CLEVELAND — A Case Western Reserve University student holds a prestigious honor. She's one of only 10 college students in the nation to be named an American Heart Association EmPOWERED Scholar.
“I felt really grateful to be able to join the network of Empowered to Serve to, I guess, combat health disparities within different communities,” said Elizabeth Onyekwere.
Elizabeth Onyekwere is enjoying Case Western Reserve University. She’s striking out on her own for the first time. And this Texan is adapting to Cleveland weather. She planned to study biology in college, until a high school internship with the CDC shifted her focus to the nutrition side of public health.
“What you're eating impacts like how strong your veins are, how strong your heart is,” said Onyekwere. “You're have you have control over your health rather than, I guess, relying on someone else to fix your symptoms.”
Developing good diet and exercise habits early can have a big impact on heart health in later years.
“Cardiovascular disease is possibly preventable, especially through nutrition and just exercise and just things that we have been taught as kids. We just need to follow through for the rest of our lives,” Onyekwere said.
This EmPOWERED Scholar sees that what she's doing now can make a big impact in her own community after she attends grad school.
“And become a physician, but then also be able to work with nutrition outreach and just like health literacy education as well,” said Onyekwere.