Scholar: Promise Iheanacho
Undergraduate Course and Grade: Human Kinetics, Second Class Honours
Undergraduate University: University of Ibadan
Graduate Course and University: Sports Management and Policy Development, University of Ibadan
Since my undergraduate days, I have always wanted to win a scholarship because of my background and zeal to further my studies. It all happened after my NYSC in 2017 when a friend of mine, Joshua Orofino, wanted to apply for the Pan African University Scholarship, so he requested to use my phone to check if the application was out, we both checked for the application and the requirements needed for him to apply. As we were both checkings, I saw Sports Science (Sports Management). I read through and discovered I had all it takes to apply, so I applied.
In the process of completing my NYSC, I got admitted to the University of Ibadan for an MSc program in Exercise Physiology and before I left my PPA (Elizade University), I was going to be retained as I was promised a job as an Assistant Sports Coach. I thought about the offer of having this job and being able to cope with my studies which will require me traveling from Ondo state to Ibadan every week to receive lectures. So I declined the offer for the job and traveled down to start lectures for the Exercise Physiology program.
I applied for the scholarship during my first semester and by the second semester the result came out and I was the 1st on the list out of 10 students selected from those who applied all over Africa. I would say that the Pan African University Scholarship is the easiest scholarship any African student can apply for because of the requirements but the selection process is quite difficult.
The challenge I faced was how to run both Masters's programs at the same time. I finally decided to drop the M.Sc. program in Exercise Physiology and took the scholarship since that has always been my dream and by God’s grace, I will be graduating next month (November). My advice to aspiring scholars is to have all the necessary documents ready and never get tired of using the internet positively to search for opportunities because there are a lot of them out there. Also, they should never give up on their dreams. Finally, I would like to recommend this website to aspiring scholars.
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