According to Ekeh “I am very humbled by this. I see this as not an accomplishment for me, but as an accomplishment for my school, my community. I really see this as my mission to inspire the next generation. I am leaning toward Yale,” he told CNNMoney. “I competed at Yale for Model UN, and I like the passion people at Yale had.”
With a passion for science: He wants to major in neurobiology or chemistry in college and later become doctor and, ultimately, a neurosurgeon. He was named a 2015 Intel Science Talent Search semifinalist earlier this year for his research on how the acid DHA can slow Alzheimer’s. Elmont High School is 99 per cent minority. Ekeh is the second student in recent years to win a prestigious Intel Science award.
For Ekeh, the cause is personal. His grandmother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s when he was 11. One of his proudest moments was running home to tell his mother and aunts about the breakthroughs he was finding with DHA.
“When other kids would say, ‘I want to be a superhero or police officer,’ I would say, ‘I want to know what is on the inside of us,’” he said.
The key to success: Outside of the lab, Ekeh directs a youth choir at his church, plays the drums, is part of Key Club and Model UN and was elected to the Homecoming court. He speaks Igbo and Spanish and has a 100.5 per cent GPA. He’s proud of acing the AP History Exam despite his early struggles with the subject.
His parents moved from Nigeria to the United States with his family eight years ago and his mom works for a human resources agency, while his dad works for the New York City Police Department.
According to media reports, Ekeh credits his success in gaining admittance to all eight Ivy League schools and several other universities to his parents for moving from Nigeria to the United States when he was 8 years old, and his teachers for challenging him.
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