By Jumoke Esuola
Driven by the passion to be the voice of the weak, Blessing Agatha Ejeh had always fantasized about becoming a lawyer. But her dream hit a roadblock when she decided to undertake her undergraduate studies at the Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto (UDUS). Her initial step dettered as her O-level didn’t feature the necessary subjects for the study in UDUS.
Upon realization that she could no longer pursue her long-time interest, she opted for Accounting but eventually got admitted to study ‘Sociology’. She was not excited with the course but her hope and enthusiasm triggered her to settle and it would reflect in her academic performance in the first year.
However, everything changed in her second year, when she encountered Professor Jimoh Amzat. He had come to her class to teach SOC 201 (Introduction to Social Thought). His words surged her to realize the ‘Sociology’ and the need to be more outstanding in whatever one does. She held onto these and buckle down more on her academics performance
Her struggles paid off in the end as she graduated with a first-class honors, at
a Cumulative Grade Points Average (CGPA) of 4.61. She was also awarded as the overall best student in the Faculty of Social Sciences for the 2015/2016 academic session.
A Rejection is not the End
Blessing, now 29, scored another academic milestone and emerged winner of a fully-funded scholarship with Erasmus Mundus to acquire a Master’s degree.
However, the feat did not come cheap,
Between 2018 and 2023, when she finally landed a scholarship, she applied for over 20 different scholarships, including Chevening, Mastercard and various others.
“Each time I open my inbox and I see rejection emails, I get so sad and break down in tears. Sometimes, I ask myself, ‘Should I just give up at this point?’ There were times when I got rejection letters back-to-back, like 2 to 3 times a week,” she said.
Blessing’s relentlessness was the only thing that kept her going despite several rejections because she wanted to further her studies abroad, and the only avenue to fulfill this dream was to keep applying without ceasing.
She got many rejections which had stuttered her but she did not fling, she almost reached a breaking point when she applied to a university in France.
She eventually got an email from the scholarship saying that they would not proceed with her application because she had no proof of her proficiency in French, though they had marked it an optional requirement. To add salt to her injury, she got an email two days later conveying another rejection from an Erasmus Mundus Scholarship she applied for because of passport validity issues.
“That period was tough for me but it made me pay more attention to every detail. That same week, I enrolled for free online courses and French lessons”.
And the “Yes” on Friday, May 5, 2023. She received an email stating her being awarded a fully funded scholarship for a Master’s programme in Women and Gender Studies at a University in Central Europe. She leapt in joy and Gratitude.
Blessing expressed her gratitude to Almighty God for redirecting her steps. She also lauded her lecturers, especially Professor Jimoh, for their encouragement and support.
“I can’t recollect the number of times I reached out to him to help me write recommendation letters, and he was always coming through for me and reaching out to ask for the progress of my applications. I will always be grateful,” she recounted.
She, however, advised and assured other students that their dreams are valid and achievable regardless of the challenges.
“That one YES will come regardless of how long it takes. Continue to improve yourself while waiting for it. Review each application [and find out] where you can do better because, when it comes to scholarship applications, what they are looking out for is a competitive entry, not necessarily a strong one [academic-wise]. Therefore, always look for a way to improve yourself, become better than yesterday and never give up,” Blessing concluded.