While many students have just graduated from high school, 18-year-old Nigeria native NkechinyereChidi-Ogbolu is not your typical teen.

Chidi-Ogbolu just graduated summa cum laude from Howard University with a degree in chemical engineering — making her the youngest person to graduate from Howard this year, and one of the youngest in Howard’s history.

But that’s not all for Chidi-Ogbolu.

She’s now preparing to start a Ph.D. program at the University of California-Davis after the summer ends. She’ll be studying biomedical engineering with a focus on creating and discovering new medicines.

“I’ve always been interested in the medical field,” she told USA TODAY College. “But I want to have a broader scale of impact than in treating patients one-on-one.”

Chidi-Ogbolu said she’s always been the youngest person in her classes. While most students from Nigeria graduate high school at the age of 16, Chidi-Ogbolu finished high school particularly early, at 14, since she skipped 5th grade and attended an accelerated high school.

After high school, she left Nigeria for America and enrolled full-time at Howard University, a historically black university and her first-choice school.

Related: The 10 best U.S. colleges and universities for international students

“I thought I would be more comfortable at the age going to a school with more people that looked like me and therefore I could more easily relate to,” said Chidi-Ogbolu. “Plus, they gave me a full scholarship, so that definitely helped.”

Leaving her parents in Nigeria was difficult, but Chidi-Ogbolu wasn’t alone. Many of her extended family members live in America, including an aunt who lived not far from her dorm, and other family members in Texas and Alabama.

She credited her family’s support for her ability to cope with her new surroundings.

“I spoke to my mom almost every day on the phone — for over an hour almost every time. My dad and I talked really often too,” Chidi-Ogbolu says, adding that she spent most holidays with her aunts in America. “Talking to them definitely helped sometimes when things were overwhelming.”

“My support system was a very big part of why I was able to stay very grounded during the whole journey,” she says.

Her friends at Howard were very supportive of her too. Many of her them didn’t initially know how young she was, which gave rise to many moments of surprise.

“People usually reacted with shock,” she says. “Then they became really protective.”

With the blessings of her parents, Chidi-Ogbolu spent the summer after her junior year researching African weather patterns with Professor Paul Ullrich at UC-Davis. “While I was there, I decided that grad school was what I wanted to do.”

She started working on her graduate school applications during her senior year. “I can’t say it was stress-free,” she jokes. Her hard work paid off on February 7, when she received her acceptance letter from UC-Davis.

“It was definitely a wonderful moment,” she says.

Prasant Mohapatra, UC Davis vice provost of graduate education, and dean of graduate studies, had this to say about Chidi-Ogbolu: “We are delighted to welcome Nkechinyere into the graduate education community at UC Davis. We hope to provide a dynamic educational experience that will deepen and expand her passion for advancing the field of biomedical engineering, and we are truly impressed by her future plans to help people worldwide through scientific research and innovation.”

What’s next for her? This summer, she’s taking an advanced biology class at a local community college to prepare for her doctoral program. She’s also working on a book, provisionally titled Tales of an Uber Minor in College.

While she says she’s super busy, she does set aside free time to relax. “I love watching movies and series, especially Korean ones, and I like to sing and do karaoke,” she says.

Chidi-Ogbolu also has some advice for teens her age.

“Don’t limit yourself because you think you can’t do it or because no one you know had done it,” she advises. “You can always be the exception to the rule and end up being exceptional.”


http://college.usatoday.com/2017/06/01/she-just-graduated-college-and-is-starting-her-ph-d-and-shes-only-18/

That's the mark of a true Biafran. Ewedurudeens and abokigworos who are olodos but want to rule forever can lament.

DocHMD:
That's the mark of a true Biafran. Ewedurudeens and abokigworos who are olodos but want to rule forever can lament.

Say NO to tribalism.

Kudos to Nkechinyere for achieving this,she achieved this because she wasn't and isn't manerless/daft as some adults who are using the social media today. Some of these adults are fond of calling out other people's tribe even when the topic of discusion has nothing to do with them,forgeting those tribes are far ahead of theirs in all positive aspects of life. Once again i congratulate this young girl and pray she'll go far in life.

She is a great Nigerian from East.
She has made herself, her family and Nigeria proud.
Congratulations to her!

Well done to her. It's nice to hear good news regarding Nigerians abroad.

Sunnynwa:


Say NO to tribalism.

I was only being brutally honest. The girl is Biafran. If she agrees to be zoogerian, one dullard abokii from the north will marginalize her, downplay her meritorous intellect and steal the rightful position that belongs to her by virtue of 'quota system'. It can no longer continue.

ok

EmeeNaka:
She is a great Nigerian from East. She has made herself, her family and Nigeria proud. Congratulations to her!

But if she was caught smuggling drugs she would have been a flatttty

NaijaMutant:


But if she was caught smuggling drugs she would have been a flatttty

Nigerians are Nigerians anywhere, anytime. it's important to understand and celebrate our exploits,however, nobody want to be associated with anything illegal or evil.

Op u said sum are leaving high school @18. I would have agreed with you if Nigeria is not involved.
bug come to think of it, the jamb stress combined with ASUU wahala resulting in a spoilt education system, how do u expect me to go for phd by 18.....


**walks outta thread***

EmeeNaka:
She is a great Nigerian from East. She has made herself, her family and Nigeria proud. Congratulations to her!

she's a great biafran

Ask her n she will tell u she is a biafran

oh! she surely need my precious dik . some should give me her contact

DocHMD:


I was only being brutally honest. The girl is Biafran. If she agrees to be zoogerian, one dullard abokii from the north will marginalize her, downplay her meritorous intellect and steal the rightful position that belongs to her by virtue of 'quota system'. It can no longer continue.

True talk bro.
Na u get sense pass
more grease to ur elbow

Please don't call her a Nigerian. You are degrading her with such a demeaning label. How can such an intelligent girl come from the land of morons where all you need for a university education is to score 120?

I hail my sisters any day anytime

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DocHMD:
That's the mark of a true Biafran. Ewedurudeens and abokigworos who are olodos but want to rule forever can lament.

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