March 10, 2021
Story and photo by Joe Vinduska
This is part three of a six-part series on the importance of academic integrity at Barton. The college will feature six student stories throughout the spring semester that help showcase the virtues of academic integrity. These virtues include trust, responsibility, honesty, courage, fairness, and respect.
Vanessa Oduah traveled thousands of miles from Nigeria to pursue her dream of becoming a professional basketball player. She joined the Cougars on scholarship in 2019 as a guard and is making the most of her time hooping it up in central Kansas before continuing on her journey.
“I would love to play professional basketball and I have chosen to do this because I have a very strong passion for the sport,” she said. “I’d like to eventually become an ambassador for young athletes as well. I would love to help them achieve their goals and inspire them.”
Barton has been a home-away-from-home for Oduah and has also helped her avoid getting into debt while she pursues education.
“I met lots of amazing friends and teachers that supported me and were a fun part of this journey,” she said. “I was also offered a great scholarship that has put me in an excellent financial position.”
Oduah said honesty is a highly revered trait that was stressed to her throughout her childhood as an important part of the African culture. She has also seen its importance grow as she matures as a student.
“Honesty has helped me get the best education at Barton I could,” she said. “I know I need to gain this knowledge even though it may not be as easy at times to not cheat, so it takes courage and discipline as well to accomplish anything with honesty and it’s not something everyone can handle. Being honest also helps Barton determine what the actual measurement of my academic progress (and other students) is.”
For more information, contact Director of Innovation & Compliance Lee Miller at (620) 786-7453 or millerle@bartonccc.edu.