Valedictorian is shattering barriers with determination
Onovu Otitigbe-dangerfield worked to open doors for other young women in STEM
When Onovu Otitigbe-dangerfield first checked out the robotics club at Albany High School, she admits it wasn’t the most comfortable space for a student who looks like her.
“It’s mostly white men in that club,” Otitigbe-dangerfield said. Initially, she says, she was intimidated, but her “passion for the field and being able to create” drew her back.
Now president of the robotics team, Otitigbe-dangerfield says the experience taught her a lesson in assertiveness and leadership.
“I realized I can’t allow other people to dictate my future . ... I wanted to go into this field and I had to come to terms with the fact that it’s not going to be 100 percent easy as a Black woman,” she said.
Her smarts and determination have paid off. With a near-perfect GPA, the Albany High School senior is poised to be valedictorian of the class of 2021. Otitigbe-dangerfield will be the first African American student to hold the honor in the school’s 152-year history.
Otitigbe-dangerfield grew up in a third-generation Nigerian household that prized education. Her mother, Jessica Otitigbe, nurtured her daughter’s interest in engineering from a young age, enrolling her in every science and robotics camp in the Capital Region.
“As early as 3 years old, she was there. She was building things; she was creating things,” Otitigbe said.
As a toddler, she won her first engineering competition, building a bridge out of toothpicks and gumdrops, her mother recalled.
From the time she could talk, Onovu was asking questions and the questions never stopped.
“She’s continued this streak of always wanting to excel while maintaining this value of humility and respect and compassion,” Otitigbe said.
It helped to be surrounded by role models, including her grandmother,
“Onovu is an inspiration not only to her peers but adults as well. Her determination, work ethic and commitment to excellence model what it takes to be focused on your destination while still enjoying the journey. I am very proud of her.”
who has operated a day care center in Albany for 40 years, and an uncle and aunt who are trained as engineers.
Ellen Green, Otitigbe-Dangerfield’s middleschool guidance counselor, said it was clear in seventh grade that the poised, sociable little girl was going places.
“She came to us from ASH (Albany School of Humanities) and she was just a little duck in the water,”
Green said.
Otitigbe-dangerfield was valedictorian of her eighth-grade class at Stephen and Harriet Myers Middle School.
“She definitely had some systemic blockades, but her mom was right there in the wings,” Green said. “Her mom has a very wonderful way of allowing her to soar while being there to catch her when she falls.”
Now she plays soccer, is president of the Key Club, and editor-in-chief of the high school’s online newspaper.
Between the choir, jazz band — she plays violin and piano — and her volunteer work in school, church, and at a local nursing home, she still finds time to binge-watch reality TV shows and episodes of “Law and Order” with her grandmother.
Technology teacher Allen Landman taught Otitigbe-dangerfield all four years of high school and worked with her on the school’s robotics team. He said she was a pleasure to teach, always willing to lend a hand and help other students.
“She has this drive about her; she knows what she wants to do and she loves what she is doing, so there’s nothing that will get in her way,” Landman said.
While most students choose between the mechanical or programming side of engineering, Onovu was determined to understand both components of robotics, taking extra classes in computer science, Landman said.
Otitigbe-Dangerfield was instrumental in establishing two new student clubs — Girls Who Code and Girls In STEM — creating space at the high school for other girls interested in sciences.
“Coming into those leadership positions was something that boosted my confidence a lot, just changing the atmosphere of the club, so nobody felt that way, that they didn’t belong there,” she said.
Joshua Binfield, her longtime soccer coach, sees Otitigbe-dangerfield as an inspiration.
“Onovu’s charisma, intelligence, and work ethic make me proud to work at Albany High School, and she motivates me to empower other girls just like her,” Binfield said. “She can and will achieve anything she puts her mind to, just like she has in her time at Albany High, breaking down barriers as a Black female leader.”
Superintendent Kaweeda G. Adams first met Otitigbe-dangerfield when the student was at the top of her freshman class at Albany High.
“Onovu is an inspiration not only to her peers but adults as well,” Adams said. “Her determination, work ethic and commitment to excellence model what it takes to be focused on your destination while still enjoying the journey. I am very proud of her.”
Otitigbe-dangerfield hopes to specialize in pediatric robotic-assisted neurosurgery and become a “surgineer,” an emerging field that combines interdisciplinary aspects of robotic design and surgery. She’s already been accepted to Harvard and Yale and is waiting to hear back from other schools before making a decision.
Superintendent Kaweeda G. Adams