Titi Nguyen/Podcast Editor
If I could offer one piece of advice to any undergraduate student, it would be to stay true to what inspires you. What I mean by this is to find what it is that inspires you — whether it is a certain subject or area of study, maybe a certain extracurricular activity — and be unwaveringly committed to it.
As a student-athlete, one thing that inspires me is being able to compete on a daily basis against some of my best friends: my teammates. There were times during my basketball career at Emory University when I thought I was putting too much on my plate. From draining practices and off-season conditioning to long travel days and film sessions to the rigorous levels of coursework offered at this institution, being a student-athlete is difficult. At times, I would go through the motions of my daily activities, not give all my attention in class and sometimes I would choose not to complete assignments on time. I soon realized that this was hindering my success both in school and on the court.
I had a mentor throughout my four years here who I talked to occasionally, and one piece of advice she gave me that I will always remember is this: “In whatever you do, give it your best, or you are simply wasting time.” I agreed with her statement, thinking that I was already giving my all in every aspect of my life, but after taking a deeper look into my daily activities, I realized at times that I was not. From then on, I made it a point to give my best on a daily basis — but how? How could I go from occasionally giving my best to always giving my best? I had to find what inspired me.
What inspires me is being able to compete every day. I used this as motivation to want to be better than I was the previous day. As the days went on, I noticed that the motivation I had in athletics began to translate to my academics; I wanted to be better than I was the previous day in the classroom. I built a desire to learn more and go beyond the bounds of the lecture hall. I would find myself conducting individual research on topics, ranging from data structures in different programming languages to recent trends in stocks and financial markets, just so I could have a deeper understanding of what I was learning and how it was all intertwined. I began to surround myself with like-minded, motivated and supportive people, and that only helped me reach heights I did not believe were possible.
Surrounding myself with supportive people also helped me enact change within the athletics community. With the help of other athletes, I created Emory’s first Black Student Athlete Group, a group that seeks to foster a sense of community while advocating for its student-athletes. I always felt this group would be helpful for student-athletes that looked like me, but I did not have the courage to talk to the athletics department until I had people behind me saying, “Go for it.” It all ties back to finding my inspiration — giving my all in athletics helped me improve other aspects of my Emory experience and introduced me to people who motivated me like never before.
My four years at Emory have been nothing short of memorable. Finding what inspired me helped enhance my experience as a student, as an athlete and as a person. I will take all the lessons I’ve learned with me as I embark on a new path, and I hope that future students will discover what it is that inspires them here because it only helped bring out the best in me.
Dubem Nnake is from Manchester, Maryland and majored in computer science and economics. At Emory, Nnake participated as a student-athlete on the men’s basketball team, co-founded Emory’s first Black Student Athlete Group and is a member of this year’s 100 Senior Honorary cohort. Following graduation, Nnake will move to Chicago to work as a private banking analyst for JPMorgan Chase & Co.
