Merveille “Yvette” Muyizere, is set to graduate this spring as Northern Illinois University’s 2023 Student Lincoln Laureate, an honor reserved for the university’s top senior. (NIU photo)

In many ways, Merveille Muyizere has always been on a mission to make her family proud, to help others, to inspire.

“I don’t have to wait until the future to make a difference in people’s lives,” she tells herself. “I decided to start when I was young and strong.”

Merveille Muyizere, who goes by the name “Yvette,” is set to graduate this spring as NIU’s 2023 Student Lincoln Laureate, an honor reserved for the university’s top senior.

Born and raised in the Republic of Congo, Muyizere came to the United States at age 13 and graduated from Batavia High School in 2020. French and Lingala are her native languages, but she became fluent in English by immersing herself in school activities.

She’d stay after school and practice the language with her teachers.

Guided by faith and family from a young age, she set her sights on attending NIU, eventually earning a medical degree and becoming a missionary doctor in “whatever country or whatever area needs my help.”

“Wherever God leads me, that’s where I will go,” she said.

Along the way, her volunteer experiences—from mentoring elementary students to helping out at a homeless shelter to assisting clients at a food pantry—have kept pace with her achievements.

Merveille, who goes by the name “Yvette,” is set to graduate this spring as NIU’s 2023 Student Lincoln Laureate, an honor reserved for the university’s top senior. The Lincoln Academy Student Laureate Award is given to an outstanding senior from each of Illinois’ four-year universities for excellence in both curricular and extracurricular activities.

It’s an honor she never expected, one she had to research upon winning.

“I was super excited, especially after I found out what it was,” said Muyizere, a Biological Sciences major with a double minor in French and Francophone Studies and Chemistry.

One glance at a long list of all of her leadership, volunteer, extracurricular and academic achievements and it’s pretty clear why she won.

“I very highly, and with no reservations, recommend Merveille Muyizere for a Lincoln Laureate award,” wrote Professor Bethia King, Ph.D., in Muyizere’s nomination letter.

King, a professor in the Department of Biological Sciences and a University Honors advisor, taught Muyizere in an introductory biology course. Muyizere also conducted research on house flies in King’s laboratory for three semesters.

Her research work and presentation earned her a third-place award last year as part of NIU’s Conference for Undergraduate Research.

“Merveille easily meets the criteria for being a Lincoln Laureate,” King said.

Muyizere won a four-year scholarship through the Give Something Back Foundation to attend NIU and was recognized as an Illinois State scholar in 2020.

While at NIU, she has achieved a grade point average of nearly 4.0 and has been honored with numerous awards for her academic and research achievements.

She’s held an array leadership roles as an Honors Fellow, president of Alpha Omega Epsilon Sorority for women in STEM fields, secretary for Phi Sigma Biological Sciences Honor Society, a McKearn Fellow, an Undergraduate Research Ambassador, a Research Rookie and more at NIU and beyond.

Last March, she took part in an Honors Spring Break trip, where she helped clean the Land Between the Lakes, a national recreation and environmental education area located in western Kentucky and Tennessee.

“My proudest achievement is to be a mentor to other students,” said Muyizere, who has a long list of leadership, volunteer, extracurricular and academic achievements.

Muyizere also spent two weeks in the summer of 2022 studying abroad as a medical intern in Tanzania. She shadowed doctors and learned practical skills like suturing and how to give physical exams.

“That is the kind of environment I really want to work in, the kind of environment where they do the best to provide for themselves even with limited resources and limited technological advances, and the doctors provide the best they can for their patients,” she said.

As a research fellow last summer at the University of Michigan Medical School, she analyzed the clinical data of patients to produce a facilitated method of analyzing their patients’ symptoms for proper care.

Among her vast research experiences, she’s working with Biological Science Professor Linda Yasui, Ph.D., on cancer research. She feeds human brain cancer cells for growth and analyzation.

“My proudest achievement is to be a mentor to other students,” Muyizere said. “People have this idea of research being something just scientific, but it’s more of a learning process where you’re engaging yourself outside of the lab…

“I always tell myself you can start anywhere. The smallest things you can do now can grow into bigger things. Just take a step at a time.”

She’s taken on a lot, she said, but she has the support and guidance of her family. Her mother, Faina Kampire earned her GED in the United States and is attending community college to become a nurse. Her older brother, Gakiza-Christal Nkulikiyimana, earned a degree in biology from Andrews University in Michigan and aims to become a doctor as well.

The family lives by these words: “The best you can do is lean on each other, help whenever you can.”

“With every accomplishment, every achievement, it showed me I’m capable of anything I put my mind to,” Muyizere said. “Even if I fail sometimes, that’s OK, because I tried.”