Inspiring story! Pregnant at 18, best graduating student at 25

Inspiring story! Pregnant at 18, best
graduating student at 25
Found this amazing story on Punch. Read and be
inspired
Seven years after an unwanted pregnancy
forced her to drop out of the University of
Ilorin, Aishat Farooq emerges the best
graduating student of the Bells University of
Technology, Ota, Ogun State, reports
Temitayo Famutimi
When Aishat Farooq gained admission into
the University of Ilorin at 15, to study
Zoology, little did she know that she was not
going to be an alumnus of the institution. That
was in 2003.
Despite the fact that she was a high flyer in
her first two years in UNILORIN, the now 25-
year-old indigene of Ilorin West-Local
Government Area of Kwara State got
distracted along the line. She played the
campus love game and got a shocking
result: she got pregnant. It was in 2006 and
in her third year. She was pregnant for a
fellow student whom she had been dating.
She was disappointed in herself and thought
the whole world was crashing on her. Yet,
she vowed not to terminate the pregnancy.
Although she wanted to continue her studies in the
university, she became disillusioned and dropped
out at 18. She sought consolation in trading.
But her father, Mr. Shehu Farooq, who believed
that his daughter’s academic prowess should not
be wasted, was determined to get her back on the
academic track.
Today, Aishat has a different story to tell. On
Saturday, she stood tall among her peers at the
5th convocation ceremony of Bells University, Ota,
Ogun State, where she emerged the overall best
graduating student with a Cumulative Grade Point
Average of 4.93.
“The rebel in me won,” she declared while giving
the valedictory address on behalf of the 208
graduating students of the university.
“I hope my story will inspire at least one person to
change his or her circumstance. I was pregnant at
18 and by 19 I was already a mother. I had
disappointed my father who believed so much in
me. He had such big dreams for me and feared
the dreams would become unfulfilled,” she added.
Breaking the news of the pregnancy to her father,
who was at the time based in the northern part of
the country, was not easy. Aishat’s mother,
Fatima, who stayed in Lagos with the family, did
not break the “sad news” to the man until the lady
was almost due. The mum feared her husband
would be too angry.
Fatima narrated to our correspondent, “Looking
back, we knew her to be very brilliant. But all of a
sudden she got pregnant. Though her father and I
were always discussing on the telephone, I hid it
from him. Whenever he said he would be coming
to Lagos to visit us, I would quickly chip it in that I
would like to be the one to visit. So, I ensured I
was the one always visiting him.
“That was how I managed the situation until the
pregnancy was eight months. But even when we
broke the news to him, he felt really bad. Although
there was nothing he could do, he couldn’t go out
for three days.”
Aishat studied Business Administration with
specialisation in Human Resources Management,
and received the Vice-Chancellor’s Prize for the
Overall Best Graduating Student with a cash
reward of N50,000 and a plaque. She also won the
College of Management Sciences Prize and
Department of Business Administration Prize for
the Best Graduating Student.
Speaking with our correspondent after she
received the awards, Aishat, whose face beamed
with smiles, expressed gratitude to her dad for not
losing hope in her during her trying time.
She noted that the popularly-held notion that the
child that goes astray belongs to the mother, while
the good ones belong to the father, was not
applicable in her situation as her father did not
give up on her.
Asked why her dad had so much hoped in her, she
stated that her history of academic excellence
from childhood right to the university was a major
driving force.
Aishat, who attended Nazareth Nursery and
Primary School, Lagos; Penny International
College, Lagos and Model Secondary School,
Maitama, Abuja, said she bagged several
academic awards while growing up and noted that
she secured admission to UNILORIN the same
year she completed her secondary education.
She noted, “I did exceptionally well and bagged
awards in the schools I attended. I had the overall
best result at the Senior Secondary School
Certificate level at Model Secondary School,
Maitama, Abuja. In fact in UNILORIN, I was on the
first class grade in my first year but in 200 Level, I
dropped to second class upper division because I
had already started getting distracted by the boys.
“It just happened that things turned out the way it
did. But here I am, a product of God’s unending
mercies, unconditional love and grace – all
coupled with the faith my dad had in me and my
fierce determination.
“I’m a goal getter. I push myself hard. Even here
(BELLSTECH) in spite of being a mother, I was
pushing for the best despite the challenges. I
wanted to make my dad proud again. Once you
are determined, nothing is impossible. Nothing can
stop you.”
She said her decision to study Business
Administration as against the sciences, which she
was studying in UNILORIN, was informed by her
two-year experience in the world of business
after she dropped out of university.
She explained that incessant strikes by the
Academic Staff Union of Universities, however,
informed her decision to attend a private
university. “Age was no longer on my side and I
wanted to do it fast. And my dad could afford it
because he was a businessman,” she added.
Asked if she was involved in any relationship at
the Bells, she explained that she was a popular
“snob” on campus because the majority of male
students were younger than her. Besides, she did
not want to get distracted or disappoint her
parents and herself again.
Aishat, who has been posted to Lagos State to
observe the mandatory National Youth Service
Corps scheme, said, “If you ask around you will be
told that I was a snob. My favourite spot was my
room. I rarely went out of the room for social
events. I went to mosque. However, when I
contested for the president of my departmental
association, Business Administration Students
Association, the Nigerian system worked against
me.
“I lost to my male opponent. Although I had plans
to take some giant strides if I won, especially in
the academic aspect for my fellow students, the
fact that I was not the type of person who hangs
out worked against me. I didn’t have a social life.”
She said she has no plans for marriage for now.
She wants to pursue a master’s degree
programme in Human Resources in the University
of Aberdeen, Scotland. She added that she also
plans to work in a corporate environment to garner
experience and afterwards go back to the
university to teach “as a way of giving back.”
The second child in a family of eight children,
Aishat brought her six-year-old son, Damilola, to
the convocation. It was, however, learnt that the
Edo State-born father of the boy has since got
married to another woman.
She noted that her major challenge on campus was
the randomness of classes which denied her the
opportunity of spending quality time with her son
while her stay in the university lasted.
“We had visiting professors who came into the
campus at anytime. Although we had schedules,
many of them had a bit of flexible time.
Sometimes on Sunday when I took permission to
visit my child in Lagos, my classmates would call
me up on the phone that there was going to be a
class. Because attendance is very important, I had
to rush down. This affected me a little,” she added.
Aishat’s father advised parents to give their
children and wards the best of tutelage and close
monitoring. He noted that he least expected the
feat achieved by his daughter as he was at a time
disturbed that “she could no longer make it.”
Asked if it was lack of adequate monitoring that
made Aishat go astray at UNILORIN, he said,
“Let’s just say that is how God wants it. You see,
70 per cent of the fault is on us the parents.
Parents should give their children good supervision
and tutelage. With this, they cannot derail. I thank
God for her because it’s is not easy to have raised
her from grass to grace.
“I screamed on the phone the day I learnt she was
pregnant. I started asking questions: When, where
and how. I burst into tears. But today, she is a
new being. And I know the mistake will not repeat
itself. My expectations for her are that she should
fly higher and higher.”