Admission: My Epic Experience 2 !!

Continued from “Admission: My Epic Experience 1 !!”

I wrote the second jamb and I passed too but with a lesser score than the first one. Which school did I even choose then self? I think I chose FUTA. I traveled down to Akure, wrote the exam and all but the story didn’t change as I’m still waiting for the last list. During this period, I was staying with my Uncle somewhere around Ojodu because I had gotten a job around there and couldn’t afford going to my father’s house every day. I wrote the next UTME and failed with swag, lol. It’s not what you think, at least I scored 190 or something close to that and could still write Polytechnic Post UTME with that; Polytechnic was never my thing sha so I didn’t take that option and had to wait for another year. As at this time, most of my friends had gained admission. It wasn’t funny anymore, I started adding admission to my many prayer points (this is one of the weird things we pray about in this part of the world) .

I started my preparation for the next UTME quite early, bought past questions, read all I could and thank God, the result was rewarding. I chose FUNAAB this time around and was believing God day and night that the admission cup would pass over me, well let me say God’s will was done because the post UTME result was cool but I still didn’t gain admission. That was the fourth time I would be paying  Jamb mehn, I wasn’t running a charity organization! Boys weren’t smiling again. I had switched jobs and was now working with a photography firm as a video editor, I kinda fell in love with the Job and was already considering a part time school and all sorts sha.

A friend begged me to take the next jamb form because left to me, I was already tired of reading the same book over and again. I did write the exam; as at this time, the UTME had evolved from only PPT(paper and pencil testing) to choosing either PPT or CBT(computer based testing). Forget it, I was privileged to experience so many transformations JAMB underwent o. Writing UTME with computer seemed more interesting, at least that saved me the stress of having to look like the bad person in the exam hall because of my refusal to cheat. I wrote the exam, passed as usual and it was looking like this admission thing was going to work because that was the time FUNNAB refused people who got below 200 and still asked us to write essay self, chai man don suffer ooo. That was the second time I chose FUNAAB and to cut the long (maybe not too long) story short, I’m still waiting for the last list till date.

At that point in time, I had already cried a couple of times, was already tired of everything, it was now looking more like the admission thingy was never going to work. Well, thank God for good parents who never for once blamed me rather they blamed themselves. Wait! Did I mention that I got an admission once? Oh no, I didn’t!!! Yeah,  I got an admission one of those years into Kwara State University but at that time, there was little flow of cash at home, it was so bad that a female friend, her family and one other friend of mine paid for my trip to Ilorin to do the clearance. They also saw the list before I did and kept asking me what I was going to do next. I wasn’t going to ask anybody for funds, I’m not the type that likes telling people about my problem so I lost the admission. I also wrote Unilorin Post UTME at some point and I got 60+ but that school (I’m still searching for an adjective to qualify them) didn’t give me admission, chai!

Yeah! back to where I was. At this point, I was already tired of everything and anything called UTME or JAMB. I had already gone to National Open University to obtain a form; no time mehn, the beards were already out, I wasn’t growing any younger. Few friends were happy at my moves but I wasn’t really sure I wanted to take that option (like I had an option in the first place). I was done filling the form and had already been scheduled for clearance but on getting to the school, I was discouraged. It wasn’t the kind of University experience I desire and I knew it couldn’t have been the answer to my many prayers; did I make mention that God asked me in one of my discussions with Him if I was serving Him for admission or  if it was because I loved Him.

I wasn’t going to be proud of going to NOUN (mind you, I’m not discrediting the good works of the institution) coupled with the fact that the same friend who begged me to take the last jamb form was already on my neck so I decided I was going to give UTME another try. It was difficult because I had lost interest totally in reading my school books. In fact, each time I tried reading, the end point was always a long deep sleep.

I took another JAMB form but this time, I felt God leading me to do the unusual, I felt him asking me to choose  Unilag. Are you kidding me? Unilag of all schools, it never for once came to my  mind, I wasn’t ready to enter into that kind of competition. After all my logical thoughts(mind you logic had brought me to this point), I obeyed.

I had earlier resigned from where I was working with the mindset that I needed to focus on my education, I tried reading once or twice but it wasn’t interesting. Days became weeks, weeks gave birth to months and before I knew it, it was few days to my exam and I hadn’t read jack, Not that I didn’t want to read, I just couldn’t.

I remember traveling on the day of the exam and I knew within me that I was going to fail (lol). I was so sure of that, but I also remember telling God that if he couldn’t help me, nobody could. I wasn’t going to cheat(is there even cheating for CBT self, lol). I finished the exam and was surprised I still remembered a lot of stuff, I believe that was a miracle!

I got back to Lagos and continued my hustling life style, no time mehn. Everything was cool until I got an SMS on my phone: “Dear Dada Temitope your UTME score is 191, kindly proceed to the website to print out your slip”. I couldn’t help but laugh after reading the text, I definitely knew within me that it was my last UTME- I wasn’t going to try again. I thanked God and continued to hustle, I wasn’t going to allow an exam result steal my joy.

I was at MINE Dream Center, one Sunday afternoon and the result came to my mind again. I wanted to check what I got in each subject (like it was important self). I couldn’t believe my  eyes, I had to wipe my face to be sure I was seeing the right thing- my scores had changed from 191 to 237! I wish I still had the text message JAMB sent to me but the phone was stolen at an event I went for. I had to save that page and check, days after to be sure it wasn’t my eyes that was performing the magic. Thank God it was real, at least it got me admitted, lol.

Few days later, Unilag started the sales of their  Post UTME form. I took the form and also took LASU’s Post UTME form as a backup plan, even though I knew I wasn’t interested in LASU. Then, it was time to prepare for Post UTME, I got past questions from LASU and a good friend of mine also bought Unilag Post UTME past questions for me. I wish I read them (covers face, Wunmi mustn’t see this). I tried reading but was extremely busy making money and too lazy to read at that point.

I wrote the exam, did my best hoping that at least I would get a score that would compliment my miraculous UTME score. When the Post UTME result was eventually released, it was another miracle. To cut the long story short, about fifteen extra marks were added to my aggregate and that was how I gained admission into the Prestigious University of Lagos.

Hmm!!! As you can see, it’s been a pretty rough journey all along (if you decide to call it a journey). I’ve learned, unlearned and relearned. In fact, I’m still learning.

I so hope this story has in one way or the other inspired you. Never you give up on your dream, pursue it till you achieve it. Have good friends around you and most importantly, have God with you cos in the real sense of it, He makes things beautiful in His own time.

I should also mention that while you’re where you are, do your best to develop yourself. Learn the lessons that come with your experience, don’t fight with the details trying to figure things out. Forget the details and try again!

Thanks for reading, but don’t just read also share.

Written by: Oluwadabest

Edited by: Omowunmi Sodimu