Saturday, September 19, 2015

HOW DID IT ALL START……

This says it all..... 
Trust in the Lord with all your might and strength and lean not on your own understanding….

Thank you to all who have congratulated me and wished me success. May God bless you. Here is part 2.... Sorry it took a while but I was participating in some student activities and trying to settle down.

WARNING: IT IS A LONG READ!! 
 
How did this journey start? You would not believe how stupid it looks but I am still going to tell you about it.

So I was watching Pitch perfect (the first part) when I just had a thought on how It would be nice to have joined a club in school like a really cool club like the singing groups. Watching it made me remember that I always wanted to experience learning in a different environment but I didn’t even think about it after watching the movie.

I was on facebook when a scholarship page appeared on my time line. Apparently one of my friends had liked their page and the page ad kept popping up in my timeline. At that it was really annoying, it kept popping up in my face. One day i decided to click on the page since it claimed to be offering a tuition fee, maintenance fee and flight tickets scholarship. The more I read about it, the more I was interested. I realised that it was not a scam and was actually offered by the U.K government so I decided to apply.
One of the criteria was to apply for 3 master’s courses and possibly get admissions into the three courses.  So I started writing my statement of intent but fortunately for me I already had statement of intent for my number 1 course. I chose the course I applied for at the Canadian school so I basically updated it and used it. One thing I realised was that the applications I did in 2012 allowed me to understand how to write a statement of intent.

At that time my friends were doing their master’s program so they were able to help link with someone who they felt was very good in those things. I sent my rough copy and the guy practically corrected every line which was annoying but for the best. Anyway I was better in writing it now I thought. I could only apply for 2 courses because the more I delve into the scholarship application I realised there were some rules that I was not comfortable with and also I found out I was going to have to take an English test. And since I was doing this on the down low I was not interested in having to tell anyone that I needed to go to lagos for one test.
 
Oh My God!! I can’t believe I skipped out on telling you when I decided to start the scholarship application. You would not believe it. So after clicking on the page and reading some parts, I closed the page and refused to think about it. However things kept on reminding me about it so I had a talk with God and I reminded him about all the money and time and emotions I spent with the last try. I told him that I don’t think I can bear another disappointment. So I asked him for a sign, yes I did. I told him I was not willing to spend any part of my salary on the application that for me to start it he had to provide me with the money for the application, transcript and every other thing I might need.

Guess what? He did, in the most outrageous way. How, you might ask? Well, remember a certain Liberian walked into Nigeria and brought the dreaded Ebola Virus…..hmmmm. I am not entirely sure if I let you guys know that at that time but I sold hand sanitizers then. Well since I was a hand sanitizer girl before Ebola a lot of people wanted to know where to get them so I decided to get them from Lagos and sell.

I had sold the first batch and was plotting how to buy data cards for browsing when I was about to literally hit my head on the pillow to sleep and God said you asked me to provide for the application, certificate, transcript and everything you need. Well, there you go. I sat up immediately and was so surprised. But from then I made sure I didn’t touch the money and kept every profit aside. After a while Nigeria was declared Ebola free and people didn’t need sanitizers anymore. At that time I thought the money was not going to be enough for everything but I am but a mere man. God had it totally in control. I would continue that story later…

Let me continue with the scholarship application story. So I applied for the scholarship reluctantly because I was not comfortable with the rules and when they said something about my application not being complete I literally didn’t bother. It was not for me and I knew it.

However I was focused on the application of the first course (my desired course) and applied to 2 schools. The first school I was able to apply to eventually refused to give me an admission but was I bothered….nooo because the second school which was actually my first choice but couldn't apply first because I had earlier had problems paying for the application had given me an admission 3 weeks after applying……Awesome right?.....Nope, it was God in action.

While browsing through my chosen school, I had found out that it offered quite a reasonable large amount of scholarships compared to other schools but, a big but….it offered it to a larger amount of international countries. Like literally almost 60 countries. They had different scholarships for different countries. Some countries had scholarships dedicated to them alone. Unfortunately for Nigeria, the categories that I was applicable for about over 40 countries. See how crazy it was. There were 2 categories that was applicable to Nigeria and about 30 full tuition fee scholarships, 9 full tuition fees and maintenance fees scholarships (which had conditions I didn’t like) and 75 50% tuition fee scholarship (which I got….yaaayyyyy).

I applied for both types but honestly I was interested in the one that had fewer conditions. So when I received a message that I was not chosen for the conditional one, I didn’t mind. I had faith I was going to get the other one. I really believed that God that had started it would finish it. I kept telling him ‘I don’t have a plan B’ so take over.

When I eventually got the mail for the scholarship, I was afraid to open it. It took me about 8 hours for me to have the courage and peace of mind to open it. When I saw the reference number I knew I was awarded the scholarship. I was really hoping and praying for the 100% tuition fees but God wanted my testimony, the testimony of his awesomeness to be greater. 

I was worried about the remaining money but he sent helpers to my rescue. Yes, the helpers didn’t exactly give the money to me (I have to pay back but they have helped propel me towards my dreams and I am extremely grateful). It is funny that my Dad who I thought would be happy for me and gladly want to help was the first person that almost broke my spirit. Now some people would say I shouldn’t write about this but this is God’s testimony and the reason for this series of post is to inspire, motivate and uplift someone in the most electrifying way that I can. So yes, be prepared to read how my dad almost killed my spirit (again) concerning this new path I am taking. It is going to encourage someone who feels unsupported by his or her family. I would be writing more on it when I write on my challenges throughout this journey.

Okay back to the money I made on the hand sanitizers, anyway at that time I thought the money was not enough considering the last time I did all that stuff. I tried to get someone to help me get my certificate and transcripts and the amount the person told me was seriously outrageous. I was not ready to spend that kind of money and since I was out of all the types of leave I could get at work I was a bit worried. Then guess what happened? STRIKE!! Yep, guys, we went on strike. Can you believe it? I could go to my school without worrying. 

I went to school, paid less than half of what the other person had quoted and that also included my travelling fare money to my school. How totally rad was that? And guess what the total money I made from the hand sanitizers was more than enough to pay for everything even when I had to go back to pick my transcript.

This whole journey has been God all the way. My referees were people who believed in me and were so helpful in my journey. They are the busiest of people and yet they answered this annoying brat who doesn’t call them all the time. Even though getting them to help me when I was impatient was not easy, it worked out at the end.

I think I have written too much for today. Like I said this post is not to flaunt anything (I still don’t know If I am good enough to pass this course even though I love it) but to motivate someone. I am writing this to let you know sometimes some things you do might look stupid to others even to you but if God says do it, trust him and do it.

Thanks for stopping by and reading this looooonnnnnggggg read. Please do continue checking by for more of my posts on my journey to this point. I hope you would be inspired and motivated.

Luv ya,
Petite Diva……

6 comments:

  1. Awwwww! I remember your hand sanitizer especially in the micro-lab. So u made that much profit off selling sanitizers, chai!

    ReplyDelete
  2. On to the next one...I am feeling so inspired. Thanks for sharing your testimony dear

    www.mylifeasmoby.com

    ReplyDelete

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