Osaide Foundation celebrates her first class graduate of Mechanical Engineering
People say success comes at a price and they are not wrong. This success did come at a price of sleepless nights and late hour studies.
Before I get into this, allow me to introduce myself. I’m Oriakhi Aisosa Margaret a First Class Graduate from the department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Benin Engineering class of 2018 and this is a glimpse into my success story.
I graduated from secondary school in 2017 and although I initially had it in mind to study mechanical engineering due to my love for the Physics subject, I applied to medicine to fulfill the wish of my mother but unfortunately or should I say fortunately didn’t make it into medicine but instead got admitted into the department of Environmental Management and Toxicology.
While still in my first year, I took from my clearance money and bought the JAMB form without telling anyone but ended up having to inform my mother due to my center being out of Benin.
Fast forwarding the story, I scored high enough in my Jamb and post UME to be admitted on merit into the department of mechanical engineering in 2018. I was so determined to prove to my mother that I could make her proud in this course of my choice but most importantly I had a duty to myself to excel and be excellent especially now that I had gone through this great length just to study mechanical engineering.
If anyone told you that reading and focusing was easy, well I can’t debunk anything, but I will tell you for a fact that it wasn’t easy. I made a clear decision to graduate with a first class ever since I was in ss1 and my mother made me watch an interview of an ex-student from my secondary school that had graduated with a first class in his time. of course, back then it was just because I wanted to get shown on TV like him but once I actually got into mechanical engineering, the vision became all too clear. I decided that I wanted to graduate well and I also decided I was going to learn a practical aspect of my course.
Fast forwarding again because if you actually want to hear the full story then I fear I may not be able to type it all and we would hence have to schedule a full interview for that.
What I would say and what I hope every single person that would read this post gets is that ‘all things are possible to them that believes’ and the first step to actually achieving a dream is wanting to achieve it because once you have made the decision, the actions will fall into place.
My time in school was not easy so don’t expect the path way to success to be a bed of roses. I cried more times than I can count, and I also celebrated more times than I can count but in all I kept the faith and kept reminding myself of my decision.
Despite the many trials and setbacks, I still graduated with a First Class and I can tell you that the tears of Joy that came with hearing my result was worth all the sleepless nights and dedication I had to put into my academics right from 2018 to 2024.
This post will not be complete without appreciation to God for his grace and strength and to my family and friends for their unwavering support.
Specially I wish to appreciate the Osaide Foundation for Girls. This was the first scholarship I received in my years in school and it gave way to many opportunities and blessings. I told myself that I was definitely going to make this foundation proud of me and especially Engr.Dr.Patricia Nekpen Opene - Odili because she believed in me all the way. To all the presidents of APWEN that I was blessed to meet, I’m so grateful for everything, I have to mention Engr. Dr. Cordelia Omoiyi, Mrs Ngozi Egbeinyon and Engr Aminat amongst others that always encouraged me to keep going even when I was feeling stressed and anxious.
I pray that the good Lord will bless every single one of you!
To the female or male child that would read this, You’re strong and good enough to achieve all that you set your mind to so stop limiting yourself and put in the work and watch yourself grow stronger and better every day.
Thank you for reading this long text.
Oriakhi Aisosa Margaret.