2024 was a disaster, I was definitely not going to let 2025 take the same course of events. December 2024, I planned my strategy for how I wanted 2025 UTME prep to go. First thing I knew I needed to do was to change the circle of people I kept as friends. Deleted my social media for a while. Distanced myself from people who I saw and I knew weren't adding any positive impact to me as a person. It definitely wasn't easy, but it was what had to be done.

JANUARY 2025 came, I Joined an online Tutorial where I met a whole lot of people from across the country. I mean, the online space is so wonderful looking at how it can connect different people from different parts of the country together. Well, I met a whole lot of them and actually…I noticed one thing. I had been undermining my potentials for a very very long time. I felt like an “outcast” among them. Why? I couldn't keep up with them. Their mentality, their ambitions, their curiosity, their self confidence. Everything was on a whole new different level. I wasn't feeling “Oppressed”. No, not at all. I felt so motivated and I made up my mind that I wanted to be like them. I wanted to be as good as them, probably better. It was a space for healthy competition. Of course, I made friends with a whole lot of them.😹❤️ And as much as I thought people who knew a lot of things would probably be full of pride, they weren't. Heck, we had a whole community (ABH) where we constantly helped, shaped and pushed each other to be better. My mom noticed something in me changed. The “I want to study Medicine And surgery” weren't just mere words anymore. I started putting in action. The boy who found it very hard to pick up a book became the boy who found it hard to sleep because he was constantly with one textbook or the other overnight. Something funny happened sometimes in February 2025, one random night after reading till around 3AM, my mum woke me up to help her with something, and probably it was from the stress or probably the books were turning me to a mad man already, the first thing I said while still sleeping was “I can see the blue-green Algae”.😹 Later that day, my mum had a discussion with me. She asked me what my aim for UTME 2025 was, I told her 270. She immediately asked me “Why not 350?” In my mind, I was literally like, “omo, this woman dey put too much hope in me o”. But she told me something that day. She told me we get what we work for. 350 wasn't something that I couldn't attain, she kept believing in me that if I worked for it, it was attainable. (At this moment I still didn't believe people that scored 300+ were human beings).😔

Well, I remember going for my JAMB registration On Friday, 14th of February, 2025. While others were with the love of their lives, I was fighting for my own life.

Registration was done, I had read and gotten a little bit more knowledge since it was February already, I decided to take my very first CBT mock…

My very first CBT mock was taken on 17th of February. 48%?? I felt like I could end myself that day.😹 I knew I read and read. I put in the work right from January. How was I still getting lower than what I had gotten the year before. It just wasn't feeling right to me. I felt like I was failing all over again. Felt like all the nights I spent reading were going to waste again, were my efforts not going to be seen again?? Would I fail again even after putting in the work? I guess there really isn't any potential in me. These thoughts and many more were what kept going through my mind. When I told my friends about this, for some reason…they were proud? Why were they proud of a result like this? They were proud because I took the bold step of even taking a CBT.

They encouraged me, told me to keep pushing, told me I could definitely get a whole lot better. They didn't give up on me. Shout out to a few of them. , Dominion, Timmike, Precious, Esther, Adaeze, Eninla, A whole lot of them I can't remember or don't know their substack tags.😭 Point is, these people contributed to a large part of my success story. I really can't repay them for how good they've been to me.

I kept taking mock and reading, kept taking corrections to questions I failed, kept revising, kept brainstorming, kept mingling with like minds. Then, it happened….

From scoring 194 to 210 to 221, to 215, after so many trials with CBT and so many more sleepless nights, in March 2025, one morning as early as 6:30AM, I took a CBT and I scored 70% (280/400). I was sooooo happy.😹 I literally went to My friend's Dm’s to show them this. I really didn't believe my eyes, I mean, it felt really unbelievable, My friends were very happy for me. Now, the improvement became visible. We saw what we were working for. I guess I could become something wonderful, after all.

After so many more trials, my confidence was definitely improving, my self esteem got better.

Then, the day for my UTME actually came. I remember being scheduled for the second day. 6:30AM. I was so tensed. Everything I worked for over the past months was actually coming to play. It was finally time to prove I prepared for this exam. I set out, got to my exam hall, but something mysterious which I still don't know how to explain till today happened. While queuing to enter the hall. A random guy that was to sit for the exam initiated a conversation with me. After the conversation, he asked me a question, “What do you think you'd score in this exam?” I told him, maybe 280. He said “All right, i wish you luck”.

Got into my hall, prayed before starting, did my exam, I was a little bit confident of what I did. Well, till I got home and started seeing a few mistakes I did, of course.😭😹

Days went by and we had to wait for about 2 weeks before the results were finally released. I remember a friend of mine waking me up with a call saying “Ade, be like JAMB don release result o”. The sleep left me, immediately.😭

I didn't let my mum know about this. I planned on checking after she had gone to work. I didn't even tell my dad. After she had left for work, I came online, saw my friends had started seeing their own results. So many wonderful results from them. 300+,320+, 330+, 350+, Dominion even had a mind blowing score of 362.🥹 I felt so motivated to check mine as well, what if I scored up to 300? I thought.

Kept checking and checking, the network was getting on my nerves. I still didn't stop. Until…I saw the notification.

I really couldn't believe my eyes. I scored 280!!!🥹

At that moment, I immediately called my mum. She was literally screaming on the phone, so happy. I mean 196-280 in less than a year? That's wild, you have to admit.😖 I was so grateful to my friends who helped me, at that point, my confidence was top notch. Indeed I could really do anything I set my mind on. But, as much joy as I had. I knew I couldn't study Medicine And Surgery at the University Of Ibadan. I wanted to change my course to Pharmacy. But my parents persuaded me try out Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU). After a lot of disagreements and back and forth, I finally agreed and started prep for their post utme. I mean, a Large number of my friends were all going to the Premier University, plus it was also my Dream University. I felt so bad knowing I wasn't going to go there. But I made up my mind that life doesn't go by scripts. I prepared for OOU’s post utme. Now, post utme prep was a little bit lonely, because it's different syllabus for different schools. And honestly? They weren't a lot of people going to OOU I could find around. UI aspirants were everywhere at the time, I was so jealous of them.😭 I didn't let that stop my prep, though.

After months of hard prep, September, 2025 came. It was finally time for the exam. I was scheduled for Wednesday, september 3rd, 2025. 8:00AM-8:30AM. I was tensed, yes. But I wasn't scared. I believed in my preparation. After my exam, I was a little bit relieved. I knew I wasn't scoring anything less than 76. Preparing for the worse, maybe a 72.🥹

Waited and waited for the results to come out. They did. After exactly one week.

On seeing 80%, words really cannot express the amount of immense joy I was experiencing at the moment. Kept jumping and jumping.😹 I mean, looking at how far I'd come? I was the same boy who literally scored 196 the previous year, and now I was here with 280 in UTME and 80 In Post Utme. The improvement was clear, no doubt.

After the results tension had gone down a bit, I started seeing scores of 90, 92,96, even 98!!!! And one peculiar issue that bothered me was, people with these scores were also Medicine And Surgery Aspirants who had even higher JAMB scores. The panick set In. The cutoff for the previous year was 72%. I was sitting with a 74% aggregate. Still, I kept my fingers crossed. I was 2 marks above the previous years cutoff. Of courses , OOU doesn't release her cutoff to the general public, you can only make precise guesses judging by the people who were admitted. I waited and waited and waited. Until one night, the admission list for Medicine And surgery aspirants was released on JAMB CAPS one Saturday night around 9PM. A friend of mine sent his JAMB CAPS to me, it was boldy written there “ADMISSION IN PROGRESS, CHECK BACK LATER”.

I immediately rushed to check mine as well. It was also boldly written there “NOT ADMITTED”.😹 I told my parents that night, they said I should sleep and probably when I wake up I'd see changes, “They're probably still uploading the admission” they said.

After days and days of waiting, I didn't see any change. Nothing. Then, the first batch was over. Second batch came. Still nothing. It was time for the transfer batch. My mum hoped I'd at least get a transfer. I hoped the same. Every morning as early as 6AM, she'd come to my room, knock on my door. “Let's check your CAPS” she'd say. This went on for about 3-4 weeks. I saw the pain in her eyes. She wasn't disappointed In me. No, she wasn't. She felt pained because she saw how hard I tried to hide my own pain, she knew how hard I worked that year. Yet, there was nothing to show for it. Took me a long time to make peace with the fact that I missed out on admission that year as well. But. It happened.

1. Wasted. No Admission. No transfer.

2. Wasted. No Admission. No transfer.

After 2 years of leaving Secondary school, I still wasn't seeing myself getting into University yet. It broke me. It really did. But what I didn't see was, what was going to happen next?

PART 3, soon.

©mifeverse.

2023, I left school. A fresh Secondary school graduate who didn't know what the world had in store for him. Didn't Sit for UTME that year because I didn't want to juggle UTME and WASSCE at the same time. I decided to take JUPEB form, went down to LASU, started JUPEB…I was soooo young and the thought of it being the first time I was left unsupervised.

So much freedom. All I wanted to do was explore that I lost track of my actual purpose there. 2024 came, while still taking JUPEB, my parents thought it'd also be an advantage if I took UTME so that way I'd have a backup plan if things went south. Then came the First UTME result… 196!

It felt so heavy. I couldn't even meet up with half the total score. I knew how disappointed my parents were, how much I regretted. How much I wanted the ground to open up and consume me at that point.😭 What do you mean I scored 196??😭

“Maybe it's because it was his first time” “Maybe it's because he wasn't familiar with the system yet” “Maybe he had a glitch on his exam day” these and many more were the thoughts my parents used to console themselves… but deep down, I knew what I was doing wrong. But at that point I just didn't have the will to stop exploring. Reading felt like a whole lotta work, you know? Well, after seeing my UTME results that year I knew my only hope of getting into University that year was through JUPEB, so I decided to take it seriously (a little bit)…Fast forward to the main Exam In August 2024… I sat for it, thought I'd done everything well…The day for the result collection came. I went down to LASU OJO, On getting my result, opening it and seeing the grades I had, my heart felt heavy. I had Failed in a way I couldn't imagine. I didn't want to go home, I didn't want to call my parents, I just wanted to disappear. But that wasn't possible, was it?🥲 After collecting the results, I was at the place for an extra two hours before my mum finally called me and asked why I was taking so long. I had to tell her, when I did, I felt the disappointment in her tone. My dad immediately messaged me and told me how disappointed and pissed off he was. I couldn't blame them, I knew I had messed up badly, while my roommates were celebrating 13 points, 12 points, even 16pts, I didn't even score up to 6 points.😅 That definitely wasn't getting me anywhere close to Medicine And surgery. Couldn't celebrate my birthday that year, everything felt like a whole new vibe at home, and deep down, I knew I was the architect of my own misfortune.

I was still bent on at least getting into school that year, when it was time for transfer, I got transfer offers from LASU to move from Medicine And Surgery to biochemistry. My parents become even more furious when they heard I wanted to accept it. They felt I was giving up because I didn't do well, “you've always wanted to be a doctor since you were a child” they'd say.

At that point, I didn't even know what I wanted for myself anymore. I was just desperate to get into University.

I tried University Of Osun that same year. Opted for Medical Laboratory Science.

Kept hoping and hoping that I'd at least get into Uniosun that year. All to no Avail. No Admission, No course transfer. Just a blank portal left untouched. Tried to deny the fact that I'd sit for another UTME again. Kept trying different institutions, none wanted someone with a UTME score of 196.

That was when reality hit me. 2024 was wasted! I wouldn't get to go to university, I felt completely useless at that point. My parents? Furious. My School mates? A lot of them were already matriculating into their various universities. And me? Lost…didn't know what I wanted in life anymore.

Little did I know the future had a whole lot in store for me.

To be continued. Drop a like, follow, subscribe and turn on notifications to get updated when part 2 drops.

©Mifeverse.

Okay, okay …here's the thing. With the University Of Ibadan conducting her Post Utme Exam in 17 days. I can't help but acknowledge the fact that this exam is actually closer than I think.

But somehow, I don't feel pressured or tensed. For the first time in a long time, I actually have this feeling that I'll do well. Been such a long ride prepping for the past 3 months. Ibadan can be a nightmare sometimes. Especially on days when I miss Lagos so bad and I just want to go back home.😹

But, as the exam draws nearer. I really have to acknowledge a large number of people who have made a positive impact on my prep. My roommates, my study partners, every random stranger who brainstormed with me. My friends who never stopped encouraging me. My Abiolalily, My parents who never failed to check-up, Even my Friends parents and all.🥹

I really can't fail everyone because so many people are waiting. The next 17 days are about to be one of the longest and wildest days. I can feel it.

But another thing I can feel??

VICTORY! I so much feel victory ahead.

Till then.🥂❤️

Thank you for reading. Do well to subscribe to read about more of my thoughts, yeah?🫠❤️