ILLUMINATION | INTRODUCTION

Hello! I’m C.J.

A self-described Semi-Creative

A little bit about Me

My name is C.J. Obikile, a new writer for Illumination. I have degrees in Petroleum and Chemical Engineering and currently work as a Petroleum Engineer in an oil company. Being a woman in a male-dominated field has been eye-opening. It has led to a lot of character building, especially navigating gender bias (I am currently working on a piece about this). As my career has continued to progress, I have become more aware of the underrepresentation of women in STEM industries (STEM: Science Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics), I’m exploring avenues to improve this and normalize the female presence in STEM-related fields. Asides being a Petroleum Engineer, I am a mental health enthusiast and an SGBV advocate, and I volunteer with some organizations in that space.

I was born and raised in Nigeria, and currently reside in Nigeria as well. However, I have lived in the United States and the United Kingdom, mostly while pursuing my Engineering degrees. I am the eldest of 3. I have two younger sisters. Both my sisters work as software engineers. Lol! We are a science-inclined family. Fun fact though, we all sing, very well actually and one of my sisters has starred as a guest in a tv series. So, I guess the arts are in us as well. I lost my dad early in life and mostly grew up in a single-parent household. My upbringing has influenced the person I am today, and my guiding values: hard work, resilience, empathy, and love.

SGBV Advocate

SGBV stands for Sexual and Gender-based Violence. I am a childhood SGBV survivor. It took a long time to transition from seeing myself as a victim to seeing myself as a survivor. My ordeal was so ingrained that I didn’t understand the impact it had on my life until a couple of years ago. It took years to work through it, but it was worth it. By overcoming my experience, I found an inner strength that has allowed me to lend my voice as an advocate against sexual violence and to do so passionately. Nobody deserves to be sexually harassed or abused. I work with an Anti-SGBV organization that supports rape victims and helps them find their voice, strength, and themselves again.

Mental Health Enthusiast

When we have a physical wound or ailment, we treat it. We dress it and redress it, which is painful, but we do our part to make sure the injury doesn’t worsen, that symptoms don’t persist and that eventually, we are well. It is no different for an emotional or psychological or mental wound or illness. I have dealt with mental health-related issues, and it is so appalling that mental health and wellness issues are too often overlooked, with insufficient resources available to tackle them. I am grateful that I could access help when I needed it; I know many people are not as fortunate. That is why I use my platforms to create awareness about mental health-related issues and eliminate the associated stigma. I also create wellness-themed content on other platforms to reach more people outside my network.

Writing Journey and Medium

I have kept a journal for years and have always found comfort and release in sorting through turmoil and difficult situations by writing. Friends and family have commented on how I am “good with words,” eloquent and colorful with my expressions. I never put much stock into their comments and chucked them up to surface compliments, probably because I’ve always struggled with putting myself out there. I guess I was apprehensive that I wouldn’t “measure up” to public scrutiny since, I’ve never thought of myself as particularly arts-inclined, especially being an Engineer. I always thought I had a science brain, and the singing was just something I inherited; that’s why I describe myself now as a “semi-creative” because I realize that maybe, I can do both.

Recently, I was in a traumatic relationship that made me lose my self-confidence and voice. Here’s a poem I wrote about that experience:

I started writing to re-instate my identity, regain a sense of purpose, and learn to trust my voice again. I considered writing under a pseudonym but decided against it. I want to be my most authentic self in my writing as I depict myself in the world.

Medium has inspired most of my pieces, and I had never written anything for public consumption before July 2020, nor did I think I would. Initially, I wrote self-improvement pieces like:

Then, I started exploring poetry, and it has become my favorite style of writing. It allows me to be both creative and expressive, and I enjoy the intimacy and introspection that it elicits. I have written some free verse poems like:

Rhyming poems like:

And Haikus. I like Haikus because they stretch your creativity by challenging you to express complex thoughts and emotions in few words. Here’s my first haiku:

And a recent one I wrote, inspired by a friend who was mourning the loss of a loved one:

Goals

My writing style is emotional and personal with a dash of drama, and I hope to inspire others with my work. I intend to continue honing my skills as a writer by experimenting with more poetry styles and writing more thought, self-improvement, and mental health-related pieces.

Outside writing, I will continue to lend my voice to causes that matter most to me and be the change I hope to see in the world through acts of love and service.

I am delighted to be a part of the Illumination community. Thank you for having me. - C.J.