Nigerian student happy to find himself, excellent education at MSU Texas
Duke University came to mind. But Olatunde realized after some time that he was good in basketball in his area, but it wouldn't be his future occupation. He still wanted to come to the United States and found Midwestern State University and Wichita Falls.
'My dad's plan was always to send me abroad to study. He wanted me to go to the UK, but I wanted to go to the U.S.,' Olutunde said. 'I had heard of Texas but not Wichita Falls.'
Starting college in 2020 as the world was experiencing COVID-19, it was the online presence of MSU Texas that gained his attention. But he was excited to come to campus to continue his educational journey, and he earned his bachelor of science from McCoy College of Science, Mathematics and Engineering in December 2024. And he stayed here for graduate school.
He initially didn't want many friends and admitted he wasn't the best at socializing.
'That helped me academically. I became friends with my teachers, and they were supportive,' he said.
He finished with a double major in computer science and mathematics and embraced his chances to do research. His message to others would be to try research.
'You never know until you do it, and you might enjoy it," he said.
After grad school at MSU Texas, he hopes to land a job that involves research.
'It's amazing here at MSU,' Olatunde said. 'It was a beautiful journey. One of the best things for me was it was a smaller school and I had access to (faculty). The support you get here is great. I had a lot of ups and downs and went through a lot of growth. I continued to grow in school and socially.'
His favorite professors included associate professors of computer science Eduard Colmenares-Diaz and Terry Griffin, who was Samuel's adviser and got him started in research, and Marcos Lopez, associate professor of mathematics.
His first MSU experience was an online class from Tiffany Zeigler, and he learned much about the rules for writing papers.
'I slowly picked it up. I had a very terrible relationship with writing (as a youth), but I've understood I can be really good at it. It takes a lot mentally, and I tend to spend a whole lot of time writing," Olatunde said.
Graduation in December was a milestone for him. His parents — dad Sayo and mother Bukola — came to celebrate with him.
He said they always had high goals for him. It was quite a journey, but he showed that belief in him was not misplaced. He just wasn't destined to be an NBA star.
'They would always help and support me, and here my confidence has grown socially and academically. I'm more outspoken and not afraid. (MSU) has helped me grow holistically in every aspect of my life,' Olutunde said.
More: MSU schedules health fair
More: Wichita Falls restaurant inspections: How did they do Feb. 12-24?
This article originally appeared on Wichita Falls Times Record News: Nigerian student happy to find himself, excellent education at MSU Texas
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U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Long COVID Basics. July 2025. Available at U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Long COVID Signs and Symptoms. July 2025. Available at About ImmunityBio ImmunityBio is a vertically-integrated commercial stage biotechnology company developing next-generation therapies that bolster the natural immune system to defeat cancers and infectious diseases. The Company's range of immunotherapy and cell therapy platforms, alone and together, act to drive and sustain an immune response with the goal of creating durable and safe protection against disease. Designated an FDA Breakthrough Therapy, ANKTIVA is the first FDA-approved immunotherapy for non-muscle invasive bladder cancer CIS that activates NK cells, T cells, and memory T cells for a long-duration response. 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Forward Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, such as statements regarding potential implications to be drawn from preliminary clinical study results, clinical trial enrollment, timing, data and potential results to be drawn therefrom, anticipated components of ImmunityBio's CancerBioShield™ platform, the potential health conditions associated with Long COVID, potential patient populations and implications thereof, the development of therapeutics for cancer and infectious diseases, potential benefits to patients, potential treatment outcomes for patients, the described mechanism of action and results and contributions therefrom, potential future uses and applications of ANKTIVA alone or in combination with other therapeutic agents across multiple tumor types and indications and for potential applications beyond oncology, potential regulatory pathways and the regulatory review process and timing thereof, the application of the Company's science and platforms to treat cancers or develop cancer vaccines, immunotherapies and cell therapies that have the potential to change the paradigm in cancer care, and ImmunityBio's approved product and investigational agents as compared to existing treatment options, among others. Statements in this press release that are not statements of historical fact are considered forward-looking statements, which are usually identified by the use of words such as 'anticipates,' 'believes,' 'continues,' 'goal,' 'could,' 'estimates,' 'scheduled,' 'expects,' 'intends,' 'may,' 'plans,' 'potential,' 'predicts,' 'indicate,' 'projects,' 'is,' 'seeks,' 'should,' 'will,' 'strategy,' and variations of such words or similar expressions. Statements of past performance, efforts, or results of our preclinical and clinical trials, about which inferences or assumptions may be made, can also be forward-looking statements and are not indicative of future performance or results. Forward-looking statements are neither forecasts, promises nor guarantees, and are based on the current beliefs of ImmunityBio's management as well as assumptions made by and information currently available to ImmunityBio. Such information may be limited or incomplete, and ImmunityBio's statements should not be read to indicate that it has conducted a thorough inquiry into, or review of, all potentially available relevant information. Such statements reflect the current views of ImmunityBio with respect to future events and are subject to known and unknown risks, including business, regulatory, economic and competitive risks, uncertainties, contingencies and assumptions about ImmunityBio, including, without limitation, (i) risks and uncertainties regarding participation and enrollment and potential results from the clinical trial described herein, (ii) whether clinical trials will result in registrational pathways, (iii) whether clinical trial data will be accepted by regulatory agencies, (iv) the ability of ImmunityBio to fund its ongoing and anticipated clinical trials, (v) the ability of ImmunityBio to continue its planned preclinical and clinical development of its development programs through itself and/or its investigators, and the timing and success of any such continued preclinical and clinical development, patient enrollment and planned regulatory submissions, (vi) potential delays in product availability and regulatory approvals, (vii) ImmunityBio's ability to retain and hire key personnel, (viii) ImmunityBio's ability to obtain additional financing to fund its operations and complete the development and commercialization of its various product candidates, (ix) potential product shortages or manufacturing disruptions that may impact the availability and timing of product, (x) ImmunityBio's ability to successfully commercialize its approved product and product candidates, (xi) ImmunityBio's ability to scale its manufacturing and commercial supply operations for its approved product and future approved products, and (xii) ImmunityBio's ability to obtain, maintain, protect, and enforce patent protection and other proprietary rights for its product candidates and technologies. More details about these and other risks that may impact ImmunityBio's business are described under the heading 'Risk Factors' in the Company's Form 10-K filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on March 3, 2025, and the Company's Form 10-Q filed with the SEC on August 5, 2025, and in subsequent filings made by ImmunityBio with the SEC, which are available on the SEC's website at ImmunityBio cautions you not to place undue reliance on any forward looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. ImmunityBio does not undertake any duty to update any forward-looking statement or other information in this press release, except to the extent required by law.
