MRC Student of the Month - April 2002

Richard Akwo

(First-Year Student - Science)

"Balance is Key to Success"

My name is Richard Akwo. I am a proud African American originally from Cameroon, a country of about 13 million inhabitants, in West Africa. About 7 years ago, I was fortunate to relocate and come to America. Although it was a difficult transition, I believed coming to the United States was a great opportunity for me to better my future. So far, the change has been worthwhile and beneficial.

Currently, I live in Silver Spring, Maryland. I am a second semester freshman majoring in pre-medicine. College to me has been a huge jump from high school. Although I did a lot of challenging tasks in high school, college has introduced newer challenges for me. One of these challenges has been learning to balance my school work and other daily activities in a 24 hour period each day. But to me, I just see this as another challenge of being a Penn State student. So far, I feel like I have been able to meet the challenge and excel in my educational career. My first semester was very challenging becuase I was adjusting to a new community and taking courses that tested my abilities and capabilities as a college student. Despite all of these obstacles, I was able to finish the semester with a 3.23 GPA.

Though my main focus is on my education, I am also versatile when it comes to work. One's interest can't be about school all the time; you need to do other things that will make you happy and make you feel proud of who you are. For me, this will be service to my community. In high school, I was president of an all boys mentoring and service group called B.R.O.T.H.E.R.S. (Brothers Reaching Out to Help Each Reach Success). With my B.R.O.T.H.E.R.S., I was very involved in my community. I did several tasks, such as mentoring elementary and middle school students, fundraising, building shelters for the homeless, cleaning neighborhoods and being a motivational speaker. Being part of this group not only showed me how beneficial it is to give back to the community, but it also helped me evolve from being a spectator to becoming a leader. Here in the Penn State community, I plan to continue to be involved and provide the necessary help to better the community.

My future goal is to one day become an Oral and Maxillo-facial surgeon. Currently, I see many obstacles that will be a challenge to me, but I believe that with hard work and dedication, my goals will be achieved. If one day I do become a successful medical practitioner, I plan to go back to Africa and open health facilities to provide care for the natives. I see this goal not only as a means to better the African society, but also an opportunity to help improve the health status in the world.

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