I come from a small town in Lagos, Nigeria, called Badagry. Who would have thought a girl like me would have the opportunity to study at McGill, a prestigious university in Canada. All my will and hopes were actualized by the generosity of the Mastercard Foundation Scholarship Program. The scholarship changed my whole life and gave me a chance in my career.
The Master of Arts in Education and Society at McGill University has helped redefine my goals and gave me a sense of purpose. Although, the beginning of my time at McGill wasn't so rosy because of the profound change in educational systems. I struggled at first, and I doubted my capabilities, but I realized I wasn't alone after connecting with some classmates. My MCF advisors and school professors were encouraging, and they helped me throughout my program. I had all A's throughout my four semesters in school, which means I graduated with a 4.0. I worked every day and night to achieve a stellar record, and I couldn't be more proud of myself.
Aside from my academic achievement, I have also had many professional opportunities through the Mastercard Transitions Project. I was privileged to work with the UNICEF-Ghana team on an exciting project related to infants' exclusive breastfeeding. There, I worked with an amazing professor from Yale University who helped make sure I understood what it takes to do qualitative research and complete my projects with Smart Innovation Hub.
Smart Innovation Hub is a non-profit organization that I founded in 2020 and the organization aims to promote entrepreneurship skills among young people, particularly girls in Africa. I led my team at Smart Innovation Hub to pitch an idea on period poverty, and our project “Smart Pad” stood out at the McGill Dobson Bootcamp & Cup Competitions. As a result, Smart Innovation Hub won $18,000 for first place in the Mastercard Foundation Startup Awards and third place in the Dobson Social Impact Enterprise Track. All these awards and entrepreneurship exposure wouldn't have been possible without my scholarship at McGill University, all thanks to the Mastercard Foundation Scholarship.
My education at McGill has also allowed me to work as a Peer Mentor and Office Assistant with the Office for Students with Disabilities. During my employment at this Office, I improved in managing students with special needs and developing my empathic skills.
Studying at McGill also allowed me to participate in the United Nations Canada Building Young Entrepreneurs Initiative. In this program, I learned from various entrepreneurs across Canada and had the opportunity to learn multiple project management skills. All these experiences I have been able to acquire through my studentship at McGill University.
In addition, McGill University gave me an excellent network of exceptional professionals and friends who have contributed enormously to my academic journey. These networks of people have helped build a writer in me, and they helped me through all my academic hurdles.
I completed a summer program at Sciences Po, Paris, France in 2021, and it contributed a lot to my career path of becoming a Global Development Expert. I am excited about what the future holds for me and about my new journey of working with one of the United Nations agencies as a Junior Professional Consultant.
My dream of working with the UN was made possible through Mastercard and my education at McGill. Although, my dreams would have been mere dreams without my will and the love for humanity that the Mastercard Foundation has shown me.