Some artists have careers that are not related to their craft, but one Illinois Valley Community College alumnus has found a way to incorporate art into his practice.
"He said, 'Mommy, I want to be a doctor, but my passion is in art,” said Julie Ochuba Neill, the mother of Arinze Ochuba. "He said he uses art to visualize what he's doing. That art has given him a way of seeing the inner part of being a doctor. That, 'If I don't understand something, I draw it, and when I draw it, I'm begin to look at it, and I'm begin to see exactly what I am doing.'"
Ochuba started drawing when he was a child. He described one of his early drawings, which he named "The Feet Man."
"The foot was perpendicular to the leg," he said. "Nobody can do that in real life."
Drawing became a hobby for him. He’s always been fascinated with the human body.
His father died in 2012. In 2014, his family moved from Nigeria to the United States. He was 17.
Ochuba’s second language is English, but he said there was still a communication barrier when he came here. Art helped him communicate.
"My accent wasn't as polished," he explained, "and sometimes people would say that they didn't understand me as much. So, I used to see art as a way to just bridge that gap."
His chemistry and anatomy classes helped him realize he wanted to pursue a degree in neuroscience, the study of the nervous system. Ochuba refers to the system as the body's motherboard.
Matthew Johll is a chemistry professor at IVCC. Ochuba calls Johll his mentor and said he poured into him.
"And this was a big deal, “Ochuba added, “because that was the first time after moving to the U.S. someone looked at me and said, ‘you have potential, you can do this, I believe in you.’ Every young person loves to hear that at some point in time."
Johll said it was easy to support Ochuba. He trusted him to lead the school's SciFest, which has about 75 to 80 different experiences. Johll gave Ochuba a to-do list, which most students couldn't get through.
"Ari came in, and he'd be like, 'I'm all done,' said Johll. "And I went, ‘you think we're done? Do you really think we're done, Ari? Oh my god, Ari!’ And I'd give him another list, and he'd work on that."
Johll is the author of the Investigating Chemistry series and has worked with artists to illustrate his books.
"When you're trying to talk to an artist who has no background in science at all,” he explained, "has probably never taken a science class, and you're asking them to create molecular views of atomic processes, and it can be a real challenge."
Ochuba can speak both languages. He has an artist's eye but can see things scientifically. He illustrated a 2022 orthopedic surgery article in the Journal of Orthopaedic Case Reports.
"Where we had looked into using staples to assist with reconstruction of an acetabulum, that's a part of a hip joint, after trauma," he said. "And on the picture, I then illustrated the staple going into the location."
Ochuba applied for a summer internship at Johns Hopkins University while at IVCC, but he didn't get the role.
After he graduated in IVCC in 2017, he was accepted to attend the school, but the family couldn't afford the tuition.
"I'm like, there's no way in this world I'm going to be able to pay $60,000 for you to go to Johns Hopkins," Neill said. "So, one day I was walking down to his college where he went to school, and I saw a very bold picture of him on the wall. ‘Our future doctor, Johns Hopkins is calling.’ I'm like, ‘Oh my God, that's my son!’"
Neill said one of his old teachers asked if Ochuba was at Johns Hopkins.
"I said, hell no! The school fees are too much,” she added. "The teacher looked at me, said, borrow, borrow! Go and get a student loan."
And that's what happened. During his time there, he volunteered with an organization called Art with a Heart. He also volunteered with one of the elder houses at Hopkins.
"I would go and draw with older patients or older residents there,” he explained, "and it was really nice because it felt like even though they would have issues maybe with coordination and moving their arms, while we drew, they got better with each attempt, and it made me happy because they could see how therapeutic art was."
Ochuba graduated from Johns Hopkins University and is now a resident doctor at HCA Florida West Hospital. His specialty is physiatry, also known as physical medicine and rehabilitation. He's in his third year. He’ll be done in 2028 and after that, he must do a fellowship.
Ochuba doesn't get to draw like he did before his residency. Right now, he does digital art and works on art pieces of family members. He said he will continue to use his art as therapy for himself as well as others.
