Immigrant of the Day: Lucy Ogbu-Nwobodo (Nigeria), Doctor

Credit: Charles Casey/UC Davis.  Lucy Ogbu-Nwobodo shares a triumphant moment with her mother May 18 as Dr. Frank Sousa, assistant dean at UC Davis medical school, bestows the hood designating her as a doctor of medicine.

Here is a wonderful story of our Immigrant of the Day.  As an adolescent, Lucy Ogbu-Nwobodo, came to the United States from Nigeria, in hopes of pursuing an education and becoming a doctor. She endured years of maltreatment and exploitation at the hands of her host family. On the cusp of escaping to college, she discovered one night that they had never processed her immigration papers. With no legal status, her college dream evaporated.

Now, 16 years after graduating high school at the top of her class, the newly-minted M.D. is heading to a residency at Harvard and Massachusetts General Hospital, with plans to practice psychiatry for the poor and underserved.  Lucy recently graduated from the School of Medicine at UC Davis.

KJ