Alumni and Friends Making an Impact

The moment Cedric Mwizerwa arrived at UD, he understood what community meant.

Mwizerwa first met fellow students and got to know them during the summer STEM camp on campus. “They wanted to know me, where I’m from, how I do things, what are my methods of studying and different things about my life.” And that was just day one. “People were stopping by saying hi to me, and it was just fantastic. And it continued happening daily. I kept on meeting new people.”

He grew up in Rwanda in East Africa, and his family moved to Houston, Texas, in 2018 before relocating to Centerville, Ohio, one year later where he attended high school. He chose to attend UD because it was close to home and had a good mechanical engineering program.

One of his goals for his first year at UD was to make connections with as many people as he could. When asked about making connections on campus during his first year, he said, “Oh, that is so easy. UD is just an environment of community.”

Throughout his first year on campus, he met even more Flyers by joining the French Club. He also participated in Brother to Brother — a program within the Multi-Ethnic Education and Engagement Center — and took advantage of social activities on campus, like movie nights.

The inclusiveness at UD is something that stood out to Mwizerwa. “I didn’t feel like a stranger even with my accent,” he said. “I felt like I belonged there.” And he wants to show how much he cares by extending that same sense of community and inclusion to others. “I meet international students, and I’m like, ‘Hey, I can help you!’”

During his first year as a mechanical engineering student, Mwizerwa also grew as he learned to help himself by discovering his learning style, finding where to seek help and practicing good time management. He also learned more about what it means to be an engineer. “I discovered what my options are in the field and I was surprised by how many things I could do.”

One of the things Mwizerwa is interested in pursuing is becoming an aerospace engineer and working with things that fly. He enjoyed his solid modeling class, where he learned how to design 3D images on the computer and look at the images at different angles. He looks forward to using the skills he learned in this class in his career.

Mwizerwa appreciates the Berry Family Scholarship he received to attend UD and study engineering. “It means the world to me that I was selected to receive the scholarship.”

This past spring, Mwizerwa and other recipients of the Berry Family Scholarship attended a luncheon where they met John Jr. and Charles “Chuck” Berry, two of the donors behind establishing the scholarship. Mwizerwa was grateful for the opportunity to meet them in person. “My culture is to see them and thank them.”

John Berry Jr. was also glad to meet Mwizerwa, whose personality stood out. “Not only is he a smart guy, but he was very outgoing. Very affable, very engaging.”

Mwizerwa enjoyed meeting with the Berrys and hearing about their own time in college. He also was impressed and thankful that they started the Berry Family Scholarship to help students.

“It’s just such a great thing,” said Mwizerwa. “Their entire family cares about other people’s futures, and I would like them to know that this means the world to me.”