Between Education and Hope (Part 2): The Waiting Season
In my last write up, I shared a summary of everything that happened during my scholarship journey. This time, I want to tell the story of what happened after the exam and how I even got there.
That same night, the scholarship coordinator told me to meet him in my faculty before 8am the next day. Like a serious student and from all the advice older students usually give I believed that if you have an important program, you should always arrive early.
So I got to school around 6:30am, telling myself I would revise properly before the exam. In my mind, I was already imagining a future where I could take the burden of my education off my father’s shoulders. My parents were happy too believing their daughter was about to make them proud.
I waited.
And waited.
By 8am, nothing.
By 9am, still nothing.
By the time it was past 10am, hunger had set in, and hope was slowly slipping away.
When the coordinator finally arrived, he didn’t say much. He spoke in bits and pieces, then handed me a paper and asked me to copy what was written on it. As I read through it, I realized the real task wasn’t copying it was answering a simple but heavy question:
“Why are you the ideal candidate for this scholarship?”
I dropped the paper.
I told myself, I just have to be myself.
I can’t remember everything I wrote, but I know I wrote honestly from my heart. When I submitted it, the coordinator told me to keep my phone on at all times because I would be receiving a call soon. This was around late February or early March.
From that day on, I made sure my phone never ran out of battery.
Every ring made my heart jump.
But the call never came.
Weeks passed. The semester ended. I gave up. I told myself, Maybe they’ve already given it to someone else. Maybe it just wasn’t my luck.
Life moved on.
Second semester came and it was one of the hardest periods of my life. I even forgot to write one exam. I was extremely broke and slowly sinking into depression. Things became so difficult that there was a week I didn’t eat for three straight days.
On that Friday, out of pure necessity, I went to my cousin’s house to get food. While there, I received a call from a new number. The caller mentioned my full name. I wasn’t surprised but I assumed it was probably a scam.
The person said, “Congratulations.”
I smiled weakly. I was hungry. After eating, I completely forgot about the call.
The next day Saturday I received another call. This time, it was my scholarship coordinator.
That was when everything came rushing back.
I immediately called my parents.
They were happy.
And in that moment, I realized that sometimes, hope doesn’t come when you’re strong
https://image.nostr.build/62fd6f6dadc333156a2ead95965e8eaab33ad33a76924984bc666191e1e79b91.jpgit comes when you’re almost empty.