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Outlook: I changed my name to change my life

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Hakeem Oluseyi smiles at the camera

10/08/2021 GMT

I changed my name to change my life

BBC World Service - Outlook, I changed my name to change my life

Hakeem Oluseyi beat drug addiction and dropped his old name to become a star scientist

James Plummer Jr was the son of a drug dealer with a gift for astrophysics. He was also hooked on crack. He changed himself and his name – to Hakeem Oluseyi – to reach his goals.

James Plummer Jr grew up navigating poverty and instability; his dad was a drug dealer and he moved around a lot, changing schools, houses and states multiple times. One day, when he was nine years old, he was reading an encyclopedia and got to 'E'. He discovered Albert Einstein's theory of relativity and a lifelong passion began – one that was to lead him out of poverty. James really understood physics. He started to win at state science fairs and after college was admitted to the elite physics course at Stanford University. But James had a secret: he was hooked on crack cocaine. He also knew he had to change and conquer his addiction if he was to fulfil his academic ambitions. It took a confession to a special person in his life, someone he admired and respected, to turn his life around. And with his new identity came a carefully chosen new name: Hakeem Muata Oluseyi.

A Quantum Life is by Hakeem Oluseyi and Joshua Horwitz.

Picture: Hakeem Oluseyi
Credit: Freddie Claire

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