'I feel equipped to handle whatever uncertainties lie ahead'

Osita Achufusi: Environment & Sustainability

5/15/2025

Osita Achufusi

Environment & Sustainability
Chicago, Ill.

What is your main extracurricular activity and why is it important to you?

Growing up in Chicago brought my passion for environmental health equity to life, and I am proud to have been a member of Dr. John Zinda’s environmental hazard research lab for the past few years. Part of the lab’s goal is to analyze a wide range of environmental hazards, from air pollution to toxic waste disposal, and discern why exposure patterns across these hazards, locations and research designs are often uneven. By conducting a large meta-analysis using more than 400 existing environmental justice research studies and comparing their results, our findings work to inform how and why one community may be affected more than another in each of these unique scenarios, and hopefully illuminate a path forward in which exposure to environmental hazards is minimized for all populations.

What are the most valuable skills you gained from your Arts & Sciences education?

I imagine this is a common takeaway from many of my peers as well, but the interdisciplinary nature of everything we learn in Arts & Sciences is truly one of a kind. The world has a lot of issues at the moment, particularly as my graduating class enters the workforce, and I find that developing the ability to engage with a variety of new disciplines, people, challenges, ideas and perspectives is arguably the most powerful tool for making progress as a collective society. Thanks to A&S, I now enter the world armed with a strong knowledge base in several different areas; a willingness to make mistakes, learn from them and then make some more; and a heightened understanding of my own strengths, weaknesses and dreams. Perhaps most importantly, I feel equipped to handle whatever uncertainties lie ahead and adapt to them on the fly.

What have you accomplished as a Cornell student that you are most proud of?

Through my research lab on campus, I was part of a team that presented some of our preliminary findings at the Rural Sociological Society Conference in Madison, Wisc. last summer. The conference was an amazing opportunity to learn more about the kinds of research other universities and leaders are conducting every day with the goal of making the world a more sustainable place, and by the end of the weekend I felt satisfied knowing that our team put our best foot forward and is doing meaningful work that other researchers are taking a genuine interest in. It was a needed reminder that research findings really do have the potential to positively impact people across the globe, and I look forward to our research officially being published for more individuals to read and learn from.

Who or what influenced your Cornell education the most?

As a Posse Scholar, I have to take this opportunity to shout out the Posse Foundation and our on-campus community. Dr. Renee Alexander’s guidance through every stage of my college experience has been invaluable, from helping me adjust to Ithaca as a wide-eyed freshman to playing a major role in my graduate school application process. Too many of my friends in Posse to count have pushed me to be the best version of myself both as a person and as a student. Everyone needs support at some point during their time at Cornell and the Posse community made sure it was always there for me, even when I didn’t know I needed it. For their authenticity, support and friendship that made my college experience that much more enjoyable, I’ll always be thankful.

If you were to offer advice to an incoming first year student, what would you say?

Go with the flow and don’t forget what makes you you! Cornell can throw a lot of curveballs at you throughout your time here, and maintaining a level of adaptability, level-headedness and self-knowledge is what allowed me to make the most of my academic and personal journey. This mindset pushed me to say yes to things I otherwise wouldn’t have, encouraged me to study abroad (I had the trip of a lifetime!), and helped me become part of a community that I can look back upon proudly. Cornell provides opportunities for experiences that you truly may never get again, and the best thing to do is take advantage of them as frequently as possible. And when a moment feels too big, don’t hesitate to ask for help (or at least watch the sunset on the slope). It’ll all work out – trust in your abilities!

Every year, our faculty nominate graduating Arts & Sciences students to be featured as part of our Extraordinary Journeys series.Read more about the Class of 2025.