18/08/2025
I was supposed to be a medical doctor oohh, that was my mother’s dream for me. She was a young widow, and all she wanted was to see me in a white coat one day. I was preparing for WAEC in 2014, but in 2013 everything changed,life hit me too hard😭
I lost her after a brief illness.
That moment changed my life forever. The woman who prayed for me, who carried my future in her heart, was gone. Life became terrible, every day was survival. I still managed to write my WAEC, but medicine was no longer an option, not because I didn’t want it, but because there was no one to sponsor me anymore.
So I threw myself into business. I wanted my siblings to continue their education, even if mine had to wait. I was the first daughter, and the weight of that responsibility was heavy. I worked, I hustled, I carried myself like an adult before my time. But after an incident that broke me deeply, I looked at my life and asked myself, “Is this how my story will end?” That was the moment I decided to go back to school, this time as an art student.
I chose Tourism and Hospitality Management, not because it was the easiest, but because it was the path available to me. School was not smooth at all, in fact, it was one of the hardest journeys of my life. I was never fully present in school, I was half in class and half in business. Some days I would sit in lectures with chinchin in my bag, selling to my classmates, other days I would leave school to handle jobs from my top-class ushering agency, or chase one side hustle after another just to make sure i pay bills
There were nights I cried myself to sleep, mornings I woke up questioning if I should drop out, and afternoons where I almost gave up on the dream. But somehow, God always showed up. He sent me angels, a “him,” another “him,” and a “her,” people who believed in me, encouraged me, and stood by me in moments when I was ready to quit.
Looking back now, I don’t even know how I survived it all. But today, I stand tall, I stand strong, I stand grateful. I am a graduate, healthy and sound, living proof that broken beginnings can still create beautiful endings.
This degree is not just mine, it belongs to my late mother who planted the seed of education in me, it belongs to my siblings whose faces pushed me to keep moving, it belongs to every hustle, every chinchin I sold, every ushering job I handled, every sleepless night, and every tear I wiped quietly.
I am the first daughter, and today, I have made it. Against all odds, I carried my cross, and now I can finally say, I am a graduate of Tourism and Hospitality Management. To God be the glory. ✨
