By Deborah Uzoma
A recall to the beginning of April 2023, the internet space buzzed with the announcement of Miss Chinalurumogu Eze as the winner of the 2023 Roger Hatchuel Student Academy. The news trend drew the attention of the Labour Party Presidential candidate, Mr.Peter Obi who congratulated Miss Eze on his Twitter handle amongst other Nigerians.
The Roger Hatchuel Student Academy serves as a unique learning experience designed to help students discover the different avenues of the industry, grow their networks, and obtain a global, future-oriented perspective. It is a curated learning program for interested students pursuing a creative path in advertising and launching their careers. This year, about 37 students representing 29 different countries will be benefiting from the academy.
In this interview, Deborah Uzoma engages Miss Eze about her prospects.
Please, can you tell us a bit about your background and how you got interested in Cannes Lions Roger Hatchuel Academy Prize?
My name is Chinalurumogu Eze. I’m from Anambra State but I live in Enugu. I’m a Mass Communication student at the University of Nigeria Nsukka. The Roger Hatchuel Academy price thing happened because my department selected me alongside two others to represent them for the Future Creative Leaders Academy. In the academy, the first task was to make a creative video of which the best video would win a spot in the Roger Hatchuel Student Academy. So, here I am.
How did you feel when you found out you had won the Cannes Lions Roger Hatchuel Academy Prize 2023? Is there any other award you have won in the past? Kindly, mention if there are any and what the award represents.
I was overjoyed. I was very excited about it. It is not every day that people are presented with this type of opportunity.
It was presented to me, I did my best and God made a name for himself.
Last year, I won the overall campus journalist of the year for Youth Digest campus journalist in Abuja. For the past five years, Youth Digest has been supporting campus journalists with an award. It also made me the first person in the southeast university to have won the award. The same last year, I came third for the inside Nollywood film Journalism fellowship. A fellowship that teaches about film journalism. It is a field that I am very passionate about. I took the course for three months and in the end, I came third.
Can you walk us through the project or idea that won you the prize? What was the inspiration behind it? What challenges did you face in bringing your project to fruition, and how did you overcome them?
As I mentioned earlier, the project was to make a creative video 2 minutes long on who you are, why you are creative, and why you deserve a spot at the Roger Hatchuel Student Academy. I like to associate myself with excellence. If it’s not excellent, then, I’m not doing it. I could easily place my phone and just make that video. But I searched for the very best in videography and video editing. Found a nice location for the shoot and applied my storytelling and voice-over skills to produce excellent work.
The only challenge I experienced was some kind of writer’s block because a day before the shoot, my script wasn’t ready. My sister helped paint a picture in my mind and interestingly, I started scribbling, and boom! I was ready to tell my story in the video.
What impact do you hope the Cannes Lions Roger Hatchuel Academy will have on you and your dreams for the world?
One of the lines I used in my video was “The Roger Hatchuel Student Academy is a platform that can help fuel this fire burning on my inside because I am creativity” I’m already treading the path of creativity. RHSA will sharpen and expose me to more career opportunities, and networking platforms that I can use to conquer the world.
What advice would you give to aspiring creative and talented youths who are just starting?
Focus on self-development, submit to training, pursue opportunities as they come, show people what you can do, and be intentional about growth so they can see how good you are.
