“I was working three shifts” – Lady graduates with First Class in Law against all odds

Opeyemi Tiffany Ehimiaghe has, despite odds stacked against her, finished with a first class degree in Law from the University of Lancester, UK.

In an interview with Myscience, she discussed losing her mother, who was her only surviving parent, while in her final year.

She said:

It’s been one of the toughest years of my life. I lost my mum – my only surviving parent – my family had to come together to pay my final year school fees following the scarcity of foreign exchange and the recession in Nigeria. Also, I had to work to support my living expense and my other day-to-day cost.

I was working three shifts which was very inconvenient for my studies but I had no choice. However, I quit the jobs because I could not keep up with it.

My friends here at Lancaster helped me out financially following my mum’s demise and I really couldn’t have done it without their help.

I want to say a big thank you to all the people who have made a huge contribution to my life. I don’t know what I would have done without the help of as well as academics like Professor James Sweeney and Phil Lawton.

Opeyemi, who lost her father in 2007, after which her mother was diagnosed of brain tumor, herself has a heart condition.

“I have to be careful and live near a hospital in case something happens,” she said.

She also shared the news of her first class on Twitter, with a photo of herself in her graduation gown. She wrote: “Mum took ill, ran into financial difficulties, then I lost my mum. All in my final year..but I pulled through. This one for you my angel ❤.”

The tweet has since gone viral, with some social media users even offering her scholarships, she said. “Social media is indeed powerful, been getting messages about scholarship and what I’ll love to do in remembrance of my mum.”

See the tweets below:

Mum took ill, ran into financial difficulties, then I lost my mum. All in my final year..but I pulled through. This one for you my angel ❤️ pic.twitter.com/8ycGiZ5oUV

— Opeyemi (@tiffany_ehi) July 18, 2017

Social media is indeed powerful, been getting messages about scholarship and what I'll love to do in remembrance of my mum?.

— Opeyemi (@tiffany_ehi) July 19, 2017

Photo Credit: Twitter – @tiffany-ehi