HOW I OVERCAME Against All Odds, I Made First Class Honours

She had no chance of being among the top fliers. Everything, especially funding her university education, clouded her desire to be a graduate. Yet, Aishat Zubair Agbarere, an indigent student, weathered the storm and graduated with First Class Honours from the Department of Biology Education, Federal University, Kashere, Gombe State.

Aishat graduated with a Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of 4.52, despite coming from a low-income family with attendant financial constraints.

In an interaction with LEADERSHIP, she described her academic journey as “extremely rough,” mainly due to financial constraints.

She said, “I supported myself and my family by engaging in petty entrepreneurship, particularly a small provisions business, to ease my parents’ burden. I paid ₦40,000 in my first year as a combined registration, school fee, and acceptance fee, before the fees dropped to ₦28,000 in my 200 Level.”

Aishat, however, recounted that the situation worsened when she resumed 300 Level to discover that the fees had risen sharply to ₦100,000, nearly a 400% increase.

She recalled: “I called my father in tears upon hearing the news of the fee’s increment. The news jolted my father. I had no option but to work hard to get the money for the school fees.

“I resorted to instalment payment of the N100,000 school fees,” she said.
Aishat explained that her passion for education began in childhood, inspired by her father, who is a teacher. She added that this early influence shaped her ambition to become a teacher or lecturer and motivated her to pursue a degree in Education.

She, however, expressed disappointment that, despite being encouraged that First Class graduates were often retained as lecturers, she was not offered a teaching position after her studies.

The First-Class degree graduate attributed her success to hard work, prayer and discipline.
Aishat maintained that she was occupied with a demanding study schedule as she attended classes from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., followed by a tutorial from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., and then studied in the university library from 8 p.m. until closing at 10 p.m.

Her determination was evident from the start; she earned a 4.67 GPA in her first semester and a 4.57 CGPA at the end of her first year. She described many nights as “Till Day Break” (TDB), studying from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. without relying on energy drinks, which many of her peers used to stay awake.

She expressed gratitude to her parents for their support and sacrifices.