COURTNEY COLLINS 

David Odun-Ayo (12) was one of more than 1,800 high school students to receive the QuestBridge scholarship this past year. The scholarship granted full tuition at one of America’s elite universities. Odun-Ayo would attend the University of Notre Dame in Indiana.

  The QuestBridge scholarship has financially enabled tens of thousands of college-seeking students to attend an elite four-year university.

  “Our hope is to help bring talented, low-income students into important decision-making roles in society. This is a lofty goal, and one that implies we wish to link students to opportunity from high school through college into their first job,” according to the QuestBridge website.

Odun-Ayo’s many attributes and accomplishments, that resulted from diverse obstacles in his life, helped him to win the scholarship.

When Odun-Ayo was 10 years old, his mom was offered a job here at Missouri S&T as a research assistant that also paid her tuition to get her Ph.D, so they decided to pack up and move from Nigeria, Africa to Springfield, Missouri. Moving here was a huge change for Odun-Ayo, and he experienced a lot of new things.

“I was thinking this was going to be scary; it’s a new country, and being in Africa, I’d never seen a white person before,” Odun-Ayo said. “My mindset changed a little bit. When you grow up in one country, you think the same way, and then when you move to a new place, you have to adapt to new environments. The way I view things, I was able to view things from an African point of view and then from an American point of view, too.”

Odun-Ayo overcame another obstacle in his life other than his move to America; he was was born without his right leg, and had to learn to adapt and live with a prosthetic leg. His interest in sports, such as soccer, tennis, and wrestling, wasn’t affected by his disability. Because of his want to be involved in sports, he was motivated to play them during high school.  

“God has made me the way I am right now. There’s no need to sit back and be like, ‘Oh man, I should feel bad or sad about it’,” Odun-Ayo said. “If I get the chance to even play a little bit, I’m going to say thank you and run with it.”

His disability didn’t inhibit him from being involved, whether he used his prosthetic leg or not. Depending upon the sport, such as soccer, he used it to enable him to run, but for wrestling, there wasn’t a need for it, and he was successful without it.

Being involved with sports was just a part of what Odun-ayo was interested in. He planned to study computer engineering at Notre Dame, and was also interested in the location, lifestyle, community and history the school had to offer.

  “I was in Indiana for a summer, and I love Indiana; it’s just a beautiful place to be,” Odun-Ayo said.  “I love the Pacers [a professional basketball team out of Indianapolis], and I have a lot of family in Indiana. I researched [Notre Dame] a lot, and I love the campus — the Irish. I love everything about it.”

  Odun-Ayo’s dedication to school and community helped him earn the scholarship. He was the president of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, a member of Boys Service Club, Robotics, Science Olympiad, Peer Mediation and sports teams such as wrestling, soccer and tennis. He regularly volunteered at his church as well. His involvement acknowledged through multiple stories about him in local media and by continuous support he received from his teachers and peers.

  “David is one of those highly-motivated kids; he’s always trying to do the best he can. I see him making efforts and trying to do the best he can, while getting the other people around him to do as well as he does,” Steve Yonke, one of Odun-Ayo’s science teachers, said.

  Hard work and dedication were the basis for Odun-Ayo’s successes in school, but also in his personal life. He transformed a humbling past to a hopeful future.

  “Coming from Africa, I didn’t have a lot growing up. Seeing my mom and what she went through — she’s been my biggest motivation; also my family, so I can get them a better life,” Odun-Ayo said. “One day in my family — everyone — is just going to be set. That’s my biggest motivation.”

  His mother, Theresa Odun-Ayo, has witnessed the positive effects that moving from Africa has had on both of their lives. She said their move to Springfield contributed to the achievement of her son’s scholarship and promising future.

  “It’s amazing. I never could’ve afforded to send him to such a school, but I’m just so thankful to the Lord. David is very driven, and he has always said, ‘I want to be the best,’ and he wants to give 100 percent to everything he does. I’m just so grateful to see the fruits of his labor,” Ms. Odun-Ayo said. “I’m very, very happy and excited. I know that if he keeps this up, he will go on to do great things.”

  The QuestBridge Scholarship searched for people who had overcome trials in both school and personal life, and who also wanted to excel in college and beyond.

  “He’s got quite a story of growing up in Africa — having a physical disability, and then doing as well as he’s doing here in America — not even having been here for ten years,” Yonke said.

  Odun-Ayo applied for the scholarship after hearing about it from other Glendale students who had won it. His and his peers’ success were a motivation. It brought Notre Dame into Odun-Ayo’s reach.

   “Being able to go there is just crazy and life-changing,” Odun-Ayo said.