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Nursing graduate aspires to give back to the L.A. community
Ewudo among 7 President’s Scholars in Cal State L.A.’s Class of ’10
Los Angeles, CA – One of only seven President’s Scholars to graduate this year, Oseloka Valentine Ewudo will receive his bachelor’s degree in nursing at Cal State L.A.’s Commencement ceremony Friday, June 11. The East Los Angeles resident will also be the only male student to graduate as a President’s Scholar in the Class of 2010.
In 2006, Ewudo entered the University as a President’s Scholar, a distinction given to a select group of roughly eight incoming freshmen each year. Based on his exemplary academic performance at Centennial High School, he received a $20,000 four-year scholarship while attending Cal State L.A.
With a big heart, Ewudo is committed to caring for others and to supporting local agencies that serve those afflicted with physical ailments. Despite his school load, he finds time to volunteer for the AIDS Walk Los Angeles, the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, and the March of Dimes WalkAmerica. He also helps to feed the homeless on Skid Row in Los Angeles, and is serving as a mentor for foster youths at Bethune Middle School in South Central Los Angeles as part of the Children Uniting Nations program.
To fulfill class units, he is currently working on a clinical rotation at Huntington Memorial Hospital in Pasadena. On campus, he is also an active member of the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc., President’s Scholars Club and the Black Student Association. To unwind after a busy day, he enjoys reading, weight training, exercising and watching sports.
According to Ewudo, his favorite class at Cal State L.A. was Philosophy 160, which he will never forget. He said, “It opened my mind and changed how I think. It developed my critical-thinking skills.”
He continued, “The best part of Cal State L.A. is the people I met, interacted with and learned from. They welcomed me to campus and made it comfortable for me to explore and grow.”
Carrying out his conviction to give back to the community, Ewudo plans to work at either the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center or L.A. County-USC Medical Center as a registered nurse in emergency care. He is also considering a post-bachelor’s certificate in pre-medicine in order to apply for medical school in the near future.
Ewudo previously noted: “Scholarships were one of the reasons why I came to Cal State L.A.—it would have been hard for me to come up with the means to pay for my education any other way. Now that I am here, I have been exposed to so many things that I don’t think I would have had elsewhere… I am well on my way to being a doctor and working in health care.”
The following Cal State L.A. students will also graduate with the distinction as President’s Scholars on Friday and Saturday, June 11-12:
Feon Wui-Kei Cheng of Hacienda Heights will receive her bachelor’s degree in nutritional science. After graduation, she will take the registered dietitian exam and pursue a master’s degree in public health in the fall. She attended Wilson High School.
Vivian Chu of Temple City will receive her bachelor’s degree in business administration-accounting. After graduation, she will be studying for her CPA exam, so she can become an Internal Revenue Service agent or work as an associate at a CPA firm. She attended Temple City High School.
Ellie Fullerton of Arcadia will receive her dual bachelor’s degrees in history and English. She is planning to pursue a M.A. in social sciences at the University of Chicago, specializing in medieval history. She hopes to enter a Ph.D. program and become a professor of history in the future. She attended Rio Hondo Prep School.
Judith Mae Rosario of Los Angeles-90039 will receive her bachelor’s degree in nursing. She is planning to take the NCLEX exam and obtain her RN license, in order to work at the Children’s Hospital in Los Angeles. She attended Marshall High School.
Emily Middleton of Glendora will receive her bachelor’s degree in anthropology. She plans to search for a job in the field of archaeology to gain some professional experience before applying to a master’s program in a related field. She attended Glendora High School.
Amy Shimamoto of Monterey Park will receive her bachelor’s degree in psychology. With hopes to practice therapy in California, she plans to pursue both master’s and doctoral degrees in marriage and family therapy with an emphasis on Christian counseling. She attended Schurr High School.
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Working for California since 1947: The 175-acre hilltop campus of California State University, Los Angeles is at the heart of a major metropolitan city, just five miles from Los Angeles’ civic and cultural center. More than 20,000 students and 210,000 alumni—with a wide variety of interests, ages and backgrounds—reflect the city’s dynamic mix of populations. Six Colleges offer nationally recognized science, arts, business, criminal justice, engineering, nursing, education and humanities programs, among others, led by an award-winning faculty. Cal State L.A. is home to the critically-acclaimed Luckman Jazz Orchestra and to a unique university center for gifted students as young as 12. Programs that provide exciting enrichment opportunities to students and community include an NEH- and Rockefeller-supported humanities center; a NASA-funded center for space research; and a growing forensic science program, housed in the Hertzberg-Davis Forensic Science Center. www.calstatela.edu