A determined young Nigerian man named Pedepo Emmanuel who was rejected many times in an attempt to study in the United States has fought back successfully to earn the United States presidential scholarship to study for his PhD.
Pedepo Emmanuel obtained his bachelor’s degree in Psychology with first-class honors at Lagos State University, Nigeria after which he proceeded to earn a master’s degree in Clinical Psychology at the same university.
Narrating on his Linkedin, Pedepo said after he had earned his master’s, he was offered a job as a Lab Technologist at Lagos State University which was nothing closer to his dream job but he took it ith hopes of not staying long in the job.
He said it was when he was working he got the motivation to start applying for scholarships for his doctorate degree. Pedepo stated that he applied to more than 20 schools and was accepted into none.
”I remember I was in my office when all the rejections (some call it love letters) rolled in. These, coupled with unnecessary pressure from work, just weighed me down and unmotivated me. What made it worse was that two of the people I introduced got in,” he said.
He said though he felt unmotivated and almost gave up after his rejections, he still remained hopeful. Pedepo said he started applying again, learning from his mistakes, and investing in meaningful materials.
”Mind you, getting into the application season, I had two emotional breakdowns which on its own should have made me stop (a story for another platform), but I kept trying. I do my job in the day, then scholarship applications in the nights and weekends,” he said.