A 22-year-old Nigerian girl named Haleemah Hamzah emerged as the best female graduating student of Uthman Danfordiyo University, Sokoto Nigeria after she bagged a Biochemistry degree with a 4.87 cumulative grade point average.
Hamzah obtained the bachelor’s degree with a remarkable first-class grade and was awarded not only the best graduating student of the university but also of the university’s Biochemistry department.
She shared her achievement on LinkedIn celebrating her success and describing it as a testament to her hard work. Hamzah mentioned that she initially wanted to study Medicine, and scored 284 in the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) but she was admitted to Biochemistry.
Nevertheless, she worked hard in her first year just to be among the top five students of her department with the hope of crossing to medicine. Hamzah said she even wrote another UTME exam.
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But, her hope was dashed when she found out that crossing into medicine is not realistic in the university. At the end of her first year, she earned herself a 4.82 grade point out of 5.00.
”Whenever I put in the effort to read, my roommates will tell me that I have written another jamb and will get the admission. I always told them how I would prove to my parents that I would do Medicine if I failed biochemistry,” she said.
She mentioned that her thrid year was the most difficult year full of lectures, assignments, practicals, and others. Hamzah said she prepared ahead and had the best results with all A’s in the courses and recorded a 4.90 grade point.
Hamzah said though the penultimate year was challenging, she served as the Vice President of her departmental association, Public Relations Officers, and volunteered for some associations while on campus.
She said the extracurricular activities had huge benefits as they helped her in networking, and learning more about practical skills among others. Talking about what motivated her to chase academic excellence, Hamzah said it was a past valedictorian who insired her and also her mother’s intellect.
“In 2019, I saw a lady who graduated as the best-graduating student of her school. Since then, I aim at being the best graduating student of my set. This was my motivation right from time.” she said.
”My parents are intellectuals, especially my mom. She graduated with distinction and made it to the top five in her class even at the postgraduate level while engaging in other tasks. I am always motivated by her level of intelligence,” she said.
Advising undergraduares, Hamzah urged them urged to never to give up on their ambitions. She encouraged them to focus on their strengths, work on their weaknesses in order to attain success.
“Hard work does not kill, rather it makes one stronger and develops chances in life and the global market at large. Effort is always required as success is cumulative. It was said that every hardship requires effort to triumph,”she said.
Hamzah expressed her gratitude to her parents, family, lecturers, mentors, the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology , friends, coursemates, and well-wishers for their efforts and support.
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