Olutope “Sola” Omosegbon
Junior
Biology/Pre-Med
With two years of college under her belt, Olutope "Sola" (pronounced "Shola") Omosegbon appreciates the School of Science's culture and diverse offerings.
"Since I've been here, I've found out there's a lot more to do and to be involved in than I'd imagined," says Omosegbon, who was born in Nigeria and lived in several countries before coming to the U.S. in 1992. "I'm really happy to be a science student at IUPUI."
An honors student who was awarded three scholarships to IUPUI, Omosegbon is one of 30 students living in IUPUI's Women in Science House, part of the campus's apartment and town home community. The opportunity to live with "a bunch of girls with the same mindsets" was particularly intriguing to Omosegbon, a biology major who plans to attend medical school and specialize in neurosurgery.
"Women in Science House is great. I get a lot out of the speakers and events that the school plans for us," Omosegbon says.
Named one of Ebony magazine's top 50 African-American high school students in 2005, Omosegbon is keeping herself busy with the Biology Club, the African Student Alliance and the Diversity Research Scholars Program (DRSP). The DRSP connects talented minority students like Omosegbon with faculty mentors engaged in research. As a program participant, she is assisting biology professor Dring Crowell, Ph.D., whose research interest is plant molecular biology.
Omosegbon applied to and was accepted at six other colleges, including Vanderbilt, Butler, IU-Bloomington, Purdue, DePauw and Indiana Wesleyan, before deciding to enroll at IUPUI. In addition to the excitement of living on the downtown campus, Omosegbon says being close to the "medical school's hub" is very important to her.
"With access to all the medical specialties and subspecialties here on campus, the options are literally limitless," says Omosegbon.
For now, the junior biology major has her eye on what comes next. "I want to attain and maintain good grades here and pursue medicine," she says.