Chidera Iloejesi
Chidera Iloejesi, PhD Student at Auburn University
Chidera Iloejesi is a vivacious young man who comes from a happy and God fearing family. He was brought up by a strong and hardworking mother who has simultaneously played the role of a father and mother since he was three years old when his father died. With very large financial vacuum created by his father’s death, he grew up supporting himself through primary school by working in a small call & business centre which his mother registered as Chimeb Business Enterprise and by the time he got to secondary school he learnt and incorporated computer repair and software installation into the business. With his academic expectation initially influence by growing up in a neighbourhood where many could not afford education and others were intensively hawking to go by school, it took till the later days of primary education for Chidera to appreciate the treasures hidden in studying.
Fortunately, Chidera became studious just at the right time and excelled in the nationally organized exam for admission into Nigeria’s most competitive secondary school – Federal Government Colleges. He got into Federal Government College Enugu where he graduated in the top 1% of his graduating class with one of the best WASSEC result (6-A1, 2-B2 and 1-B3) in the graduating class of 2010 having won several awards like best science student, best chemistry student, best geography student, just to mention a few, during the course of his study there.
Upon completing secondary education, he seamlessly transitioned into university to study Civil Engineering at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. He recognized available scholarship opportunities for Nigerian university student to ameliorate financial burdens; hence his set objective during university education was not just to excel academically but to garner social and leadership qualities. He applied for and won the prestigious Petroleum Development Technology Fund Scholarship which even funded his undergraduate research project. With less financial pressure and having good time management skill, he maintained high academic standing that culminated in graduating with a First class honours while he was involved in several extracurricular in leadership, volunteering and sport.
He occupied several leadership position in class-, departmental-, student society level, by his final year he has gather sufficient experience to lead the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE), University of Nigeria Chapter to win the coveted SPEInternational gold standard award for outstanding student activities and contribution and the award of the best SPE student chapter in Port Harcourt section all in 2015. Chidera is an ardent believer in giving back which he showed by joining an NGO - Healing Heart Widows Support Foundation, which provides relief materials, free medical and legal aid to widows in underprivileged areas in Nigeria; furthermore, he consistently donates blood ;a habit that spurred him to join Nigeria Red Cross. His favourite sports are soccer and jogging. He has won medals from participating in soccer tournaments and marathons hosted in across different states in Nigeria. Recently, he won a medal for successfully completing a 42.5km during the Lagos Access Bank Marathon.
Chidera’s professional growth was never left to stunt, while an undergraduate, he engaged with private practicing civil engineers during vacations which profoundly prepared him for mega projects he was involved in during his internship with Arab Contractors, one of the leading civil engineering construction company in Africa. His foray into post-graduate work experience was during his mandatory National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) when he worked with world-renowned civil engineering consultancy firm Ove Arup and Partners, actively involved in projects that cut across several specialties in civil engineering. At the early stages of his NYSC, he won the Opportunity Fund (OF), a platform that mentored and funded him through the application process to graduate programs in the United States. He was genuinely happy to have gotten this opportunity because he was determined not to underestimate any instruction or requirement of the application process which he believe hampered him from not getting fully funded during his undergraduate application to colleges in the United States. As a successful candidate of the program, Chidera who initially completed his undergraduate program in a college town in south eastern Nigeria is now fully funded as he pursues a combined M.S. and Ph.D. Program in Auburn University located in a college town in South Eastern part of America. Chidera believes that Auburn is that destination where he can stoke up himself in all ramifications to achieve greater heights to contribute making positive impacts in our society.
