Cornell (thank) U
Take a trip down memory lane with other Cornellians. Weekly conversations with Michelle and Stephanie will introduce you to past and present Cornellians to hear where they are now and why they are most thankful to Cornell. (Not affiliated with or sponsored by Cornell University)
Cornell (thank) U
There Are Only 24 Hours in a Day. Ayotunde Ejiko Uses All of Them.
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Ayotunde Ejiko is only 20 years old, but somehow he has already fit an extraordinary amount into those 20 years.
He grew up in Nigeria, moved to the United States at 11, became one of the top high school sprinters in Washington, D.C., and learned early that when something isn’t working, you don’t just complain about it—you figure out how to make it better.
Today, Ayotunde is a Division I sprinter at Cornell studying Information Science and Sociology, while also fitting in internships, campus organizations, community work, friends and everything else that comes with being a college student.
We talk about what it was like moving to America as a kid with an accent, why he started speaking up for other students during COVID, and how those experiences shaped the way he thinks about leadership and creating change.
Ayotunde also takes us inside the intense world of sprinting, where you can train for months for a race that lasts about 10 seconds. He tells us how he ended up at Cornell, why he initially couldn’t believe an Ivy League school wanted him, and why one of the most important things he has learned at Cornell is that sometimes you simply can’t do everything at once.
We also talk about his interest in the intersection of people, technology and data, what he’s learning from his internships, and how he thinks about a future that is still very much taking shape.
Despite everything he’s already accomplished, when we ask what he ultimately wants, his answer is refreshingly simple: to be happy, keep learning and leave the world better than he found it.
And of course, we had to find out exactly what a Cornell sprinter is—and isn’t—willing to sprint for.
Ayotunde is smart, funny, thoughtful, curious and incredibly driven. We have a feeling he’s just getting started.
Special thanks to Tony Chen for introducing us to Ayotunde, thank you!
Instagram: ayoitstunde
Cornell Track and Field profile: https://cornellbigred.com/sports/mens-track-and-field/roster/ayotunde-ejiko/85711
Not sponsored by or affiliated with Cornell University