Deara “DeDe” Okonkwo ’08 pulled on a pair of sweats and pirouetted, rumbaed and tapped into summer.

Inside her South L.A. dance studio, the image of her petite frame in a cotton candy-pink sweat suit bounced off the wall-to-wall mirror panels in the room. It would seem that even multiple DeDes couldn’t accomplish what this one has in her 18 years.

At 16, Okonkwo opened DeDe Dance Studio near her family’s home. The nonprofit studio draws disadvantaged children and teens from the community who learn everything from tap and ballet to flamenco and African dance.

Some of her students come from families who are homeless.

Fundraisers allow her to provide some parents of her dancers gas money to bring their children to the studio. At times, Okonkwo picks up her students and brings them home.

“I think each child should be given an opportunity to have a hobby they love,” Okonkwo says. “So I’ve decided to devote my time to giving back in this way.”

Okonkwo, a first-generation U.S.-born child from Nigerian parents, was the youngest among some 4,800 students receiving their bachelor’s degrees in USC’s graduating class of 2008, earning her diploma in English from USC College at 17.

Her mother, Kendra, says her wunderkind daughter has an old soul. That may be true. Now 18, Okonkwo is already thinking about a legacy. And it’s all about leaving the world a better place than she found it.

“When I’m gone from this Earth someday I want my legacy to be about serving underprivileged youths,” she says. Never hollow words for this lifelong hoofer.

This summer, there were no relaxing afternoons at the beach for the new graduate. After organizing her students for summer dance camp, she taught dance each day while attending classes toward a master’s degree at the USC Rossier School of Education. She also worked at a dress shop to cover the cost of costumes and other expenses for her dancers.

So what’s the rush? Okonkwo says she has much to accomplish before someday becoming the U.S. secretary of education. She takes her mentor role to her 50 or so dance students seriously.

Okonkwo has become a role model even for some of her students’ mothers.

Evelia Aguirre’s 5-year-old daughter Maya Montelongo takes dance lessons from Okonkwo. But it’s Aguirre who is so inspired by Okonkwo that she wants to return to college. She’s elated to regularly bring Maya to USC, where Okonkwo’s dance students often perform during festivals and events. Before performances, Okonkwo gives her dancers a tour of the campus and talks to them about college.

As a child, Okonkwo wanted to be a Trojan. “Every Sunday after church we would pass by USC and I would say, ‘I’m going to that school,’ ” Okonkwo recalls. “My friends would tell me: ‘You can’t go to USC. It’s too expensive and too prestigious.’ ”

But they didn’t know Okonkwo, an intellectual prodigy who began taking courses at a community college at 10. By 14, she graduated from high school with an A.A. degree then went to Spain to study the language. She enrolled in nearby USC at 15.

“Having positive thoughts and telling yourself ‘I’m going to do this and I’m going to accomplish that’ really does work,” she says. “And it helps having parents who believe in you.”

– Pamela J. Johnson