![\"Peter\"](\"https:\/\/www.eou.edu\/mountaineer-magazine\/files\/2018\/08\/IMG_1237-e1555455411920.jpeg\" "\\"Peter\\"")
\nAfter six years away from his home in Nigeria, EOU senior Peter Eke boarded a flight in July that took him \u2014 and hundreds of pairs of shoes \u2014 back to the community where he grew up.<\/p>\n
\nAfter six years away from his home in Nigeria, EOU senior Peter Eke boarded a flight in July that took him \u2014 and hundreds of pairs of shoes \u2014 back to the community where he grew up.<\/p>\n
Eke left home at 16, pulled to the U.S. by a basketball scholarship.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was scared to leave my family, but it was a smooth transition,\u201d he said. \u201cAmerica is a basketball country, Nigeria is all about soccer.\u201d<\/p>\n
He finished high school and received his associate\u2019s degree in Atlanta, where he planned to stay until his scholarship fell through in August 2017 and he was without an educational home.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was devastated,\u201d he said. \u201cI didn\u2019t know what to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
But he kept contacting college coaches across the country. Carlito Labarda Jr., had joined the Mountaineers as head coach of the men\u2019s basketball team two months earlier. He saw video of Eke in action and offered him a spot with the Mountaineers.<\/p>\n
\u201cI learned the importance of keeping faith even when it seems like the doors are closed,\u201d Eke said. \u201cI\u2019m really grateful for that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Less than a month later, Eke was enrolled on campus in La Grande. He\u2019ll graduate this spring with a degree in exercise science. Labarda integrated him into the line-up as a forward, and by January he paced the team with 6.6 rebounds and 13 blocks.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s an anomaly,\u201d Labarda said. \u201cHe\u2019s the most unselfish guy I\u2019ve met in a long time. He\u2019s a prime example of students trying to give back to their home country.\u201d<\/p>\n
During his pilgrimage home to Nigeria this summer, Eke ran a youth basketball camp at his old high school, providing food, lodging, activities and T-shirts for about 250 kids.<\/p>\n
Last spring, he raised $2,600 and collected almost 200 pairs of shoes. The camp featured his former teammates as coaches, and will serve as a jumping-off point for his capstone project.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wanted to do this camp for young basketball players in Nigeria because I was there where they are,\u201d he said. \u201cThere were times I didn\u2019t have shoes, when I played in flip-flops or barefoot.\u201d<\/p>\n
Eke identifies himself as a dreamer. Graduating high school and college were dreams once, and he became the first person in his family to attain them.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy whole family is looking up to me to bring change \u2014 to them, to the community and to Nigeria,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m excited to see the smiles on those kids\u2019 faces when they see that dreams can come true anywhere, anytime.\u201d<\/p>\n
Eke got his first job working on campus, took part in the International Dinner and Show, and coordinates the Student Council. He hopes to be a physician\u2019s assistant, but his big dreams have already made a difference.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy goal is to have a foundation that empowers dreamers,\u201d he said. \u201cEOU opened my mind to how I can do that.\u201d<\/p>\n
No matter what path his career takes, Eke said he will continue to put others first.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy passion is people, which makes it hard to choose a major,\u201d he said. \u201cI want to reach as many people as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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