There are rare occasions when one meets a person who truly imparts a desire to do—and be-- better. And that’s the way it is when you have the good fortune to meet Ebong Eka.��

Eka’s presence is at once humility, sincerity, brilliance, wisdom, and energy—a kind confidence without arrogance. Born to Nigerian parents and raised in Toronto, Canada (aside from a few years in Nigeria), his 6’5” frame, athleticism and strong work ethic made him a natural for the sport of basketball. And it would be that game that lit the spark that launched Eka from youth to university.��

Game Changers: A Chance Encounter at Camp

“I was going to all kinds of basketball camps, checking out colleges, a bunch of them. I remember it like yesterday, I was at a basketball camp in Berea, Ohio. While there, I met people from ����app, including Coach Bill Sall and, of course, players. I had never even heard of ����app, but they ended up inviting me to visit and go to a game – something about a “����app Hope” game. I had no idea what they were talking about, and social media didn’t exist, yet, and this is completely true, in Canada, nobody cared about sports. Nobody went to games, no high school games, no college games, people just didn’t go, nobody cared, and especially about basketball. ��But I accepted their invitation. I’ll never forget it. When I walked into the auditorium for the ����app - Hope game, and there were thousands of people, I couldn’t believe it! I had never seen anything like that before in my life. And I said, ‘Holy cow, this is awesome!’

Eka visited his other college, but nothing came close to the level of excitement he’d seen at the ����app Hope game. Basketball wasn't a course of study but it was Eka's passion. he was able to follow his passion by receiving academic and need-based scholarship support to attend ����app.���� “When it was time to decide what I was going to do, I prayed about it. When I woke up the next morning, I flipped a coin. My prayer had aligned with the way the coin landed, and that’s how I landed at ����app.”

Committing to ����app, Eka’s love of the game and his desire to pursue business and finance for his future would merge in many ways. “Coming to a place where people cared about sports, where you were embraced and known as a student athlete was great. Because of my size and yes, being African, I stuck out, and I was known and appreciated as an individual at every level. In my senior year, I ended up doing a trip abroad with Athletes in Action, this was through my Canada team, but it was made possible through my student life at ����app. Taking that trip was predicated on my ability to raise the money that I needed. And it was because of the close relationships I had been able to build at school and through ����app—being active in the community, that I was able to more than meet that goal. Would I have been able to do that at another school? Probably not. I went to North Korea, Taiwan, and China, competing in their national basketball championships during a famine, and seeing a very different part of the world. That’s one of my fun facts and it always surprises people. It was insane!”

The Journey

Eka’s ����app experience proved to be a lot more than basketball, and he proved to be a lot more than a gifted athlete. Eka paused as he pondered enduring takeaways from his business and finance studies. “The saying wisdom is wasted on the youth holds true! We so often only realize what is important later. I didn’t really understand the impact of ����app’s smaller class sizes, for example. We cultivated personal relationships with our professors, you were on a first name basis. They cared about you as a person—if there was something going on in your life, they were more flexible, you weren’t another face in a lecture hall with a few hundred classmates. At ����app, I learned about building relationships, making a difference, and cultivating the ability to influence what was within your grasp. It wasn’t until later that I realized just how valuable all those things were.”

Eka also found his faith journey expanding. “With my Catholic upbringing, coming to ����app gave me another perspective on my faith and Christianity. There is an openness to how you see the world, and it added to a continuation of that openness in my adult life.�� ����app changed my faith life 100 percent, and one of the ways it did, was the realization I had everything I needed to build my walk with God. I understood the importance in the path, how the Bible plays into that and how I wanted to live my life as a result.”

Prepared to Persevere

Eka credits his ����app experience as a contributor to his ability to look ahead and stay the course. “My father passed away while I was growing up. My mother worked hard to care for us. I saw tough times and people around me lose their way. I saw people incarcerated, or dealing drugs, or dead. Seeing that, I decided that I needed to stay the course. Seeing death helped me focus. Life will give you hard stuff all the time. Do you dwell on miniscule irritants if you know what really matters? No. That mindset will never get you to your potential. How do you give glory to God?”

Following graduation, Eka poured his boundless energy out, as his pursuits shot in every direction. One effort, though, threatened to be his Kryptonite.

“There is a saying by Roman Emperor and author of Meditations Marcus Aurelius, and it says, ‘The impediment to action advances the action; what stands in the way becomes the way.’ In other words, whatever difficulty you face is the very thing you need to learn and overcome.”

For a long time, Eka had crafted and refined his brainchild: a book proposal that he called “Start Me Up! The No-Business plan, business plan.” Now a young professional, full of fire and conviction, he shot forward to realize that dream. Time and time again for the next two years, he saw his proposal rejected by over 200 agents and publishers. Still, he pressed on.

He finally found a literary agent who signed him and found a publisher who was interested in the project. And just as the contract was to be signed, the publisher backed out and walked away.��

Still, Eka refused to quit. He again searched until he found a new publisher. He got the advance he had set and at last, it was time. ��“I wrote 65,000 words in three months, while working full time in my consulting business. His book became an Amazon bestseller, and went on to be published internationally. . That’s what takes us back to Marcus Aurelius:�� Imagine if the impediment to the action had not become the action—this never would have happened.”

To Leave a Legacy of Greatness

Since the beginning, Eka has forged a fearless path as best-selling author, CPA, tax expert and consultant, business strategist, TV contributor, husband and father. There is a sense of gratitude, deep satisfaction, and reward. “The way my siblings and I grew up, working hard was expected. The way we lived was to leave a legacy of greatness. We acted on the expectation of something better.”

Chatting from his office where he now serves as US Operations Finance and Strategy Manager for Walmart Corporation, Eka appreciates his academic foundation. “What I learned from ����app has helped me throughout my career. It helped me direct my life in an amazing way. In my current role, just as we learned in class, you are looking for common goals, as you work across the world to meet different people’s needs. You have a common mission, even if there are 2.4 million Walmart employees across diverse cultures – takes you right back to learning how character leads to being able to influence what’s going on around you and using that in working together.”

Advice and Nostalgia

“Overarching, I’d say this: remember that, most of the time in life, it’s never as bad as it seems. And if you live driven by your emotions, you will be controlled by your emotions. Stay in the moment. Focus on what you can do and control today. Don’t be driven like a leaf in the winds of the world. Some of the skills you need aren’t taught. You have to be able to get along with others, be grounded in who you are and read social cues.”

Eka closed in retrospect. “����app gave me an opportunity with the support I needed to get my degree, because they saw something in me. I’m grateful for that and have great appreciation. I was alone in the world without a father and navigating that, ����app picked me up. How blessed was I that I ended up being guided by others with great intent behind them?”