February 22.
2012_________________
Portland Observer B lack H ¡Story Month
__________________ Page 13
Mississippi
Alberta
North Portland
Vancouver
East County
Beaverton
Educationis the Prize
Athlete soars on court
and in the classroom
by
J ohn W ykoff
P ortland State U niversity
forw ard S tephanie E gw autu
has had her eye on the prize
since she was in the fourth
Stephanie Egwuatu
g ra d e — th e sam e y e a r she
brought home a C in English on
a progress report.
“My m om really ripped me
a p a rt,” she re c a lle d . “ Y ou
know , I ju st w anted to have
fun, but she told me that edu­
cation was the m ost im portant
thing in my life. A fter that, I
never got anything but A s.”
The 5-foot-9 college senior
said, “T h a t’s w hen I got my
stu ff together.”
H ittin g the bo o k s w as a
m ajor factor in her slow start
on the basketball court this
year, w hen both she and her
coaches say she was ju st be­
ginning to play up to her poten­
tial, earning her first career
start against N orthern A rizona
on Feb. 5.
Egw autu has w anted to be a
physician for as long as she
can rem em ber, and by fall term
she was carrying 14 hours of
pre-m ed courses, including the
dem anding organic chem istry.
"I m issed p ractice every
T u esd a y and T h u rsd ay b e ­
cause o f labs, and my team ­
m ates said the only tim e they
saw m e w as in the lo c k er
room ,” she said.
And, in the short run, that’s
too bad because both she and
Viking Associate Head Coach Portland State University forward Stephanie Egwuatu excels on the basketball court where she has
continued
on page 22
earned a starting position. She is also accomplished in the classroom, where she has a 3 .2 grade
point average as a pre-med major.
Non-profit puts Used Goods to Good Use
Donations fill need at
Community Warehouse
Families and individuals in need come to the Community Warehouse, 3 9 6 9 N.E. Martin Luther King
Jr. Blvd., for essential household goods and furniture.
Each week, social services
agencies bring over 40 families
to the Community W arehouse in
northeast Portland to get the basic
household items and furniture
they need to turn their empty
housing into comfy homes.
But for the first time in many
months, the warehouse does not
have enough items to meet its
needs.
The holidays always bring in
an abundance of donations from
the community, but as the sea­
son of giving comes to a clbse
and spring cleaning hasn’t quite
kicked off, the warehouse often
finds itself empty and in pressing
need for donations.
continued
on page 22