How can poor Nigerians easily secure a university education?
How can poor Nigerians easily secure a university education? Are you currently wondering how you can easily secure and complete a university education to become a graduate with your poor background? Are you thinking about how to pay your school fees, especially with the economy? Unfortunately, coming from a very poor background can be more like a curse, especially when it comes to financial matters like formal education.
Does that mean that there’s no hope for you as regards acquiring formal education because you come from a poor home? Absolutely no! There’s still hope for you regardless of your financial status or the financial status of the home you are coming from.
In this very post, using Nigeria as a case study, I’ll be taking you through things you should know as a person coming from a poor background and all that is involved for you to secure admission into a university of your choice; into a cause of your choice; and as well, become a graduate of that University without spending a dime from your pocket. This is an age-long tested and proven finding that I will be sharing with you free of charge.
Life has a simple principle that works on the belief that whatever you need right now has someone with it who is also looking for someone to give it to. Therefore, if you are looking for financial support to go to university, certainly, someone is already positioned to help your dream to be real.
What does it take to become a graduate in Nigeria?
The road to becoming a university graduate is filled with financial turbulence. You spend money almost every day including on what you eat and the books you read. One may ask if there are no libraries in the university for you to also be spending money on books you read.
However, you need the current books where your lecturer will pick his questions. You need to follow along with the teaching each day. You also need to do assignments and you need those assignment books. Many other things will open their mouth every day to swallow your money.
How about I tell you that people who don’t have any money have gone to this university and graduated with awards? Will you agree? Yes, of course! The main goal of this post is to show you it became possible to fund your education without it coming directly from your pocket.
I am sure you must have heard of scholarships and grants. These are the two easiest ways to fund your education when you don’t have the financial muscle to depend on your parents. If you are also intelligent and read to learn the creative art of writing, you can also earn from other competitions like essay competitions and other ways in the university like doing assignments for people, teaching other students, and other ways you will eventually find out in the university as one of your survival routes.
Before you become a university student, you need to gain admission and possibly into the course of your dream; the ones that can fetch you scholarship opportunities. How do you gain admission to study in the university in the first place? How do you do it to gain admission into such a competitive course that can offer you the opportunity to receive scholarship opportunities from the government and NGOs? Continue reading to find out more…
Being intentional about your goal
The first hurdle to pass on the road to becoming a graduate is to be intentional about your goal. What exactly do you want? To become a graduate? If yes, you must define it to the extent of telling yourself the course you want in the university. You must also make up your mind about the university you want to go to.
These choices you are making should be made as if you already have the financial capacity to take yourself to where you are dreaming of going. You have to see yourself as if you are equal to other students from wealthy homes.
One way to fight poverty or to create wealth is to build knowledge. And the best way to build knowledge as a poor student is to start early. When you start early, you are consistent and focused, you will certainly gain everything you want including financial breakthroughs.
Therefore, you have to start early to prepare for the Joint Admission Matriculation Board examination and also the post-JAMB exam from the university of choice. You need to know about JAMB and the format their questions come in. You may also need to do some basic and background research about the university which you choose as your choice.
The best way to prepare for JAMB
JAMB exam in Nigeria is usually a rate-limiting exam for students who just finished secondary school. It is an exam that shows readiness to enter university and equally empowers universities to go ahead and admit you into higher institutions.
It involves some intricate steps and processes which include registration, preparation, and taking the exam. Well, we already have well-detailed and captured posts on this subject including how to get a high score in JAMB even on your first attempt. Check our category on JAMB to see more.
Getting free and helpful study materials online
These days, information is no longer hidden except that you don’t know how to search for it. It is very simple for you to get a PDF format of any material or book you are looking for online. Thankfully, there are free apps you can use to open them and read as much as you can.
Aside from the PDF materials you may need, it is good to note that there are websites that can give you a better understanding of what JAMB entails. Take for instance, our website (https://www.scholarshippicker.com/) has devoted some pages and posts to break down everything someone will want to know about JAMB and Post-UTME. The site has also committed to providing scholarship opportunities both local and international scholarships.
You shouldn’t wait till you gain admission before you start searching for helpful sites online. You have to just use Google or another search engine to make your search. Moreover, you can talk about anything you don’t understand with your friends for more explanation.
Secure admission into courses where getting a scholarship can be easy
It is not enough to gain admission into university. You have to ask yourself the course you should study and its relevancy in our contemporary society. Days are gone when you go to university to answer a graduate, especially for those who are from not-well-to-do homes.
You need to start early to rationalize your reason for going to university and match it with the best course to study. It is better to study a course that can make you self-reliant than those that will keep you idle in society. You certainly need to think deeply before you conclude.
If you are sciences inclined during your day in secondary school, the following are some of the courses you can prepare yourself very well to study as they will offer you a better chance for scholarship opportunities.
- Medicine and Surgery
- Dentistry
- Engineering
- Nursing
- Health Science courses(MEDICAL LABORATORY, MEDICAL REHABILITATION, MEDICAL RADIOGRAPHY)
- Computer sciences
- Architecture and Geoinformatics
- Agriculture
- Pharmacy
If you are not scientifically inclined during your university days, you can pick any of the options below:
- Law
- Mass communication
- Marketing
- Accounting
This is not to say that those who study other courses will not progress or be wealthy in life. However, the above courses will help you to easily stabilize on your own even if you are not absolved into any system immediately after graduation. You must be very selfish about your choice as it will determine the way people can easily value your stay at the university and support you financially.
It is important to know that in Nigeria, there are over 100 scholarships every year with a focus on some of the courses, and hardly will all of the courses offered by the university be captured.
Therefore, as a Nigerian from a poor home, you will need to be careful with the choice you make to remain in the good favor of both organizations and people who may want to help you. Moreover, you will also need to prioritize what will happen after graduation when those organizations that helped you gain admission and also sponsored you may not be there for you again.
Go for all available scholarship opportunities
Since your major way of survival is through scholarship, you have to put your ears on the ground to know of all available scholarship opportunities. You will need to follow them up and ensure to apply when the application is being accepted. Ensure to prepare yourself including getting the requirements set for when they will be needed.
One way not to miss out on any of the scholarship opportunities is to set a timer for the period of each of the scholarship opportunities. You can use your Gmail to do it. Create specific times for all the scholarship programs depending on the time of the year they are usually available. It is better not to attempt to apply than to give incomplete information because incomplete information will not offer you the scholarship.
Also, remember that a scholarship is a competitive opportunity. Everyone wants to be awarded the scholarship including those from wealthy homes. Therefore, prepare yourself before going for any of the scholarship exams.
Ensure to pass your courses
It is one thing to get into a university and another thing to graduate within the time allotted for your program. Many students have stayed 10 years in 4 years course. Unfortunately, they felt they were busy until they landed themselves in their current condition.
Therefore, when you are already in the university, ensure to pass your exams when they are due. Avoid unnecessary accumulation of carryovers as they will weigh you down and you may not know the joy of your study.
The best way out of this kind of situation is to always read. You can make yourself an avid reader to ensure you can easily finish your work even when it comes at odd hours for you. You can always conquer because you have already trained yourself to withstand pressure at all times.
Prepare for graduation
At this point, you are now in the university or high institution even when you never believed that you would be one of those people on campus. Now you have seen many things in life and have come to understand that everything is possible. You are happy that you have passed your course at the time they are due and you are awaiting any possible award including the best graduating student of the department.
Here, you may still need to keep your eyes on your program. Follow up with some of your subjects to ensure that their results are available and properly filed. This is important in universities where manual recording is still being used.
Life after graduation
Life after graduation can come so suddenly. Just yesterday you were thinking of how to gain admission and who will be paying the bills; today you are already here about to be called one of the latest graduates. Honestly, this is one of the most challenging times in the life of most people.
This is because they feel they have all the time in this world to enjoy and party around in school but unfortunately, the time was short from the beginning. It is important to know that the time to be spent in the university is short and less than how the time sounds to our ears.
Therefore, as a poor Nigerian who has just been admitted into any high institution, it is advised that you see your graduation date from the day you entered the university, Polytechnics, colleges, or any other one you wish to go to.
Conclusion: How can poor Nigerians easily secure a university education?
Finally, there are still great opportunities for anyone who feels there is no longer an opportunity to become a graduate to acquire a Western education. However, it has to be intentional, well-planned and well-executed.
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