Smiles Every Step of the Way for Football's Onyimba

Oct. 10 –

Walking across the Carnegie Mellon campus, it’s not hard to spot Stanley Onyimba. A senior linebacker on the football team, Onyimba’s size makes him easy to pick out of a crowd, but it’s his effervescent personality that makes him impossible to miss.

An optimist by any definition, Onyimba has gotten everything he can out of his Carnegie Mellon experience – and he’s enjoyed each moment.

“Maybe it’s just that my parents are happy people and they’ve instilled that in me, but I was always taught the power of positive thinking,” Onyimba said. “Even if a situation isn’t good, I’m going to have to find something positive to get me through it. I guess I try and see the fun in things.”

Life has been a lot of fun for Onyimba recently, as the economics major needed just two days into his senior year to find a job following graduation. After the second day of classes this fall, Onyimba accepted a job in securities at Goldman Sachs in New York City.

“New York is a great place and there are so many things to do at any time of the day or night,” Onyimba said. “I really enjoy culture and diversity and I like understanding the different backgrounds people come from.”

Onyimba’s background is certainly different than most of his classmates at Carnegie Mellon. Born in Nigeria, Onyimba moved to Maryland when he was 2-years-old. He is trilingual and can speak Igbo and Spanish fluently.

“We moved here because of education. It was always of the utmost importance,” Onyimba said.

Onyimba’s parents set a strong model for their children, as Stanley’s mother received a master’s degree in biotechnology from Johns Hopkins University and his father pursued a career in pharmacology. Onyimba’s older sister Frances is a second-year medical student at Columbia University while younger sister Jennifer is a Meyerhoff Scholar at the University of Maryland-Baltimore Country. Younger brother Royce is a senior in high school and has also excelled in his studies.

Third on the football team in tackles this season with 32, Onyimba is a big reason the Tartans are out to a 4-1 start. Offensive players who have been stopped by the inside linebacker would be surprised to learn he didn’t play football or other organized sports until his freshman year of high school.

“I knew absolutely nothing about football. I didn’t even know how to put on my pads,” Onyimba said. “I was 5-foot-6, 120 pounds and wiggled through the line to make plays in the backfield.”

Now 6-foot-1, 225 pounds, Onyimba is an intimidating presence on the field and has become a standout player for the storied football program.

“Stanley arrived here at 190 pounds and through his hard work and effort, he’s built himself into a very fine football player,” said head coach Rich Lackner.

Since he arrived at Carnegie Mellon, Onyimba has done everything he can to make a difference – both on and off the field. Along with his academic and athletic responsibilities, Onyimba has held down a job at the university’s Modern Language Resource Center and is the public relations chair for the Student-Athlete Advisory Council’s Tartan Olympics this year.

“It’s better to be busy. When I have a bunch of time, I feel like I can push things off. Having a lot to do forces me to organize myself and be efficient with my time,” Onyimba said.

Now in the midst of his final season in pads and last year as an undergraduate student, Onyimba doesn’t want to waste a single moment of his remaining time at Carnegie Mellon.

“I want to feel like I made an impact on this campus and want to take advantage of every opportunity that I have,” Onyimba said. “I realize this is one of the best times in anyone’s life.”