Meet Oluwatoyosi Ipaye
Affiliated with NeXXt Scholars Program
Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey
New Brunswick, NJ, USA
Current education level: Undergraduate
Current or future career field: Biomedical Engineering
Born in Nigeria, Oluwatoyosi Ipaye grew up in the cosmopolitan city of Lagos, a fast-paced Nigerian city in Africa's most populous country. Over two years ago, she decided to come to the United States with the hope of gaining a new perspective and an understanding of how Americans think and act. She wanted a clearer knowledge of what it was that made Americans do things differently than what is done in most African countries, with the hope of using the experience gained to be part of the change she wants to see in Nigeria. She is hard-working, purpose-driven, disciplined, and prayerful. She is not afraid of trying against all odds. Whenever she can, she enjoys writing poems and essays. She currently serves as a student leader in the residence halls as a resident assistant. After her undergraduate studies, Oluwatoyosi hopes to pursue a PhD and help out with STEM outreach programs specifically for women.
Why and how are STEM education and the Global STEM Alliance important to you?
I am currently affiliated with the NeXXt Scholars program of the Global STEM Alliance initiative. The NeXXt Scholars program connects women interested in pursuing careers in a STEM field with a network of other women in STEM. STEM education for women is very important to me because the STEM fields is one field that has yet to be dominated by women and it seems sad that for whatever reason, women are still underrepresented in these fields. One of the trends that I see, especially within my field, is that deciding to pursue a STEM field is not the hardest part of the process: the major challenge is following through with the STEM career pursuit. The NeXXt Scholars has played a part in surrounding me with an emotional support and a network of opportunities that have encouraged me in sticking with my pursuit to study Biomedical Engineering.
What are/were your goals for participation in the Global STEM Alliance? How has Global STEM Alliance programming helped you achieve them?
Quite frankly I joined the NeXXt Scholars program not exactly knowing so much about what it was about, but mainly because I was nominated by Elaine Zundl, the Assistant Dean for the Douglass Project, a STEM initiative at Douglass College. However, as I got to know more about the program and its purposes, it has become clear to me that one of the reasons I am glad to be a part of it is to see the many opportunities within STEM that are available upon graduation from college, and see what paths would best fit my interests while still keeping me in STEM.
If you could invent or discover one thing, what would it be?
If I could invent or discover one thing someday, it would be a low-cost, least invasive diagnostic tool that is capable of running a head to toe diagnosis on the human body.