{"id":62,"date":"2021-09-27T19:41:25","date_gmt":"2021-09-27T19:41:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sanjac.mycareerfocus.org\/fall-2021-volume-1-issue-3\/lost-to-laser-focused-international-student-fulfills-dream-of-standing-on-his-own\/"},"modified":"2021-10-21T21:20:40","modified_gmt":"2021-10-21T21:20:40","slug":"lost-to-laser-focused-international-student-fulfills-dream-of-standing-on-his-own","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sanjac.mycareerfocus.org\/fall-2021-volume-2-issue-3\/lost-to-laser-focused-international-student-fulfills-dream-of-standing-on-his-own\/","title":{"rendered":"Lost to laser-focused, international student fulfills dream of standing on his own"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Courtney Morris<\/span><\/p>\n

It was the first day of classes, and Sochima Ifedikwa was lost.<\/span><\/p>\n

Rephrase that: Ifedikwa knew he was pursuing a computer science associate degree at San Jacinto College. He just couldn\u2019t find the room for his first class.<\/span><\/p>\n

As if deciphering a code, he narrowed his eyes at the numbers on the sheet in his hands, looked up at the South Campus building in front of him, then back down at the paper. As fate would have it, he bumped into Ralph Penn, computer information technology professor.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cExcuse me, sir,\u201d Ifedikwa said, showing Penn his schedule. \u201cI\u2019m looking for this building.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"

Photo courtesy of Sochima Ifedikwa<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

Penn not only showed him the building but walked him to the classroom. That day marked the beginning not only of a mentoring relationship but of Ifedikwa\u2019s journey to stand on his own.<\/span><\/p>\n

The dream begins<\/span><\/h3>\n

Ifedikwa grew up in Nigeria. With hearing and financial challenges, his mother couldn\u2019t fund his education, but that didn\u2019t stop him from dreaming of pursuing a degree and a successful career.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted to stand on my own as a man,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

He also wanted to help his mother and three younger brothers live a better life. The best education in the world, he felt, would be in the U.S., but where would he go?<\/span><\/p>\n

Two cousins answered that question. One whose own child had attended San Jac agreed to sponsor his tuition, while another in Pearland offered him a room and transportation to the South Campus.<\/span><\/p>\n

Just like that, in late 2018, Ifedikwa was boarding a plane for Texas.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mentor and\u00a0<\/span>mentee meet<\/span><\/h3>\n

That next January, the lost Ifedikwa met Penn for the first time. Later, they bonded over a connection to Africa.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ifedikwa asked many questions. How had Penn gotten interested in computers? What had excited and worried him as an undergraduate? How could someone excel in the computer field?<\/span><\/p>\n

Penn enjoyed engaging with such an eager learner. He also offered to mentor him through San Jac\u2019s Diverse Student Populations mentoring program.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI truly appreciated that Sochima was very focused and determined to be successful in all that he involved himself in,\u201d Penn said.\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cI saw elements of myself in him when I was a young undergraduate.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Community college differed from Ifedikwa\u2019s expectations. After all, he hadn\u2019t expected professors to walk him to classrooms or match instruction to industry trends.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHaving a professor at San Jac who goes out of their way to see what the market is looking for [meant a lot to me],\u201d Ifedikwa said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mentoring others\u00a0and self<\/span><\/h3>\n

IIfedikwa threw himself into his education and became a DSP peer mentor. While learning how to see and cultivate others\u2019 potential, he grew as a leader himself.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI mentored other students like myself and not like me,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s not about you being in the mentee\u2019s position. It\u2019s helping them build leadership skills that will help them be successful.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Thanks to his active involvement, DSP connected Ifedikwa to GlobalMindED, a similar national organization that focuses on diversity and equity. Ifedikwa served on several panels, describing to other first-generation college students how he navigated and succeeded in college.<\/span><\/p>\n

As a student ambassador, he surveyed peers about their experience in 2020 \u2014 from virtual learning environments to personal challenges during a pandemic. This report went to college leaders, CEOs, and policymakers.<\/span><\/p>\n

Like those he surveyed, Ifedikwa faced uncertainty in the beginning. Despite pursuing a computer science degree, he wasn\u2019t used to distance learning when the pandemic started.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIn Nigeria, we don\u2019t usually learn with computers in the classroom,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

But he also forced himself to ask questions when he felt like staying quiet \u2014 even if the questions seemed irrelevant.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cLack of communication is equal to ignorance\u2026.\u201d he said. \u201cIf you don\u2019t communicate, you\u2019re going to be ignorant because you won\u2019t know what to do, how to go about your problems.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Goal in sight<\/span><\/h3>\n

This spring, Ifedikwa started his bachelor\u2019s degree program at Texas Tech University and is eyeing an accelerated master\u2019s degree program in software engineering.<\/span><\/p>\n

After he earns his degrees, standing on his own will mean getting a work visa and working full time as a software engineer and developer. He hopes his brothers will follow in his footsteps.<\/span><\/p>\n

For now, he is glad his journey started at San Jac, with professors who gave him direction \u2014 literally and figuratively.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThey try to know their students on a different level,\u201d he said. \u201cYou don\u2019t see this at the university. I was close to the professors [at San Jac]. They remembered my name after I finished their classes.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Courtney Morris It was the first day of classes, and Sochima Ifedikwa was lost. Rephrase that: Ifedikwa knew he was pursuing a computer science associate degree at San Jacinto College. He just couldn\u2019t find the room for his first class. As if deciphering a code, he narrowed his eyes at the numbers on the… read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":170,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,1],"tags":[],"article_type":[],"class_list":["post-62","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-student-success-story","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nLost to laser-focused, international student fulfills dream of standing on his own - Fall 2021, Volume 2 \u2013 Issue 3<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sanjac.mycareerfocus.org\/fall-2021-volume-2-issue-3\/lost-to-laser-focused-international-student-fulfills-dream-of-standing-on-his-own\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Lost to laser-focused, international student fulfills dream of standing on his own\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Courtney Morris It was the first day of classes, and Sochima Ifedikwa was lost. Rephrase that: Ifedikwa knew he was pursuing a computer science associate degree at San Jacinto College. He just couldn\u2019t find the room for his first class. 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