Samuel and Emmanuel Acho
Matthew 5:13-16:
You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? … You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hid… Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
Our parents, Dr. Sonny Acho and Mrs. Christie Acho were born and raised in Nigeria, West Africa in a village called Isuikwato. They spent their childhood, went to college and lived their early life in Nigeria. Everyone in Nigeria wants to come to America to live the American dream. Our dad made his way from the village of Nigeria to America and brought our mom along with him. They developed a home and a life in the United States, went to school and became pretty successful. Our mom worked as a janitor at a high school, and our dad went to school and worked two jobs to try to make ends meet when they first moved to America. That’s how it all got started. After the birth of our sister, our parents moved a few times and ended up in Dallas, Texas. Our mom and dad eventually established careers in the medical field and started a Home Health agency. Our dad also went to Dallas Theological Seminary and has been a pastor for over fifteen years. Currently our dad is the Pastor of Living Hope Bible Fellowship Church. This allows him to be able to touch people’s lives in the United States.
We know we could be less fortunate but, thanks to God we have been blessed to live the lives we live and we give back with open hands. For the last fifteen to twenty years our family has gone overseas to Nigeria in the summer to do positive work. For two weeks during the summer we donate, help and give our time. We take to the village 40 doctors and nurses along with doctors and nurses we meet in Nigeria to perform different medical procedures. We supply the people in need with glasses, medicine and any other medical assistance they might need with money raised in the United States.
Our parents raised us as children loving and serving the Lord. We have two older sisters Chi Chi, 26, Stephanie 23 and then us Samuel 21 and Emmanuel 19. We don’t think they could have raised us any better. We went to church every Sunday and our parents lived the life outside of the church. They not only went to the services every Sunday, but they would also come home, live the life and be examples for us. We don’t remember one time we ever heard our parents argue with each other or fight. Every time our dad would come home from work our mom would go to the garage door, meet him and take his bag upstairs. As we got older she would take his bag and give us his bag and we would take his bag upstairs. Our dad would come home from work, change his clothes and our mom would have dinner made for him. We would all spend time together whether we were eating a dinner at the table, doing homework or attending or doing after school activities.
We were involved in activities whether it was sports they put us in or other school activities. Growing up we played basketball for the same team in a SVAA league. Our parents emphasized having us both on the same team so that 1) we could grow closer together and 2) so that they would be able to attend both of our games and support us in any way they could. This would also keep us active. Being in sports helped us grow and helped us to stay focused and stay centered. Sport was always a way to keep us focused and kept us from getting into trouble. There was definitely a strong family household. Any time we had a chance we would take a family vacation. We would never have separate family member vacations it was always the entire family. Our parents modeled the lives of a husband and wife and parents to us as kids. This happened every single day and it taught us how the husband wife relationship should be. They told us how to live. Between showing us how to do it and telling us how to do it, they gave us a great example of how it should be done. They let their words and actions back up each other. It all started with faith, trust in God and the instilment with him being our total happiness.
Our parents helped us place our priorities in the correct order with academics first. We both attended St Mark’s School of Texas which has a 100 percent graduation rate. Most of the kids from St Mark’s continue their education by attending Ivy League schools. We were sent to St Mark’s to get a great education and see what God had in store for us. Our dad sent us there because he knew that no one can take away your mind, and education is the most important thing. Our parents never planned for us to play football or any sports in college. As we got older God revealed the gifts in us athletically. More doors started to open up to different colleges and different schools.
Thankfully we have been privileged enough to come to the University of Texas and be given this role that we have now, and we are trying to live it out to the best of our abilities. Growing up if we did not make the grades that put a smile on our dad’s face he would take us out of sports – just like that! He really taught us the correct disciplines. He did not let us get out of line and lose focus of the task at hand. As the saying goes “They can take away your body, but no one can take away your mind.” He made sure that we knew that. He made sure we put education first before anything else. Academia was always number one. At the same token no one can ever take away your faith and what you believe in and your beliefs. Being raised the way that we did our parents really instilled solid beliefs in us and in the Lord. Our parents did not force anything on us, the word says (Proverbs – Chapter 22:6) Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it. We feel we are not departing from that because our parents did such a great job of raising us. We understand right from wrong. Growing up they taught us the way we should go and they would discipline us when we did wrong and rewarded us when we did something good.
We take pride in our family name. One of the most important things that older and wiser people always told us was, “You should never embarrass your last name; your family’s name.” Now in every decision we make, we take into account our religion first which is what we believe in – the difference between right and wrong. We also consider, “How does this make us look and how does this represent our family as a whole?” Each decision and every action we take does not just represent us the individual but it also represents everyone who bears our same last name. This really helps in decision making because we then have to truly decipher between right and wrong we can’t just make a decision on a whim. Taking that pride in the last name “Acho” has helped us as we have come here not to disappoint or let down any of our loved ones.
It is one thing to make good grades and become an academic all American for ourselves, but knowing the joy and happiness our parents receive, gives us more motivation in everything we do. Halfway through the football season we both were players of the game and we both had really good games. It was one of the biggest games of the season for us. People always tell us how proud our parents are of us; that evening we did not believe how unbelievably proud our parents were of us. Our dad told us that evening how proud he was in what we were doing, it makes him so happy and that is what keeps him going. Our dad emphasized that pride for us is what brings the extra enjoyment and excitement in our parent’s lives. Our parents pride comes from the pride in the Acho name and the pride in this family that we have.
Sometimes when we are here in college and we may not make the smartest decision, our parents make sure we are back in line. Our parents will say, “I know you’re in college but…you’re still a part of this family,” “I know you’re in college but…you’re still an Acho boy,” “I know you’re in college but…you’re still representing your faith in the Lord.” They didn’t let college be an excuse for us, they definitely maintained that relationship. The pride that we bring to our parents is definitely what keeps us going and brings us that extra joy, that extra excitement and gives us that extra “want to.” Our parents give us that extra “want to,” to succeed on the football field and off the football field.
We try to not only to talk the talk, but also walk the walk in our own lives. As our parents did for us we now try to do for our teammates and our peers. If we somehow are able to touch a coach or faculty member here or there then maybe we can do the same as our parents did for us. It is not for our personal gains and it is not what we can do personally that matters, it’s how we can touch those around us. It’s about – how many lives can we truly touch? If we see a friend or a teammate that’s down we think about a word of encouragement we can try and give them, or just a smile we can put on their face on a rainy day. It’s more than living our life for ourselves, but living our life for the greater good. It’s about living a certain way to represent Christ to the best of our abilities.
Our parents set a prime example for how life should be lived. We already have a blueprint laid out for us. Our parents were immigrants from Nigeria – one of the poorest countries in the world. They were able to come to America, get their degrees and doctorates and live the lives they live. There is no excuse for us to fall short in a sense because we have had a head start in the game by being born here. Having a blueprint mapped out for you paves a pathway for you. If we can work like they did, and we assume they worked tirelessly, we hope to be able to accomplish and achieve the same goals growing up and eventually be able to give back as they have. As we have been blessed, we hope to be a blessing to others who are less fortunate. Matthew 5:13-16 says “You are the salt of the earth… You are the light of the world. We try to represent Christ and be the light of the world the salt of the earth. Salt is meant to preserve. By being the salt of the earth we are trying to preserve what is on earth and be the light that shines in darkness. That is what we are trying to do on this campus and at this university and thanks to our parents who have put us in a position to do that we attempt to do that every day.