Celebrating A Milestone: My Friend's Convocation Day🎓
It was a truly joyous and unforgettable day for @jbeecom, a cherished Steemit friend and pillar of resilience, Jahaziel Bassey Uko. I'm used to calling him by the name, "Jarock", given to him during our secondary school days😁. He's a strong guy that never gave up. He kept pushing forward, and his strong spirit helped him overcome numerous challenges that threatened to derail his academic pursuits.
After persevering for four years at the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), jbeecom triumphantly celebrated his convocation with loved ones on April 12, 2025, marking the end of his remarkable journey. Alright , let me tell you a little story about this young man, who's reached this remarkable milestone at 20's.
After writing our WAEC exams together in 2016 and obtaining our SSCE certificates, Jahaziel's journey was far from over. Driven by his passion for technology and teaching, he set his sights on becoming a skilled programmer. Undeterred by financial constraints, he worked tirelessly to fund his education, aced his JAMB exams, and earned admission into the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), marking the beginning of his remarkable university journey.
During his time at NOUN, Jahaziel achieved notable milestones, including earning a Certificate of Competence in Entrepreneurship Education with outstanding grades in August 2023. This accomplishment fueled his determination to pursue his passion for programming. Simultaneously, he demonstrated his commitment to teaching by mentoring junior students at Etoi Secondary School, our alma mater where we both studied.
His dream was to be an excellent programmer/web developer, so the open University he went to wasn't even a barrier to him. While in school, he's been joining various seminars and programming campaign. One of them was called roothub, of which he followed up with passion and came out as one of the best student in their midst.
Jahaziel was so intelligent and smart right from our secondary school days, and he's still got that till date. I later realised his intelligency during an ongoing essay writing competition which was done online. According to him, he was just writing what he knows, not knowing fully well that it'll turn out to be good. On that fateful day when we were chilling beside a waterfall near our city, he got a mail that he's won the competition with the 2nd position.
He didn't believe till that day he exchanged greetings with the former governor of Akwa Ibom State, His excellency, Mr Udom Gabriel Emmanuel. It was streamed live, you need to see the happiness when he was presented with an award of 750,000 Naira, and a brand new Samsung tablet. What an achievement at the early stage of 20's. After the unforgettable moments and experience, he focused back to his education and teaching work.
Spending four good years in the university without indulging yourself into any occultism, impregnating a girl, or being sent away from school is something most youths can't overcome, but Jahaziel did. Indeed 12th April was indeed a great day to celebrate victory and success. Family and friends were invited to his convocation, and below are some the pictures captured during that day.....
Jahaziel pushing himself forward just to achieve his goal is a big inspiration to me. Remember, I said earlier that there was no sponsorship, but he didn't look back or feel unwanted by family and friends. He knew what he wanted, he went for it, and he got it. Jahaziel Bassey Uko is now a graduate with 2nd class, a pro tech and a good teacher. Once again, congratulations to you jarock my friend🫂🎉
https://x.com/alli_of_steemit/status/1915175645107077274?s=19
I especially enjoy it when friends celebrate each other. Congratulations to jarock your friend.