As part of our celebration of Black History Month, take a look back to when Owen Odigie ’15 shared his story on how he gave credit to CSUSB for helping and preparing him for the future. “As I reflect on my journey, I cannot overemphasize just how instrumental my experience and support at CSUSB was to get me to this point,” he said. This story was originally published on Oct. 14, 2020. Also visit the CSUSB Black History Month website to participate in our events all month long.

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Cal State San Bernardino alumnus Owen Odigie ’15, who graduated with a bachelor’s degree in business administration in finance, is accomplishing one of his dreams: attending Columbia Business School at Columbia University for a master’s degree in business administration.

Odigie, who graduated from CSUSB’s Jack H. Brown College of Business and Public Administration with a 3.9 grade-point average, said Columbia Business School is very challenging, extremely busy and simultaneously very rewarding.

“The first semester has been super fast-paced, with intense academic rigor and a high volume of events/student involvement opportunities as well as employers coming to campus to recruit for internship opportunities,” said Odigie, who currently lives in Harlem in upper Manhattan. 

He is taking five core classes MBA students are required to take. He said the classes are a hybrid model of classes online and classes in person. Every student has a schedule that switches between virtual and in-person. 

As a CSUSB student, Odigie served as president of Sigma Chi, as the chief financial officer of Associated Students Inc., and as founder of the Office of Student Money Management. In an email to campus, he praised CSUSB for helping and preparing him for the future.

“As I reflect on my journey, I cannot overemphasize just how instrumental my experience & support at CSUSB was to get me to this point,” he wrote. “Coming out of high school, I was restless, not academically focused, and had minimal interest in getting a college degree. CSUSB opened up its doors to me and this vote of confidence marked a shift in my mentality to make the most of the opportunity. From my days as Freshman Housing President, Fraternity President, Senior Leadership in Student Government, and my memorable internship in Washington, D.C., I have only ever been supported and embraced by the CSUSB community.”

“I want to personally thank you all for embracing me, providing wisdom, guidance, and friendship throughout those years. I will always be grateful to CSUSB and the incredible people in it for believing in me and will continue to make the school proud. Please keep in touch!” Odigie wrote.

His ultimate goal after an MBA is to get into government and politics.

“I’m looking to work either at the Biden White House, the Treasury or the Small Business Administration before going into local politics,” he said.