Elizabeth is getting set for her call to bar come December 12, 2017. A look at her pre-call photograph reveals nothing but beauty, charm, peace and happiness. Those are merited. Her journey was tough, perhaps because she was going to walk at cross purpose with her divine destiny.
Lizzy’s story is inspiring:
I had a childhood dream to study law. It was a dream that had my parents’ blessing and my wholehearted commitment. I looked forward to becoming a law graduate at the age of 20. However, along the line, I changed my mind. I decided to study a different course, from my childhood dream course, ‘Law’.
I had deviated from this dream and commitment I made in pure innocence upon attaining adulthood. Why? what really happened? May be it was written in my destiny to at some point deviate. May be because my teachers both in primary and secondary school always tagged in my report cards every term the following phrases “good result but too playful” “good result but not serious” you can do more if only u were serious “
The truth is, I didn’t know how to be serious or so I thought. Each time they ran into my mom they never failed to complain about my mischief. Those comments should make me choose a course where it will not be so much a sin to be who I am; playful and mischievous I mean. Maybe there is another why!
At JSS3 graduation ceremony I took part in a drama as well as broadcasting activities, after which my principal (God rest his soul) called to shower praises on me, he ask what I wanted to be in future, “Lawyer sir” I replied hastening but strangely, he wasn’t pleased with my reply. He immediately turned the meeting into a counseling session where he advised me to abandon the law ambition. How strange! He said; “Lizzy look, Lawyers don’t live long, seeing your performance in the drama & broadcasting I am more than convinced, that you would do well in either theater art or mass communication or don’t you like acting or broadcasting?” he asked, I do sir, I exclaimed in excitement.
Maybe that was the why coupled with the rather erroneous believe that law is for the serious minded. I feared being serious, it wasn’t my thing.
Expectedly, my parent didn’t find it funny, when I filled theater art as first choice and mass communication as 2nd choice of study, at my first attempt at JAMB. All hell was let loose.
I fought tenaciously against my parent. I was ready to fight the whole world to have my way.
My dad and mum did not stop asking the curious questions; how did this change of heart happen? Why did she change her mind? , when and what happened? Those questions remained unanswered. Truth is, even I couldn’t point the reason why I had backed out from this dream.
First attempt at JAMB and post UME, turned into the second, and the second turned into third. There was something strange about the scores I was having, I was always one mark bellow the school cutoff mark. It was as though the heavens were in agreement with my parents. And there I was standing in between dreams and reality. I had planned my life already, I had wanted to graduate at 20, get married at 23, have all my children before 30 and perhaps slay for the rest of my life while making money.
The clock was ticking so fast, my mates were either in the university or in the polytechnic, everyone excelling progressively in their various field. It felt as though I was the only one left. I was stagnant. I saw my life in flames burning gently before my very eyes.
I was persuaded to start a diploma in law program after the third attempt, it was reasoned that it would increase my chance of getting a course with a lower cutoff mark at least. At this point, all I wanted was just to leave the house and get into school.
Good news is that while studying diploma in law, I fell in love with law again and this time for the right reasons. Besides this, my mum who never stopped dreaming of me becoming a lawyer kept persuading. She said, “just study Law when you graduate, you can do whatever you like, you mustn’t practice you know”.
So I was in 200 level Diploma in law when I took my fourth and final JAMB. This time I filled law, incredibly, I made far above the cutoff mark for law in the year 2010.
Come 12th December 2017, I will be called to bar. Finally the chase is over; my childhood dreams won over my fantasy. It was a destiny I couldn’t change even though I wanted to.
This would not have been possible without God, and I could not have come this far without my parent’s blessings.