SPEAKIN’ OUT NEWS
(Photo courtesy of Stillman College / Quotes via AL.com)
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — “Let us be the generation that doesn’t wait for change — we create it,” said Amarachi Okafor, valedictorian of Stillman College’s Class of 2025, as she addressed her fellow graduates on May 10, according to AL.com. Her powerful message of resilience and determination set the tone for a historic commencement ceremony.
Amarachi and her sister, salutatorian Chinazam Okafor, are first-generation college students from Lagos, Nigeria, who made a lasting mark at Stillman through scholarship, service, and innovation. Their journey culminated in dual honors and a shared mission to lead with impact.
During their time at Stillman, the sisters co-founded student organizations, launched a study-partnering app, and developed a water safety solution for lead detection — all while adjusting to life in a new country.
“Being at another school wouldn’t have provided the same benefits — especially with our relationship as sisters,” Chinazam told AL.com.
Amarachi, 23, majored in journalism and minored in business administration. In her commencement speech, she reflected on the difficulty of adapting to life in the U.S. “I was filled with self-doubt and a loneliness I didn’t know how to shake,” she said, later sharing with AL.com that she struggled with depression and missed the strong sense of community she had in Nigeria.
Chinazam, 24, studied business administration and founded Stillman’s first international student club in 2023, bringing together students from the Bahamas, Kenya, and the Dominican Republic. “That helped us form a bond,” she said.
The sisters also worked alongside classmate Precious Onah as HBCU Smart Cities Fellows, partnering with local leaders in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, to devise a lead-detection tool for water pipes.
Chinazam co-founded the school’s first cybersecurity club, while Amarachi completed 10 internships — including one at Apple in New York City. “I’m a city girl, so it was really exciting to work in a company with a huge tech base,” she said.
Amarachi is now interning at the Mercedes-Benz plant in Vance, while Chinazam will participate in HBCU Venture Cities, a startup accelerator. Together with Onah, the sisters launched MyFocalPal, an app that matches students with study partners based on interests. The app won the 2024 River Pitch competition in Tuscaloosa.
In the fall, both sisters will attend Carnegie Mellon University for graduate school — a coincidence they hadn’t planned. While they were accepted to multiple schools including Columbia University, Carnegie Mellon offered the best financial aid.
“She’s really ambitious, and she has goals she hopes to achieve,” Chinazam said of her sister. Amarachi called Chinazam “fierce,” saying, “She knows what she wants when she walks into a room.”
As Amarachi closed her valedictory speech, she left classmates with a challenge and a charge:
“We’re stepping into a world that’s fast-changing, unpredictable, and in many ways unfair. But we’re also stepping into it with something powerful: our voice, our education, and our values,” she said, according to AL.com.