Do you feel the need to share it with others to benefit or do you think sharing with others will limit your chances of having access to the opportunity?
It could be a job, a scholarship, a contract etc.
I apologise with my confronting questions but come with me as I explain the gains of sharing opportunities with others.
In 2017 while undertaking my master's studies in the UK, the Commonwealth Scholarship organised a workshop tagged "Connect and Communicate".
The competitive workshop was aimed at providing scholars with the skills to communicate their research. The workshop was hosted at the historic @CumberlandLodge.
On arrival, I was paired in the same room with a Nigerian- @DanladiYunana .
I had never met him or known about him until that day. We connected very quickly, spoke about home and life in general.
After the workshop, we all left for our various schools but we kept in touch and spoke often about the plans that we had for the future.
Towards the end of our studies, I began searching for PhD scholarships and I came across the prestigious @UNSW Scientia PhD scholarship in Australia.
After preparing my essays and expressing interest, I thought of sharing it with Danladi.
He also worked on his essays, sent back to me to review and applied for the scholarship.
Guess what happened? Exactly! it is what you are thinking. On 17th November 2017 at exactly 5:41pm UK time, Danladi broke the news to me via Facebook messenger (chats attached).
He got the scholarship but I did not๐. I was so happy for him. He returned to Nigeria and after a few months, travelled to Australia to commence his doctoral journey.
After my studies, I returned to Nigeria and continued working as a development worker.
My relentless applications landed me a PhD scholarship in Australia at the prestigious @QUT.
I called Danladi and broke the news to him and he was so excited I was coming to join him in Australia.
My juicy scholarship at QUT excluded my visa application and flight fares so I spoke to Danladi and without a 2nd thought, Danladi sent me money to support my transition to Australia.
He did not stop there, immediately I touched down Australia, Danladi sent me money to allow me to settle in before my stipend was paid.
I am hoping by now that you followed my story and would have deciphered my message but let me break it down for you.
If I did not share the PhD scholarship opportunity with Danladi, he would not have known about it and applied.
However, my gesture of sharing the PhD opportunity with him in 2017 came back as a favour for me in 2019 when Danladi financially supported my transition to Australia.
We have remained very close and still share opportunities with each other. I am sure many will pay off too.
My message is simple:
"W๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ค๐ณ๐ฐ๐ด๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐บ ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต๐ถ๐ฏ๐ช๐ต๐บ, ๐ฅ๐ฐ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ด๐ช๐ต ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ช๐ต. ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ต
๐ธ๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ญ๐บ.
I understand your passionate desire to secure a scholarship. I am here with a few points for you to consider while you work on your applications.
1. Be prepared for rejections. Many will come.
Most scholars who have been successful with many scholarships get baptised with many rejections. The initial rejections are to test you and see if you will give up. The guarantee is that you will secure a scholarship if you keep applying.
However, if you get discouraged and stop applying, the guarantee is that you will NOT get a scholarship. Keep applying.
2. Do not be discouraged by scholarships that have a caveat that you must return to your home country after graduation.
I am still shocked that it is 15years already since you left me down here. How are you holding up and what is happening up there? It has been a crazy time for us this past year because of a deadly virus.
A lot of people died and the world is still suffering from it. At least you do not get to see all that now. I am sorry I always bring you bad news from down here even though I was hoping not to share any more bad news with you this year.
I am sure you, dad and step mum have all met up and perhaps living in the same house up there. I am sure God can organise that for you guys? Remember when I wrote you last year right?
Being a PhD student and new to the research life, the rigorous process of ethical application for a complex study like mine pushed me to my limits.
Although I had very supportive supervisors, they did not spare me in being critical of my work. In fact, my principal supervisor Dr @endinequity will say "Aaron sometimes it is best to be blunt with you about your work".
The bluntness sharpened me and made me more resilient. I took these comments with a smile because I knew it was for my own good.
I know you have been delayed by incessant ASUU strikes. I know you should have graduated by now but you are still stuck. While you feel down, I come with a few words that you can take note of:
1. You have not lost any time and you have not been delayed. This is the time to strengthen your skills.
Take up volunteering and internship positions while you are home and waiting to graduate. Remember that they will boost your CV and SOPs in the future.
2. Do not rush, we will not run out of international scholarships. They are always there for you. Make a deliberate list of the scholarships you want to apply for when you graduate.
Look at their eligibility criteria. What are they? Do they need IELTS, GRE, TOEFL?
Today, I offer you a few workable tips to assist you in the search for supervisors.
1. Go to the staff page within the department or school website and look up lecturers whose research interests align with yours.
2. Another trick is to use the search bar on the website and type in the key terms of your research or interest. E,g Professor in public health/accounting/English etc. You can then instinctively navigate the page through the results.