A Twitter user Farida Kabir has shared her unique story to motivate other young people who may find themselves in similar circumstances as she once found her own self. Farida had to share her story after another Twitter user Sadiq shared a photo of his newly awarded Engineering degree showing he graduated with a 3rd class.
Sadiq had written a caption in Hausa implying that it is better to have finished with difficulty than to be stuck and be overcome with tears. Farida who is now a consultant software developer took the opportunity to reassure him and other young people that the future does not entirely rest on a class of degree, revealing in the process that she graduated with a 3rd class degree also.
Farida who is obviously now a tech entrepreneur said she has in her employment 1st class graduates and that she also pays salaries to her team, a feat that was not feasible when she first earned a 3rd class degree form the university.
She talked about working on herself and building capacity as a developer but warned that as much as her success story gives hope, it is not an excuse to be mediocre with schoolwork.
Read full length of her post below:
I graduated with 3rd class. I employ people with 1st class and pay salaries. I earn what people with 1st class can’t even imagine earning. I have influence that 1st class people leverage on to help facilitate their wants. I’ve never used the 3rd class cert for anything above.
Apparently some people are triggered by this tweet bcs they couldn’t comprehend the English. To break it down, your class of degree or certificate doesn’t determine your success in life. You can graduate with 1st class and be the most successful person on earth or vice versa
You can also graduate with 3rd class and be the most successful person in life or vice versa. What you people need to stop doing is shaming people that graduated with 3rd class.
I used to think 3rd class was the end of the world but look where I’m at in life. My class of degree motivated me to be better. I graduated top of my class in software development and again, the certificate didn’t do anything with respect to getting a job.
It was purely about my capacity as a developer. I also employ based on that. This 1st class-3rd class mentality is because our minds have been conditioned to see government employment as the goal of going to school.
