WARREN — Excellence in scholarship and high character, combined with achievement.
That tells it all about Nnaemeka Ikechi, who will be one of about 120 seniors graduating Saturday, May 18, from De La Salle High School, where, he says, “The values and ideals that have influenced me have become a key part of my life and are an integral part of who I am today.”
About six weeks later, on June 30, he’ll report to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point for a three-week boot camp.
The Army showed interest in Ikechi — pronounced “Ee-ketchee” — a year or so ago “because they liked my hustle and drive” on the basketball floor. Ikechi, 17, stands 6-feet-7 and weighs 210 pounds. He played three seasons on the varsity at De La Salle, earning all-league and all-academic (summa cum laude 4.37 GPA) honors.
Visiting the Army campus sealed the deal for Ikechi. “What they stand for, what they represent for the country in the future is just amazing,” he says. “Everyone is there for a purpose. Some kids go to college and have no purpose. They go with the flow. At West Point everyone has the same purpose, unified. There is a brotherhood and a sisterhood there.”
He’s excited about the prospect of playing basketball for Army. “They’ve never been a part of March Madness. I will try to change that,” says Ikechi, who also harbors a longtime dream of playing in the NBA someday.
If that doesn’t pan out, “then I’ll become an anesthesiologist” following in the medical field footsteps of his parents, who emigrated from Nigeria to the United States 20 years ago and who own Omega Home Health Care in Southfield. His mother is a cardiologist. His brother, Toby, is a seventh grader at Malow Junior High in Shelby Township.
His involvement in the Boy Scouts “is a great way for community service,” Ikechi says.
He earned his Eagle Scout award with his local troop and also the “Order of the Arrow,” a national Boy Scout award similar to the National Honor Society.
At De La Salle, he bolstered his community service efforts as a member of the Medical Club, the leader of the Black Students Association, in the National Honor Society and in his dual roles as president of the Student Council and the Senior Class.
“I feel busy hands create a focused mind,” he says. “That builds discipline within yourself. That’s my approach in school, and that’s how I approach life.”
“My faith is definitely the foundation of my life,” says Ikechi, who has been an altar server since the sixth grade at St. Kieran Parish in Shelby Township. “I like to look at God as a friend, not someone you just pray to and say Hail Marys, but someone you can actively talk to.
“No matter who you are, there will be a point in your life when you will only be by yourself, whether in college or on a 9 to 5 job, but you always have God with you helping you get to see the purpose in your life.
“I like being a Christian. That’s not a coincidence. That’s God helping me to be more faithful because, you know, He’s watching you. No matter what you go through, He’s by your side. Faith without good works is dead. So if you don’t prove your faith, you can’t expect God to prove His faith in you.
“It’s a kind of relationship. He always gives us, but we have to be ready to give back.”
Contact Don Horkey at [email protected].
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