any more. Instead, he can focus on his passion, researching ways to cure cancer.
"I'm just grateful to God for the scholarship," said Iwueke, a junior biology major in the honors program. "I plan to use it wisely."
The United Negro College Fund-Merck scholarship, which was recently awarded to Iwueke, was only given to 15 students around the country. It comes with a $10,000 scholarship addition that Iwueke will use for summer research programs.
"How happy I was, I can't explain," he said.
He said his friends in the honors program at The U of M helped him win the scholarship. Melinda Jones, director of the honors program, said he won it because of his focus, hard work and ability to go after what he wants.
Iwueke said he learned he can do whatever he wants to from his first mentor, Phillip Browning, who he met while doing a summer internship at Vanderbilt University.
He was the first minority physician scientist Iwueke said he had ever met. And he introduced him to research.
Since coming to the United States, leaving his friends and his home has not been the only loss he has felt, he said.
Browning died of colon cancer after inspiring an immigrant student to achieve whatever he wanted. Iwueke's research concentration is now in colon cancer. He wants to find a way to defeat the disease that killed his mentor.
Whatever sorrow Iwueke has from his losses can momentarily be shadowed by the great joy he feels having won the Merck scholarship.
"He was stunned, he was shocked, he was grateful," Jones said. "I've never seen Izu so animated before. He is normally so quiet."
She said she was optimistic he would win the scholarship. But you never know what the odds are, she said.
He won because of his hard work, grades, but mostly his focus, she said.
"He knows what he wants to do," she said.
Jones worked with him on the essay part of the application, which she said is the hardest part for most students.
Many of them are not used to writing about themselves, she said. They also brought in Joseph Jones, an English professor, to help with the essay.
Iwueke said he is grateful for everything the two of them did and for everyone else in the honors program.
Just like he has been helped and encouraged by so many people, he has his own plans for helping people.
After he gets out of medical school, he wants to work in Africa. He sees a problem in the health care there and wants to be a part in changing it.
Iwueke is a quiet, grateful man. He hopes he can make good use of the scholarship and use it to help people all over the world.
In his application essay, Iwueke explained why winning the scholarship was so important.
"The young boy who grew up in Nigeria dreaming that he might one day be able to help and heal others knows, too, that ultimately medical science is about people and what can be done to help them explore all of their possibilities."
