Growing up we all had that big dream that we hope to achieve, feeling like nothing can go wrong. We all had ambitions and choices of occupation we wanted in the future. Some of us even had the schools we wanted to attend charted out, the age we would begin our dream job, the age we would love the get married, all of it well planned out. But sometimes life just has a different plan waiting for us.
My name is Ejiogu Stella Mmesoma, I am a Nigerian of the Igbo origin. I had big plans and dream of becoming a great lawyer, I didn’t exactly have a reason except for the part that I love the profession and admired those who were successful in it. I was always told that to become a successful lawyer I had to be diligent in my studies. Luckily I was quite intelligent so I did my best to put in hard work in order to be the best.
This rule worked smoothly from my kindergarten to my senior secondary. I was known as one of the best students in my grade. I graduated from high school in 2017 at the age of 15 although I was going to turn 16 by December. I wrote my WAEC and Jamb and came out with good results. All that was left .was to write and pass my Post UTME in the school I wished to attend, the University of Lagos, Nigeria.
I registered for the Post UTME and prepared so hard for the exam, but after a while, I was informed that to qualify for the examination I should be at 16 years old by October. Unfortunately, my birthday was December and they refused to make any exceptions. I was disappointed and sad but I had no other choice but to apply for another school where I wrote my Post Utme and passed. But as life would have it, the cutoff marks for the courses were released and I didn’t qualify to study Law. I had hoped for another course but I wasn’t given any. This resulted in me waiting for another year.
When it was time for the next Jamb and Post UTME, after seeking advice from friends and family I applied for law again but this time the school was located in the East, Abia state university, somewhere I never thought I would school. I passed my jamb and Post UTME and this time I reached the cutoff mark to study law. But when the list of students who were admitted came out, my name wasn’t there. At this point, I was in shock and pain and I wondered if this was where my dream would crash.
Either way, I made a decision to buy the supplementary form and changed my course to history and international relations. This was a tough decision because I completely despised history, I had no idea if I would do well in this field but it was closer to achieve my goal of becoming an international lawyer, or so I thought. After I applied for the course, I was offered admission a week after.
Surprisingly, I found the course intriguing despite the fact I didn’t like history. I told myself I would do well in this course in order to reach my goal. After my first year of studying the course, my results were excellent but I lost morale to be an International lawyer when I was told that I could not specialize in international law using the international relations degree but only a law degree. The new information completely broke me, so much that I almost gave up on the course in order to study law. But I was encouraged by my family to complete the course and then study law, so I would be privileged to have two degrees.
The advice given to me was wonderful but I would never have thought I would spend nine years in school. Nevertheless, I knew that both courses had their benefits, so I took their advice and I’m currently working hard to complete my current course with a high CGP and then study law.
Lesson learned
My lesson from this experience is in line with the saying that “when life gives you lemons, you make lemonade.” I learnt to make the best out of life and out of every experience . Life comes with challenges and once we take control of those challenges, it won’t be so scary anymore.
Make the best out of life, it may have its challenges but we should learn to see the good in it.
About the writer:
Ejiogu Stella is an International Relations Bachelor’s Degree student at Abia State University, Nigeria.
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