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Since the 3D Scholar program is limited to three areas of concentration, Otike had to choose among cybersecurity, business or criminal justice. His father encouraged him to opt for the cybersecurity degree. 

“I didn’t know too much about it or how important it was,” he said. “But I am really glad I chose it because now I’m really passionate about it. 

During the COVID pandemic, Otike’s father, an architect, was diagnosed with cancer. The teen’s mother struggled to care for her husband while still maintaining her nursing job. Her dedication made her son decide that he wanted to study medicine to help people. Otike said he learned a lot from her, sometimes going to work with her. Every Halloween he dressed as a doctor.  

He puzzled over which branch of medicine he would pursue. Then his mother told him about fear of anesthesia. She endured the pain of cesarean sections in giving birth to all three of her children because she was afraid of dying under anesthesia. Otike had a friend whose father died under anesthesia. 

“That was another eye opener for me,” Otike said. “While anesthesia is very safe, there are people who die while under.  I want to do something about that.” 

At the time, though, he was still studying cybersecurity. Why not do both? He pursued the cybersecurity degree while positioning himself for a medical career. He also took the time to become a certified nursing assistant, hoping that make him more attractive to medical schools. 

In studying cybersecurity, he learned a lot about cloud solutions. That got him thinking  how technology could reshape the field of anesthesiology.

“I want to bring new innovation to anesthesiology with technology,” he said. “I want to make sure that people can get the help that they need by ensuring them that it's safe. And I want to help create the innovation that makes it safer for people.” 

As if that weren’t enough, he is also working with a startup nursing company, leveraging his  technology skills to help it reduce its paperwork. 

“I'm looking to get into cloud security. So, the cloud is kind of like my domain. I can potentially help them remove all that paper, and my job right now is building their infrastructure and applications that reduce the paper in their office,” he explained.

Despite his impressive list of accomplishments, he worries about being qualified in all of the sciences he needs for his upcoming pre-med program. That’s why he purchased the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) preparation books three years ago and has been studying them. 

Otike said UMGC has supported his choices and worked with him every step of the way. He said his success coach, Hope Spriggs, was instrumental in helping him meet his goal of finishing his degree in just one year. 

At first, she cautioned him not to be too ambitious and overload himself. So he signed up for only four classes for the summer. When he got an A in each of them, she relented and allowed him to register for the maximum of seven classes over the course of two terms in the fall semester. When he succeeded with that, she was fully onboard. 

“She gave me the whole game plan of what I should do,” he said.  “She instructed me on some good classes I should take. She told me, ‘You want to take this one. You don’t want to take that one,’ and nine times out of 10 she was absolutely right.

“A lot of my thanks goes out to her,” he added. 

 Otike said his drive to achieve began as soon as he was born.

“It actually began in the womb,” he said. “We are adamant Christians. My mother said she received a message from God when I was born that I was supposed to go into the medical field and become a doctor. That was like my uber driving force from a really young age.”