Darius Olayiwola is an incoming Autumn 2024 Morrill Scholar and engineering major. Originally from California, Olayiwola moved to Columbus in eighth grade and attended New Albany High School, where he was a member of the Black Student Association, National Honor Society, NAACP, and the varsity track and basketball teams.

Olayiwola hails from a family of Morrill Scholars, including his mother and maternal aunts and uncles. (His mother, J. Nwando Olayiwola, is a family doctor who was inducted this year into the ODI Hall of Fame.) His grandparents also attended Ohio State on other scholarships. However, participating in high school engineering programs at MIT and Georgia Tech led Darius to favor other elite universities during the college application process—until the MSP finalist weekend brought him home.

“Just talking to the students who were in MSP and hearing their side, and talking to some of the advisors and hearing all the benefits the program has—that was when I made the decision,” Olayiwola said. “After hearing all the perks and support that come with being a Morrill Scholar, I felt like it was the right place for me.”

He looks forward to capitalizing on the university's countless opportunities. “I'm going in with an open mind,” Olayiwola noted. “I'm going to participate in everything, meet as many people as I can, and take full advantage of everything Ohio State offers me.”

Miciah Yin is an incoming Autumn 2024 James L. Moore III (JLM) Scholar from Columbus, Ohio. A graduate of Pickerington North High School, Yin attended Columbus State Community College for two years through the Weiler Scholars Program. She is now transferring to Ohio State as a third-year biology major.

“I was drawn to Ohio State because it’s close to my family, so I can commute. Also, the university has a great biology department. I toured a few of the labs, and I was just blown away,” Yin said. “I love all the resources and opportunities that are available to students.”

Among those resources is the JLM Program, which assists Columbus State students as they become Buckeyes. Yin was attracted to the program after learning about it at Columbus State Community College.

“When the students were presenting, they told me about all the ways JLM helped them navigate transferring. Columbus State is pretty small and easy to navigate, whereas Ohio State is very big and very different,” Yin explained. “I want to meet academically-minded students and to be around people who will help me and guide me. I’m very excited to find that community in JLM.”

Patience Ogundare is an incoming Autumn 2024 Young Scholar from Columbus. The valedictorian of Northland High School, Ogundare was a member of the National Honor Society, Nationwide Hospital Youth Advisory Council, and Co-President of Northland STEM Club.

Ogundare looks forward to connecting with first-generation students from across the state through the Young Scholars Program. “Being in YSP means having support and seeing other students who are just like me,” Ogundare commented. “It’s been really amazing to see how welcoming people are.”

Interested in medicine from a young age, Ogundare plans to major in health sciences on the pre-med track with hopes of becoming a doctor.

“I want to really focus on growing my confidence and coming out of my shell. Through high school, I was able to do different leadership opportunities so I could be more confident and learn to speak out,” Ogundare said. “But I want to further develop that at Ohio State by joining leadership clubs. That way, I can not only help the people at Ohio State, but also those in my community.”

Line Christine (Chris) Maliedje Feutseu is an incoming Autumn 2024 Young Scholar who plans to major in finance on the pre-law track. Originally from Cameroon in Central Africa, Maliedje Feutseu immigrated to Columbus at age eleven, attending Columbus North International School.

As a high schooler, Maliedje Feutseu participated in student council, National Honor Society, and varsity softball, but she hopes her time as a Buckeye will help her find a focus for her law career.

“During high school, I enjoyed a lot of different activities, and I know I like working with people and helping people,” Maliedje Feutseu said. “During my time at Ohio State, I want to focus in on what I’m really passionate about.”

She looks forward to becoming more independent and forming new connections at Ohio State, aspects of the Buckeye experience she learned about through the Young Scholars Program. “The reason I landed on being a Buckeye is because of Miss Teneeyah, my YSP coordinator,” Maliedje Feutseu stated. “She talked about Ohio State in a way that made me think, ‘This is the place for me.’”

Gianna (GiGi) Henley is an incoming Autumn 2024 Morill Scholar from the Philadelphia suburbs. An avid dancer from the age of five, Henley used her artistic talents to serve others by organizing a dancewear donation drive for dancers in Guatemala.

As a future dance and film studies double major at Ohio State, Henley hopes the Morrill Scholars Program will give her the skills and resources to continue paying forward by combining her artistic passion with service.

“I’m most excited about meeting new students and having the opportunity to come up with new ideas. I think MSP opens up a lot of resources to their students, and I think it will be cool to use the program to create something even bigger,” Henley said. “I love helping my community and spreading awareness, so I’m excited about that.”

Outside of the classroom, Henley looks forward to engaging with Buckeye athletics, especially football. “My family is a big football family. My brother has played football his whole life, so I’ve grown up going to his games every single weekend,” Henley noted. “I’m excited to be in an even bigger football atmosphere. I know Ohio State’s football games are huge and wild, so I’m excited just to be there and experience it.”

Jovany Martinez is an incoming Autumn 2024 Young Scholar from Columbus, Ohio. A lifelong animal lover, Martinez plans to study zoology and is especially interested in wildlife rehabilitation.

A captain of Centennial High School’s varsity soccer team for the past two years, Martinez grew up frequently visiting The Ohio State University’s campus. “I’ve been connected to Ohio State my whole life. I would go to Ohio State a lot with my friends just to hang out, walk around, and play pickup soccer.”

Thanks to guidance from the Young Scholars Program, Martinez looks forward to following in his older sister’s footsteps as a Buckeye.

“Young Scholars has been really helpful. They’ve been with me since eighth grade, and they’ve taught me about life at Ohio State, what I needed to do to get prepared for college, the application process, and the financial process,” Martinez said. “They’ve been really helpful through this experience.”

Acacia Rhodes is an incoming Autumn 2024 Regional Campus Transitioner from Columbus. Rhodes spent two years studying at the Newark campus as a LeFevre Fellow, where she served as a student representative for the Newark Board, participated in the Ohio Prison Education Exchange Project (OPEEP), and studied abroad in Greece, Panama, and Australia.

Rhodes also founded Newark campus’s first environmental student organization, Help Our Planet Earth (HOPE) Club, which received the 2024 Outstanding Student Organization award from the Office of Student Life. The organization allowed Rhodes to embrace her love of nature, a passion that also led her to attend the School of Environment and Natural Resources.

“I grew up in Montana. It’s very scenic, very beautiful. It has mountains, dry woodland forests, and a lot of trees and wildlife,” Rhodes said. “I was always going outside and doing things—skiing, kayaking, hiking. Nature has always been that third place for me that helps with my stress and mental health overall.”

As a forestry, fisheries, and wildlife major, Rhodes is transferring to the Columbus campus to complete her degree. She is grateful for the Regional Campus Transitioners Program (RCT) for smoothing the transition.

“Coming from a regional campus, I know it’s going to be harder for me than for most people that are already there in their third year,” Rhodes explained. “I hope RCT will help me get acclimated to the campus better and help me meet students who are in the same position as me.”

Haven Tan is an incoming Autumn 2024 Morrill Scholar from Thousand Oaks, California. As a student at Oaks Christian School, Tan was involved in the golf team, orchestra, and mental health club. At The Ohio State University, Tan plans to major in civil engineering and minor in humanitarian engineering as a member of the Humanitarian Engineering Scholars Program.

“My sophomore year, I took an environmental engineering class at my school, and we worked with an organization called Global Brigades. We helped design a water system for a village in Honduras,” Tan commented. “We met on Zoom with the community, and I was able to hear everybody’s stories and see the impact I was making, and I was like, ‘Whatever this is, I want to do this.’”

Tan has already started her humanitarian engineering career by founding CAD 4 Clean Water, an organization that teaches girls in lower-income areas how to use AutoCAD software to design jewelry, which is then sold to pay for clean water systems in Latin America. Tan hopes the Morrill Scholars Program will give her opportunities to engage in similar projects.

“I’m super excited about the community that I’m automatically going to be in when I get there,” Tan said. “I think MSP is going to really help me grow in the things I’m passionate about, like social justice, service, and inclusivity.”

Kameron Mitchell is an incoming Autumn 2024 Young Scholar from Columbus. Although Mitchell graduated from Columbus Alternative High School as the founder of a robotics club, member of a local track team, and intern in two Ohio State engineering labs, he spent his childhood bouncing around the United States.

“I had an unorthodox schooling experience. I was born in Ohio, but my dad was in the military, so immediately, we moved to Colorado. Then we went to Texas for a little bit, and at the seventh-grade level, we came back to Ohio,” Mitchell explained. “All those different experiences, living with different people, living in both rural communities and big cities—that helps me connect with people because I had to start over a lot of times.”

Mitchell hopes to put these people skills to good use as an electrical engineering major at The Ohio State University. The oldest of five siblings, he is grateful to the Young Scholars Program for providing him with an affordable college experience. “I’m hoping YSP will continue the support and guidance from high school. It feels like an extra safety net, an extra community, and an extra support system,” Mitchell said. “I know I’ll always have a home within ODI.”