Chinenyeze Iwu Vlogs from the Heart, and Leads Community-Building with Soul
Chinenyeze Iwu, a.k.a CJ, is a student at the American University of Nigeria. He was born and raised in Minnesota. When he decided to attend a school in West Africa, CJ was seeking guidance and information so he could feel prepared for his transition into the foreign culture. He particularly needed the point of view of an American guide who would be able to represent where he was coming from. After spending many hours combing through internet searches for this figure, he realized no one had taken on this public role. CJ was leaving all his friends behind and dolphin-diving into the great beyond with his fingers crossed.
That’s why when he got to AUN for the first time, Chinenyeze decided to create AUNwithCJ for people in the same boat as he was. The vlog is a heart-felt medium for helping the community connect. AUNwithCJ is structured like a TV show. That means there are weekly episodes, trailers, cinematics, closed captions, and more! Three anonymous producers each play a role in creating, editing, and managing the show’s content. CJ’s friendly personality really shines through into the hearts of viewers. His authentic energy makes for entertaining episodes, especially the Cinematics, which consist of spur-of-the-moment inspirations. CJ’s long-standing fear of bees spurred his first cinematic AUNwithCJ episode: Wasps. Rumor has it there’s another Wasps Cinematic in the pipeline!
At 20 years of age now, Chinenyeze has the confidence it takes to become a leader in a totally new environment, but he did not always have the same level of self-esteem growing up. It is important for CJ to be a pillar of representation because representation is exactly what inspired him to see himself in a new light and build up confidence! As a preteen, low self-esteem due to his skin tone more-or-less stuck with Chinenyeze until one day he was introduced to one of DaBaby’s songs. CJ’s thought process at the time rationalized this praiseworthy artist’s success into “If the world seems to love DaBaby and his dark skin so much, and I resemble DaBaby, then maybe having dark skin isn’t a bad thing at all.” His deep love of music has helped CJ through many things in his life in one way or another.
One of CJ’s biggest challenges has been overcoming the communication barrier between himself and some of his peers. His accent would seem too thick sometimes and rendered the meaning of his words undecipherable. All of CJ’s content is fully captioned in English! This makes the content more accommodating for those who may not tune in with their sound or those who can’t understand what he is saying. Chinenyeze courageously represents the American foreigners who have to integrate into AUN, making it a little easier for them by letting them learn from his rookie mistakes. Someone who follows Chinenyeze is getting genuinely original content that they won’t find anywhere else.
Chinenyeze Iwu also started a new project called “We asked AUN students” (WAAUNS) which gives AUN students the platform to share their experiences and voices in a similar vein to how CJ shares his own. His leadership is characterized by building community and being a down-to-earth role model. CJ puts his heart and soul into everything he does, whether it is working out in the gym, learning about cryptocurrency, creating content, or connecting with his peers. His preferred way to connect with people online is through his Instagram. His worldly mindset is very inclusive and understanding. A natural leader with reverence for his roots, Chinenyeze persists to improve his vlog consistently for his audience by listening to people deeply.
