Meet 17-Year-Old Obinna Igbokwe Who Got Into 7 Of 8 Ivy League American Schools

Obinna, who is currently a senior at
Brockton High School said he has drawn
from the experiences of his parents who
are Nigerian immigrants. He said he
now has a new found appreciation of
his origin and how he can learn and
grow from the hardship his parents
experienced. They instilled a strong
work ethic in him, pushing him to study
hard, especially when he was younger.
“It gave me perspective. That
perspective made me . . . capitalize on
what I’ve been given.”
His parents were the main people to
encourage him to aim high and apply
for the Ivy League, he said. They
convinced him to apply to every Ivy
League school, because he was planning
to apply to some colleges in California.
“They really supported me in terms of
when I was younger, they made sure I
had a good work ethic so later in life I
could be able to ensure that I didn’t give
up.”
Ironically, the first letter he got back
from an Ivy was a rejection from Yale
University. But he didn’t let that get him
down.
“It didn’t make me feel discouraged,
’cause I had assumed that I would get
rejected. There’s not guaranteed
acceptance” he said.
After he got the seven other
acceptances, he did not even tell many
people, except his guidance counselor,
family, and a few close friends. Instead,
he continued to focus on playing the
euphonium in his school’s concert band
and working toward his International
Baccalaureate diploma.
His mother, Chidimma Igbokwe,
expressed pride and excitement for her
son, as did the rest of the local Nigerian
Igbo community from the Umuada Igbo
organization. She thanked Brockton
Public Schools for bringing out the best
out of her son.
“Every time we hear about kids on
drugs, kids with guns, but we never
hear something good about Brockton,”
Mrs Igbokwe said “Hopefully, I can
open someone’s eyes to see that going to
private school doesnt automatically
make you a strong or good student…if
you learn and concentrate you can
make it…Whatever you do, try and be
the best. That’s what we instill.”
Igbokwe, who has 4.6 grade point
average, said he doesn’t has no beef
with Yale University. He is more
concerned about getting into a school
that would be the best fit for him.