Allen Ikem

Right from the start, I have never viewed my professional career as a destination. My goal is to achieve some level of proficiency or stature in my chosen field - Operations management, in all the jobs I will take on over time. I intend to experience work from a variety of perspectives in both my field and adjacent fields to management. I do hope to climb the corporate ladder, to the apex of my profession but before I don that or while am doing that I hope to become an expert in my domain, by following the path of being the leader in my area (operations/supply chain planner) in the company I work for. However, I have an inquisitive mind which drives my aim to have very different roles over time, broaden my experiences along the way, and meet different people, learn from their different perspectives, and experience my career from a variety of vantage points, by absorbing these along the way to help me grow and mature. Someday, when all these experiences come to roost, I will be able to start a business of my own, to employ people and help them grow as well.

In the year 2010 I graduated from high school in my home country - Nigeria. All the excitement was soon sobered by the belligerent noise of all my classmates’ excitement of getting admission into Universities. Where was my own admission? I often asked myself. The absence of an admission letter was from a lack of trying, not born of laziness but by not having my own fate rest in my own hands by the age of 17, but rather in the hands of my father. A year went by, and I applied to St Cloud State University, I got my admission letter and was even awarded a scholarship for the grades I received in my final high school examination. For that very brief moment I was proud, I had finally gotten an admission letter like the rest of them, albeit mine came a year later than theirs. I was brought down from the clouds as soon as I realized that the visa process of attending the University in the U.S was so difficult almost impossible sometimes- at least that’s how it felt, and so I was afraid and yet optimistic. But yet, I was sure I was going to get it, I got an admission, I persevered I never lost faith in God and In myself, why would I fail now? Sadly, I did. This was a huge blow to my confidence and desire to go to college. I was in utter disarray, I felt like I had failed myself, I had failed my family.
Eventually, I picked myself up thanks to the words of my parents; whom contrary to my expectation were very understanding and sympathetic to my situation at the time. I deferred my admission to school, and 6 months later, I reapplied and got my visa. The road to where I am right now hasn’t been smooth, it has been rough but here I am at the cusp of graduating with a bachelors in science from the Herberger Business School. Many people ask me, what do you intend to do afterwards, I say to them I do not know but yet I do know. I have always found that it is better to act than to speak your intentions out loud and not act on them. After my undergraduate, I intend on continuing this journey that has left me lagging behind so many of my former mates. I want to continue because the journey has exposed me, it has strengthened me and given me courage in the face of adversity.
If I could go back and redo everything from the start, I wouldn’t because I am here, and that is enough to be thankful for. What I choose to do now is entirely in my control and not at the hands of my father as it once was. I want to go into graduate school, and gain a masters in supply chain management. It’s a field I find very exciting, not just because of that fact that it is of significant repute, but also the fact that the classes I took on the subject made me realize I want to be a part of this function in society that adds value to the customer, upstream and downstream of the manufacturing, delivering and service chain. An industry that would help me grow and appreciate the value in all we have, by recognizing where and how these products are assembled. How they are sourced, who is affected and how we can make the world a better place by integrating this processes across all members of society and the supply chain by keeping a global perspective and remaining sensitive to the environment and the people we impact along the way

My hobbies are largely centered on three things, sports (playing and watching, improving my vocabulary by watching shows with excellent dialogue, reading books about history, psychological thrillers and mysteries, and also searching out new words on google (synonyms). I enjoy writing, still developing the type of patience it would take to write a book but for now I do poetry , and I do love listening to speeches for example TED talks. Besides these things I enjoy the outdoors in the summer, I can walk great distances, I have no car and I dislike waiting on the bus, walking gives me time to reflect as well as listen to music which I so very much enjoy. I enjoy playing video games, but only with people, I do not enjoy playing alone, I find it very boring and I get lost in thoughts.