At 21, Miss Blessing Adeyemi, daughter of Pastor Frank Adeyemi, General Overseer, LORDARISE Global Christian Church, has emerged as the only First Class graduate in her Department, but says her biggest achievement is not the certificate — it is the journey that produced it.
When she first dreamed of university, Blessing Adeyemi had her eyes firmly set on Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife where she hoped to study International Relations.
That dream, however, did not go according to plan. Her application to OAU failed after she was unable to successfully upload her O’level results amid the intense competition for admission.
What initially looked like a setback eventually became the unexpected beginning of a remarkable academic journey. Today, the daughter of a pastor is celebrating a First Class degree in French and International Studies from Osun StateUniversity (UNIOSUN) — and, remarkably, she emerged as the only First Class graduate in her department.
But behind the distinction is a story of delays, uncertainty, financial pressure, sleepless nights, broken technology, poor internet connectivity, multiple jobs and an unyielding determination to keep moving.
“I did not know exactly how I was going to get here. I just kept going until I did,” she said, reflecting on the journey.
Her route to UNIOSUN began at the Nigeria French Language Village, where she enrolled for a Diploma in French after her initial university ambition failed to materialise.
Rather than regard the development as the end of her dream, she turned the detour into another opportunity. She finished the programme as the second-best overall student in her set, strengthening her resolve to continue her education through Direct Entry.
But even that next step did not happen immediately. While waiting for UNIOSUN to release its Direct Entry form, she refused to allow the period to become wasted time. She moved to Ibadan and enrolled for classes at Alliance Française, determined to deepen her French and ensure that the knowledge she had acquired would not become rusty.
For her, the waiting period became preparation. Then came another hurdle. Changes in the Direct Entry registration process sent her from one JAMB office to another as she struggled to navigate the process.
Eventually, she encountered someone whom she believes God deliberately placed in her path to help her complete the registration.
That experience, she recalled, reinforced her belief that help sometimes comes at precisely the moment it is needed.
When admission finally came, however, another battle began. She resumed UNIOSUN very late, with only about a month to prepare for her first-semester examinations as a 200-level student. Her Diploma had given her a strong foundation in French, but university exposed her to areas of International Studies — including History — with which she was less familiar.
While her classmates had already covered some of the material, she was racing to catch up.
She took extra classes, spent longer hours studying and, in her words, had to practically “teach” herself what she needed to know.
The academic pressure was only one part of the challenge. There were periods when she did not even have a functioning phone. When she eventually got another device, it was far from ideal for the demands of university study.
Accessing academic materials became another daily struggle, compounded by the notoriously frustrating internet connectivity she experienced on campus.
Sometimes midnight became study time — not because she preferred studying at that hour, but because that was when she could finally download materials or access resources online.
Yet, rather than allow the difficult conditions to dictate her outcome, she became increasingly resourceful.
And then there was the question of money. Although she acknowledges the support of her parents and siblings, she wanted to reduce her financial dependence on her family, gain work experience and begin building a career while still an undergraduate. That decision led her into the world of marketing, content creation and social media, where she worked with different startups. At one point, she was juggling three jobs while studying. It was a demanding combination. There were days when she returned from work exhausted, only to face books, assignments or deadlines. There were mornings when she had to attend classes after working late.
But the experience, she said, gave her lessons that could not be learnt from lecture halls alone — time management, communication, teamwork, responsibility and the ability to continue working even when she was tired. She was also deliberate about academic self-improvement.
Beyond her university requirements, she enrolled for additional French courses, determined to keep expanding her knowledge.
Her progress became particularly evident during her immersion programme, when she was placed among the top academic groups. For a student who had entered university struggling to catch up, the achievement was deeply significant. It showed her that where a person begins does not necessarily determine where they will finish.
Then came the final-year project. Research, finding the right materials, revisions and the pressure of completing the work added another layer to an already demanding journey.
There were nights of studying. There were nights of working. There were nights of crying. And sometimes, all three happened within the same stretch of time.
Through it all, she prayed a lot. For her, hard work and faith were never competing alternatives. She prepared for what she could prepare for, worked on what she could control and entrusted the rest to God.
“I had to put in the work, but through it all, I believe God's grace carried me in ways I cannot fully explain,” she said.
Looking back, she sees another recurring feature of her story: people. From the person who helped her navigate the Direct Entry registration to her parents, siblings, friends, lecturers and others who offered assistance or opened doors at different stages, she says she repeatedly encountered people who helped her take the next step. That, perhaps, is why the First Class means more to her than an academic distinction.
It represents every seemingly insignificant decision to continue. It represents the girl whose OAU dream initially collapsed. The Diploma student at French Village. The young woman who refused to waste her waiting period in Ibadan. The applicant moving from one JAMB office to another. The late university entrant trying to learn History almost from scratch. The student waiting until midnight for network access. The undergraduate studying with a damaged or inadequate phone. The young worker juggling three jobs with university.
The student sitting through deadlines, project pressure and exhaustion. And the daughter who kept praying.
Today, those experiences have culminated in one of the most striking academic outcomes of her university journey: a First Class degree and the distinction of being the only First Class graduate in her department.
Yet she is already looking beyond the certificate. Studying French alongside International Studies gradually awakened a deeper interest in history, diplomacy, international relations, development and the interaction between countries and peoples. What began as an alternative route after her first university ambition failed has therefore opened an entirely different intellectual path. She now hopes to build on her academic background while combining her knowledge of French and International Studies with the professional experience she has acquired in marketing and communications.
For the 21-year-old, the First Class is therefore not a destination. It is a beginning. And perhaps the most compelling lesson from her story is contained in the words with which she describes the entire journey: “I did not know exactly how I was going to get here. I just kept going until I did.”
Sometimes, she has learnt, the road to success does not begin with certainty. Sometimes, it begins with a door that refuses to open. What matters is what you do next.
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