A Tale of Hope

In 2014, fresh out of Secondary School, I was preparing for entrance into the University of Ibadan to study Medicine and Surgery.

Blurry, but yeah, that's me on my graduation day from secondary school.

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The University of Ibadan previously used an aggregate scoring system to ascertain those who qualified for each course
This aggregate system comprised of a total of each student's WAEC grade scores, UTME score and Post- UTME score.
This particular year, I had a UTME score of 216 out of 400.
Quite on the low side for someone who aspired to get into medical school.
However, it was just good enough to help me qualify to write the Post- UTME (UI used a cut off of 200)

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As with most Nigerian students, there's always a back story and I would need to share it with you so you can have an idea of how my journey played out.
I had written the UTME the previous year and I had a score of 208. I wrote this while in SS3 class.

I felt I didn't do so well because I didn't attend a UTME tutorial centre in preparation for the exams. So in 2014, I decided I was going to enrol for a UTME tutorial.
The name of the tutorial centre was "Unique Tutorial centre"
We had a mock test closer to the main exams and I remember I was the second best student in the mock test with a score of 256.

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Fast foward to the real UTME, I enrolled for the Paper and Pencil Type (PPT) exam. They just introduced the Computer based exam that year but I felt I was more comfortable writing the PPT exam.
To my utter shock, it was only 8 marks better than my previous score.
I remember hearing rumours that they intentionally spoiled the results of those who chose to write the PPT over the CBT because they wanted to phase off the PPT exam.
But that surely didn't matter to me at that point, the deed was already done. My score was right before my eyes and there was nothing I could do about it.

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So, I almost gave up on writing another one. I had seen people who wrote the exam over 5 times and I didn't want my case to be similar.
I remember being offered biochemistry by a State University which I didn't even apply for the previous year but I turned it down.

Days, weeks, and months went by until the time when my alma mata started the sale of their post Utme forms for new intakes. So I picked up an application form to register .

Back story, I had tried registering twice at the cyber cafe and wasn't able to because the website just didn't comply. So I almost gave up.
Wait a minute!
What's it with me wanting to give up after only 2 attempts👀
Hmmmm. I'm glad I know better now☺️

While awaiting my transition into the University, I picked up a teaching job at a nearby private school owned by a family friend where I taught Mathematics, Chemistry, Physics and Biology for the senior class students.

One fateful day, I was taking a short nap in the staff room at about 1pm.
I got a call from a friend which woke me up.

Back story, remember I had given up on registering for the post utme, but the day of my second attempt, I casually collected the phone number of one of the aspirants I met there.
As we were both not able to register, the plan was that since she lived closer to the cyber cafe, she would keep checking back and anyday she was able to register for hers, she would let me know.

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So 1 pm that day, I got a call from her and she said "Love, start coming now, the portal is working now!"
With my sleepy eyes and voice, I caught myself saying, don't worry, I can't make it down today.
And then She went on to say "the registration ends today!"
That information was enough to drive the remaining traces of sleep and slumber out of my entire being😂

What ran through my mind as I hurried out of the school to the cyber cafe was; "I don't want to wait for another year, so let me just try if this will work out"

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So, that day, I went at the speed of light to meet her and we both registered for the exam.
Now we had less than 2 months to the exam.
I had not been studying for the exam so I almost got into panic mode.

When I got back home that day, I searched for the requirements to study medicine at the University of Ibadan so I could count my cost. Lol.
It was then I saw that they used the aggregate scoring system which I described earlier.
I was so scared. My WAEC result was Very good but my UTME result was not good (216) and I felt it would only be a miracle for my post UTME result to cover up for the dearth of marks because of my low UTME score.
Nevertheless, I decided to take up the challenge.

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I studied everyday.
Every morning, after finishing my house chores I read till 5pm in the evening.
I took short breaks only to stretch, rest, eat and pray.

Boom!
The D-Day came and I took my exam at the Paul Hendrickson Lecture Theatre at the University College Hospital, Ibadan.

Boom again! The results were out.
I went to the cyber cafe with my Dad to check it.
Now, My dad has always believed in me.

I remember how I changed my University of choice at the cyber cafe I went to register for UTME.
We had initially agreed that I was going to study medicine at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, but on getting to the cyber cafe, the owner of the centre suggested that I changed to University of Ibadan because he felt it was a better choice to study medicine.
I felt it was a good idea, so I changed my choice right there and then.

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On getting home, it dawned on me that I would have to explain to my dad what I had just done.
So I waited for him to have his dinner.
Then I brought out the registration slip.
When he checked, he saw University of Ibadan as my first choice. The first thing he asked was "Who do you know there?"
I stood infront of him dumbfounded as I obviously didn't know anyone there.
(We had agreed I will go to UNIZIK because my elder brother was schooling there, so it would have been much easier for me to have a big brother in school).

His countenance changed as he was not happy with my impromptu decision.
But he said, "Okay, i will pray over it".
The next morning, after our morning devotion, he asked me to sit.
And then he went on to say this; "since you changed it at the last minute, I believe God has something for you there. God will preserve you while you are there".
And that was it!

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Back to my story about the day I went to check my result.
I was asked to type in my user name and password to check my score.
My heart was racing🥺. If I counted my pulse rate at that moment, it would have been almost 200 beats per minutes. No Kidding! Lol.
I typed the letters and numbers slowly and covered my eyes with my hands while waiting for the page to load.
My dad was right beside me.
When the page was fully loaded, the men who were there; workers at the cyber cafe and my Dad already saw the result and they were now telling me to open my eyes and see my score.

I lingered a bit longer and finally summoned courage to take a glance.
Lo and Behold, I saw something I never imagined.
I'll share the exact score later but that day, I saw my father cry tears of Joy.
Of course, not at the cyber cafe! He held it till we got home.
As we stepped into the house, he hugged me and before i knew it, he started sobbing.
It was so precious.
He was definitely proud of me!

This is Not the end of A Tale of Hope.
But i would like to stop here and continue again at a later time.

Thank you so much for reading till this point.
I'll be sharing the remaining part soon.