Inspiring! 22 year-old Nigerian Breaks Academic Record at John Hopkins University

THIS IS SOOO INSPIRING. LOVE IT! :-)

22 year old Emmanuel Ohuabunwa of Abia State Nigeria broke records by being the best graduating student at John Hopkins University.

Ohuabunwa moved to the U.S. at age 13 with his family just before he begun his year as an ss1 (10th grade) student in Ibadan, Nigeria.

According to him, he was teased, pushed around and bullied a lot because he was Nigerian. Ignorant students called him "African booty scratcher" because in their ignorance, they saw Africans as dirty people who scratched their butts all the time.  Some even asked him if he lived in mud huts and ate faeces for breakfast.

In his words, “My experience during that year gave me a thick skin. I learned to stand for what I thought was right even when the opposition seemed insurmountable. I also learned to look at the positive in all situations. Even though these kids were bullying me, I was still gaining an opportunity to school in America and nothing would stop me from making the best of this opportunity. I knew I wanted to go to the best school in the US. I had heard that Johns Hopkins Hospital had been ranked the number one hospital in the US for the past 21 years and I wanted to be in that environment.’’

Ohuabunwa went on to get stellar results in his PSAT winning the National Achievement Scholarship and to subsequently receive several recognition certificates from various organizations and senators and scholarship offers from many Universities.

His incredible efforts have earned him a scholarship to study medicine at Yale University and an induction into Phi Beta Kappa Society, the well-known prestigious honor society.

Congrats Emmanuel! As we igbos say, Odiro ofele.

Lesson Learned?

When you're on the route to achieving your goal, ignore the haters and keep your eyes on the prize. Never let naysayers get into your head or derail you. Work hard while staying on your lane....Trust that it feels better to look back and smile WHEN you get to your desired destination than to stay "back" and fight them.

Stay inspired :-)

*Culled from ChannelsTV news