Life they say is a great struggle. One has to go through countless challenges to become a stronger person. This article focuses on the life of a history maker in UCC. The 48th Congregation of the University of Cape Coast College of Distance Education (CODE) saw a young and brilliant scholar Sylvester Adreban, a BSc. Marketing student being adjudged the overall Best Student in Business marketing as well as Overall Best Graduating student at the said College after he had attained a walloping Cumulative Grade Point Average of 4.0. He has achieved a monumental feat as far as academics is concerned. The University of Cape Coast has over the years nurtured graduates with such praise-worthy achievements and Sylvester is not an exemption. UCC Times got up close and personal with this gentleman. His epic story, we believe will be a motivation to readers out there.
Sylvester, 28, began his education at Nyambong L/A primary in the Nkwanta South District in the Volta region and completed in 2003. He then proceeded to Nkwanta Secondary School the same year and completed in 2006. Shockingly, he had aggregate 26 in the Basic Education Certificate Examination -BECE. This, he attributed to lack of teaching and learning materials at the Junior High school. Haven grown up in Nyambong –a village, he always had to help his parents on the farm with his three other siblings. The family's condition was nothing to write home about. Unfortunately, he lost his dad at an early age. As if that was not enough, at a point, his elder brother had to drop out of school so he could stay in school. Through the odds, he was determined to move on. In pursuance of his education, he got admission into the University Cape Coast as a Distance student. This offered him the opportunity to work and use the proceeds to pay his fees. He was enrolled in the 3-year BSc Marketing Program.
In an interview with UCC Times , he disclosed how he came by this extraordinary feat in his life. Sly agree with the old adage by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow that “The heights by great men reached and kept were not attained by sudden flight, But they, while their companions slept, were toiling upward in the night.” He believes that hard-work, commitment, dedication and sacrifice were the contributing factors to his success story. Indeed success is deliberate and this was not on a silver platter-"there were challenges." He said. Having seen the smile of pain, he did not allow his financial constraints to blur his vision for excellence. He recounted the first time he wore a bathroom slipper. He noted, 'the first time I wore a bathroom slipper was when I moved from primary to JHS.' This marked a period of great transition in his life. Undeniably, 4.0 CGPA is such a herculean task! Sylvester however defied all odds and graduated with a CGPA of 4.0. Astonishing!
We were curious to find out how Sly was consistent with a Grade Point Average of 4.0 each and every semester until he graduated. We probed further to get the nitty-gritty of his remarkable story. When asked, “How did you do it?” He answered “initially I never knew I could do that. I had the motivation from my first two semester results when it came and I realized they were all ‘A’s’ then I said to myself ‘Sly you can do this!’” When asked of his biggest source of motivation he said “in terms of education, my dream is to aspire higher to become a PhD holder and that motivates me to go the extra mile. Socially, what keeps me awake is to ensure that the village which suffered because of me is properly taken care of.”
We were curious to find out how Sly was consistent with a Grade Point Average of 4.0 each and every semester until he graduated. We probed further to get the nitty-gritty of his remarkable story. When asked, “How did you do it?” He answered “initially I never knew I could do that. I had the motivation from my first two semester results when it came and I realized they were all ‘A’s’ then I said to myself ‘Sly you can do this!’” When asked of his biggest source of motivation he said “in terms of education, my dream is to aspire higher to become a PhD holder and that motivates me to go the extra mile. Socially, what keeps me awake is to ensure that the village which suffered because of me is properly taken care of.”
Sly made a profound statement when he was given the platform to interact with other students during the Graduation day in June this year. He challenged his colleagues not to regard themselves as failures because everything boils down to hard-work and determination. He took time to walk his audience through his life and how far he has come and assured to-be graduates to believe in themselves and that they can even achieve more than he has done. His heart felt message to his colleagues was really inspiring “the fact that you are not the best today does not mean you can never be the best.” He noted.
Sylvester still believes there are more green opportunities available for him to soar into new heights. Though he is happy for his accomplishments, he says he is never going to sit on his laurels as he looks forward to achieving his long term goal of becoming a PhD holder.
This is an incredible story of Sylvester Adreban. Someone who rose from Zero to hero and a classical example of what determination, hard-work, commitment and dedication can do. Never look down on yourself because of your poor background, press against opposition, strive for excellence no matter the situation and believe that the fact that you are not the best today does not mean you can never be the best. Let's be steadfast and our success story will be heard someday.
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| Awards presented to Sylvester |
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