Nnaemeka Anene sat down with the Communications team in the Keith B. Key Center for Student Leadership and Service to tell us his story. We hope you find his story just as extraordinary as we do.

Exuding Nigerian pride, this sophomore sat down with us to discuss his extraordinary experience thus far at Ohio State. Just a car ride away from Columbus, Nnaemeka Anene was raised in Dayton, Ohio with his twin brother and their sister. A chemical engineering major, Nnaemeka spends the majority of his time involved in various activities across campus and spends very little time sleeping – a familiar pattern for many busy college students.

Across campus, Nnaemeka is involved in organizations and programs like the Bell National Resource Center, the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, the African Youth League, Preface: The Minority Engineering Program and Leadership Collaborative. Also a Morrill Scholar, he is all about his studies. However, he balances all that studying by being active: flag football, basketball and co-ed volleyball are just a few intramural sports Nnaemeka enjoys playing. Sticking with his love for sports, Nnaemeka chose J.O. South as his favorite spot on campus.

When choosing the right university for him, Nnaemeka had a lot of things to consider. Declining a track scholarship to another school, he followed his parents’ wishes for his future and decided to come to Ohio State after he received the Morrill Scholarship and participated in the Early Arrival Program. “Meeting everyone through the Early Arrival Program who was coming to Ohio State and meeting those who came before me was a very rewarding experience,” he recalled. This experience allowed Nnaemeka to learn the value and importance of mentorship. Through the Early Arrival Program, Nnaemeka shared that he learned a lot about the statistics of black men in college and that influenced him to become involved with a program for minorities within the STEM field this past summer. Mentoring other hopeful young students in STEM, Nnaemeka hopes to start a program for low-income students interested in the STEM field here at Ohio State.

As with his involvements, Nnaemeka’s passions are numerous. Priding himself on observational skills, Nnaemeka is passionate about helping others grow through the observation and mentoring others. When it comes to career plans, his pre-medicine journey will one day lead to helping people in the operating room as a cardiac surgeon. Nnaemeka also dreams of opening a hospital one day with his twin brother.

Excited to continue his journey at Ohio State, Nnaemeka shared that the hardest lesson he has had to learn relates to failure and how it can be used to help re-prioritize responsibilities in order to work smarter and harder. For incoming Buckeyes, Nnaemeka offers this piece of advice for consideration: “Giving up sleep is not the worst thing, but make sure you spend that extra hour to finish your homework because you won’t regret that decision later.” Though the right amount of sleep is important and different for everyone, we can’t fault Nnaemeka for a strong work ethic and the ways he is spending his time on campus. We’re sure his next few years at Ohio State will be just as bright as his first.

Having recently returned from studying abroad in Rome, Italy, senior Shelby Daugherty couldn’t stop smiling in her interview for the OSU Spotlight blog. Read on to find out why she has so many reasons to smile…

Shelby Daugherty described the prospect of graduating in May of 2017 as both terrible and exciting. Coming to Ohio State initially was quite a culture shock for Shelby, coming from a small community in Bowerston, Ohio where she attended high school with just 40 classmates. She recalled her first days at the university living in Patterson as a first-year, falling in love with the building’s bright red doors and the people who lived inside. Her advice to incoming Buckeyes? “Be yourself. I had to learn who I was without my family and free of any old high school stereotypes. At Ohio State, there’s always a place to fit in, so you should strive to be who you truly are.”

Shelby chose Ohio State in part because her brother had a great experience here, which lead him to a career working in the Ohio Union. He actually passed by during her interview, highlighting her point about a strong family connection with perfect timing. But family wasn’t the only reason Shelby chose to come here – Ohio State has a well-respected Visual Communication Design Program. “You get a very well-rounded education at Ohio State. From all Student Life aspects, to football, to traditions, you get a full experience.”

And Ms. Daugherty has made the most of this full experience. Shelby is a member of Kappa Delta sorority, supports BuckeyeThon through both fundraising and dancing and has served to help re-establish the Ohio State chapter of AIGA. Most recently, Shelby joined the School of Architecture’s summer study abroad program in Rome, Italy, spending 33 days sketching buildings and gaining a new perspective on city planning. She so enjoyed studying in Rome and assimilating into the life there, and fondly described daily experiences of buying fresh groceries and exploring gardens and villas alike. Shelby loved the cultural element of preparing fresh foods, and hopes to keep it alive in her life in the states. She will keep an open mind to her options post-graduation and mused about moving to the West Coast or living somewhere abroad, above a café.

A talented artist, Shelby holds the inscription on Hayes Hall close to her heart: the cultured mind, the skillful hand. Self-described as genuine, empathetic and “a little bit weird”, Shelby has combined her infectious personality and skilled artist’s hand in a unique way by serving our blog team. She is one of the students who has designed the unique quotation art pieces featuring hand-lettering that accompany these blog features. Shelby has enjoyed being a part of the project as a creator and described her process as reading an interview, getting a feel for the individual and then visualizing their words. Shelby found value in this project because she feels featuring real students, their accomplishments and aspirations allows incoming students to envision their own potential at Ohio State. “We’re real people, not one-in-a-million,” Shelby declared, reflecting on this common misconception.

Recognizing the impact that “real people” can have on one another, Shelby hopes to one day give back by donating a scholarship for another Buckeye to study abroad because her own experience was so life-changing. Wherever opportunities take her after graduation, we know Shelby’s heart will always be in the right place.