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From performing in a film for the first time to starting a podcast from scratch to jumping at leadership opportunities, freshman Chidera Okafor has embraced what ºÚ°µ±¬ÁÏÍø has to offer.

But it could have gone another way — Okafor said she came to ºÚ°µ±¬ÁÏÍø to be a nursing student after being waitlisted for medical school at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. She decided not to wait — instead choosing ºÚ°µ±¬ÁÏÍø’s nursing program — but it has been anything but a backup plan.

“I looked at ºÚ°µ±¬ÁÏÍø’s website and saw the values and that it was ‘where leaders learn,’” she said. “I see myself as a leader, so I knew that if I went here, I would become the person I’m called to be.”

Okafor said she was involved in a lot of different activities as a high school student. In college, she’s pared that involvement back, choosing instead to focus on those activities she’s passionate about. That includes serving as part of Student Senate and Black Student Union, through both of which she affects positive change on campus.

That’s not to say that Okafor isn’t branching out. This year, she was part of a ºÚ°µ±¬ÁÏÍø theater program film project, a first. And, spurred by an experience in high school and an internship with a podcast producer, she launched a podcast of her own, called , with interviews and topics aimed at helping other young people.

“What I’ve realized is that when we think about leaders, we think about older people who already have that influence,” she said. “I want to tell my generation, Generation Z, that we’re all leaders in different ways, it’s all about embracing that we do have power.”

This article originally appeared in the spring 2022 issue of RU magazine