The Iwuchukwu Way

By: Vivian Iwuchukwu

Aka aja aja na ebute onu nmanu nmanu.

This Igbo saying loosely translates in English to: ‘The hard work you put in when no one is watching will result in good things tomorrow.’ Good things will happen when you’re not afraid to get your hands dirty, to do the hard work behind the scenes without getting praise.

My parents were both raised in Nigeria, and Igbo phrases like this one have always been a part of my life. This saying specifically means a lot to me. I’ve seen the hard work that my parents have done all around the globe, the hard work my brother has put in to overcome his adversities on the court and now I’m ready to take my place in the Iwuchukwu line. But it won’t happen without a lot of hard work.

When I was growing up sharing this saying isn’t something I would have wanted to do. My Nigerian heritage isn’t something that I was always proud of. There were times when I was embarrassed by it because it made me different. But where I come from has made me who I am. And now, I couldn’t be more proud of that.

After moving to the United States, my dad joined the Army. It certainly brought challenges for our family growing up, but it also allowed us to live in a lot of different places, experience different cultures and made us a really tight knit family. My dad’s orders took us to South Korea, Germany and Spain all before I was in sixth grade. Whenever I finally felt settled into my new life, we would move. It made my siblings and I really close friends no matter where we were.

These life experiences made all of us more mature. We learned that we didn’t need to depend on too many other people outside of ourselves and our immediate family. My parents sacrificed so much, they put in so much hard work, they didn’t lose sight of what was important, so that we could all stay together. They led by example and embodied what they taught: Aka aja aja na ebute onu nmanu nmanu.

Sports were always a way that my siblings and I could find ways to fit in at new schools and in new communities. Sports have always come fairly naturally to me, but I didn’t start playing basketball until eighth grade when we were back in the States. My brother Vince basically forced me to come to some workouts with him and to give it a try. 

Vince, who played two seasons at USC, has always been my sports hero. Even before he suffered a heart attack during a practice in college, as far back as I can remember he was always having so much fun playing basketball. 

But, when I finally picked up a basketball and gave it a try, I thought to myself, ‘How does he like this?’ He played at a prep high school, Montverde Academy in Florida, so I had to watch him from afar. When I’d watch him play on TV and as he started to get highly recruited, I finally caught the bug. Part of it was just a sibling rivalry, but I ended up joining him at Montverde Academy in Florida. We had a brother-sister duo going and it was so cool. I learned so much more from him and saw all the work he was putting in, getting shots up in the gym, extra workouts, being a student of the game and it reminded me of the saying my parents taught us: Aka aja aja na ebute onu nmanu nmanu.

During my time at Montverde, I really started to live by that Igbo saying in everything I did as a basketball player. Every year there was someone else on the team who was better than me, but that’s who I got to train with and go against in practice every day. That’s really how I was able to accelerate my development as a player and get to where I am today.

I’m not afraid to not be the best person on the court or on my team. I know I need to work hard to get better each and every day to be the best person and player that I can be. I watched my parents and Vince do this every day so it’s just a part of who I am. No matter what country we lived in, no matter the distance or the unexpected challenges, it’s just the Iwuchukwu way. 

This attitude has continued to serve me well and will allow me to develop through the hard work that I know I have to put in. Everything is earned, not given, and I’m doing everything I can to earn my chance.

Our team this year is stacked. Especially at my position. We have a deep, experienced and talented frontcourt. Between Kiki, Rayah and Clarice, I knew I wasn’t just going to come in and get to play a ton of minutes right away. And that’s okay. What I wanted was to be able to go against these three in practice everyday. Because that’s how I’ll get better. My time will come, and I’m making the most of the opportunity to go against our best each and every day.

Kiki and Clarice are also my first Nigerian teammates. It’s so affirming to see how similar their parents are to mine and the shared experiences that we have from our childhoods. They are people I can look up to and learn from on and off the court. It’s helped me realize the impact I can make through my platform for girls who used to be like me: a little shy about who they are. We want people to know where we’re from and we want to celebrate our culture and make it fun. On and off the court, I want to be an inspiration for girls everywhere; Nigeria, South Korea, Germany, Spain, across the U.S. and everywhere in between to embrace who they are.

It’s not always going to be easy. But it’s going to be worth it. And I’m not done yet. 

Aka aja aja na ebute onu nmanu nmanu.