My name is oaikhenah Williams osahon a 300 level student with matriculation number MED1706240 of the department of medicine, school of clinical sciences, university of benin, Benin City, Edo state, Nigeria. I hail from Emu town in Esan south East local government area of Edo state. It is with heartfelt gratitude to the Wells mountain initiative(WMI) that I apply for the 2020 edition of the Wells mountain initiative scholarship Award. Winston Churchill once said ‘success Consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm’. And while I never defined my hurdles as failures, I mark my success by repeated perseverance through adversity. I have faced several obstacles over the years,from peptic ulcer to homelessness and not to mention the struggle for survival; yet I continue to earn exemplary grades and graduate at the top of my class in secondary school. I deserve this scholarship because I have the ability and determination to achieve my goals,no matter the hurdles I have to overcome.
I was not born a talented student nor in the luxury of a silver spoon. Testing and assignments were difficult for me. While I was in Junior secondary school 1(JSS1), my father lost his job, the landlord evicted us from the 2 bedroom flat we were managing. We had to relocate to a one room apartment. I have 2 siblings. The pittance my mother earned from her petty trading was used to feed the family. After school hours I had to pick plastic pet bottles that littered the streets and even from refuse to sell to a plastic recycling company. This was where I gathered money to enroll and write my Junior secondary school certificate examination (JSSCE) and my West African Secondary School Certificate Examination (WASSCE). knowing the hustle I faced to enroll for the examinations, I put in my best to burn the midnight candle,and this gave me a good result to use in pursuing my university education.
After my results,i continued hustling to gather money for my university tertiary matriculation examination(UTME).my outstanding score of 287/400 in UTME and 77/100 in post UTME, and my love and desire to help and care for people who are ill physically motivated me to study medicine and surgery in the University. Prior to this time,I used to go to my father’s chemist shop on weekends where I join him in selling medicine and other provisions to people. So over time I have come to experience the joy of helping relieve a person of pain. I remember after selling a pain relief to a young man who got injured while playing football,the next day he came back to say ‘doctor, thank you’. When I reflect on the joy I experienced that day, it motivates me to maintain focus as I look forward to the day when truly I will fit in to the title, ‘doctor’.
Here in the University of Benin,i have had to engage in various form of casual labour such as working in a printery where I fold paper into book size, so as to meet up with the cost of my studies. I engage in this work after lectures for the day and sometimes I even have to skip lectures for a day to carry-on extra work,as I get little support from home since the little money earned by my parents is used to take of themselves and assist in training 3 children in higher institution. Even at this, I have not let the flag down in my academic prowess and excellence. My cumulative Grade Point Average(CGPA) of 4.37/5.0 stands as a witness to this claim.
Conclusively,my penchant for education and my determination and unselfish desire to help the sick have proven undaunted through the test of time. For these reasons and many more, I believe I deserve this scholarship.
Furthermore, with this scholarship ,you will not just be helping me through the University. You would also be improving and saving countless of lives. This scholarship will have it’s undermining effect now and in many more years to come. I appreciate your consideration and look forward to building a lasting relationship with your organization.
