Islamiyat Ojelade has achieved a major feat in the United States of America after getting seven PhD scholarships in seven top US universities with HND.
Islamiyat majored in Chemistry at the Federal Polytechnic Ilaro, Ogun State where she bagged a Higher National Diploma (HND) in Science Laboratory Technology.
She got into school and gave it all her best, aced it and graduated as the best in her class. “After the completion of my National Diploma at the Ogun State Insitute of Technology in 2015, I went for my Industrial Training. Thereafter, I enrolled at the Federal Polytechnic, Ilaro for Science Laboratory Technology while majoring in Chemistry. I honestly didn’t want to major in Chemistry, but an error in my application got me Chemistry. But immediately I saw my name on the list of Chemistry students, I fell in love with it.”
Achieving a rare feat, Islamiyat said her success in getting scholarships for PhD without going through a master’s came with a lot of hard work and many years of consistency. She however said it is a great milestone in her life and that she is excited about it.
Ordinarily, it would be thought that Islamiyat must have to go through a master’s, or pre-masters course before climbing the academic ladder, especially with the HND/Degree dichotomy in Nigeria.
But, amazingly, the scholarships are for PhD, straight from HND.
She wrote: “Considering the dichotomy between HND and BSc in Nigeria, I was scared and confused about what to do next after my undergraduate studies.
“I am so elated to inform you all that I will be starting my PhD programme in Chemistry at the Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida, USA this Fall, having received full scholarships from seven universities in the United States of America with my Higher National Diploma in Science Laboratory Technology (Chemistry Major).”
The schools she got into are;
- Florida State University,
- University of Massachusetts Amherst,
- University of Kansas,
- University of Kentucky,
- University of North Texas,
- Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and
- Marquette University.