What We Made of Chaos

Mekila's story does not fit into what I have conceptualised as "love letters". Mekila got the Mastercard Foundation Scholarship while he was rounding up the second year of his bachelor's in Cameroon. it was the first scholarship he ever applied for. Throughout the conversation I had with him, I kept asking myself "What is the chance that I can base all my scholarship applications on asking google questions like "google, how do I make a killer academic CV, or google how do I write a killer SOP" because that was exactly what mekila did.

 I am not sure if that is what you are looking for here. but Mekila has an interesting backstory I encourage everyone to listen to, in the hope that you will find this story as inspiring as I found it.

Love letters is a podcast series about scholarship rejections and attempts. Beyond scholarships, it tells a more foundational story of ambition, dreams, and the stuff of success.

Badi’u graduated with a CGPA of 3.95 out of 5 from the university and spent two years building a scholarship-worthy CV. He took us through his journey of little dreams from his countryside home, the many “We are sorry to inform you” letters, and how he got a fully funded Erasmus Mundus Scholarship to study in Europe.

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What do you do with a third-class degree and a big ambition to study a master’s in International Law at a top university Uk? You are about to find out!

From losing her dad at a very tender age; to self-funding her way through university despite all odds, the chaos was stockpiled against Ngunan.

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A year ago, I got two fully funded prestigious scholarships to study abroad (a MasterCard scholarship to study at the University of Edinburgh and an Erasmus Mundus scholarship to study in France, Germany, and Portugal) with a CGPA of 3.95, no IELTS and no scientific publications. 

I’ve had people contact me to tell me they applied for the same scholarships. That they have first class, IELTS, and publications. I’ve also reviewed many applications seeking scholarships and heard stories of frustrations and people wanting to give up at a few trials. 

I know we tell many success stories on social media, but only very few people tell their backstories. I love backstories because it helps me understand how people get to the point I admire.

I know you’ve got a lot of resources out there about the processes involved in getting scholarships. Maybe what you don’t have enough of is BACKSTORIES. 

Backstories are what we must love because they tell us that beyond the very things we aspire for lies many trials, attempts, failures, and the desire not to give up. And that not everyone has life cut out for them in 1,2,3 steps.

So on this first anniversary of my scholarship pursuit, I made a production of a series of scholars I’ve found their stories genuinely inspiring. You will likely find one of these stories resonates with your experience, and I hope you will draw inspiration from it. 

Love letters is a podcast series about scholarship rejections and attempts. Beyond scholarships, it tells a more foundational story of ambition, dreams, and the stuff of success. The first episode comes out in 6 days! 

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This episode is a single one that highlights the experience of a trafficked Nigerian migrant in search of a promised land he paid.