Interviews

Winner of the 1st Vision 2020 Essay Competition: Onome Ofoman

On February 8, 2007, Vision 2020 awarded prizes to the winners of its 1st Essay Competition. 

The 5 finalists at the award ceremony were selected from a pool of 60 entries, based on a number of criteria including the structure of their essays, presentation of their ideas and their description of the 2006 Lagos Career Workshop.

At the Vision 2020 office, the finalists were put through the final stage of the competition, which included questions on Maths and the Sciences. They were also asked about what they learnt at the Vision 2020 career workshop. Miss Onome Ofoman, an SS3 student of Air Force Secondary School, Ikeja, Lagos, emerged as the overall winner of the competition. 

Vision 2020 interviewed her recently and we learnt more about Onome’s hopes and aspirations for herself and her country, Nigeria.

Background

How old are you?
I am 15 years old.

What is your state of origin?
I’m from Edo State.

What do your parents do?
My dad is a Mechanical Engineer, while my mum is a Teacher.

How many siblings do you have?
I have 3 siblings.

What is your position in the family?
I’m the second in my family.

What were your childhood dreams and ambitions?
I’ve always wanted to be an Engineer like my dad.

What type of encouragement did you get from your family to pursue these dreams?
My parents and sisters encouraged me by advising me and providing me with all my needs in terms of educational materials.

School

What class are you in?
I’m in SS3.

What is your favourite subject?
My favourite subject is Mathematics.

What job would you like to do in the future?
I’d like to be a Computer Engineer in future.

Why do you want to follow this particular career path?
I’d like to follow this path because I like anything to do with computers and other electronic gadgets.

Do you have any mentor in this field?
Not yet.

What sort of impact would you like to have on society and the country through your work?
I’d like to make a positive impact by ensuring that everyone has access to computers and are computer literate because the benefits of computers cannot be quantified.

Vision 2020

What were your expectations prior to the Vision 2020 workshop?
To be frank, I did not know what to expect at the workshop because I had never attended anything like that before.

Describe your experience at the program.
My experience was a very fulfilling and educative one because I learnt how oil is mined and refined, the courses you need to study in order to be employed and relevant in the oil and gas sector and how I can be of help to my country and the society in general.

How did the program impact your view of school / academics?
In terms of my academics, the program made me realize that reading to pass exam should not be the norm; instead I should read to learn and improve my mind.

How did the program impact your view of your future career?
In terms of my future career, the program strengthened my decision to go into computer engineering since it is very it is very relevant in the oil and gas sector.

What was your experience writing the essay?
While writing the essay, I spent some time in understanding and going through the workshop in my head before finally putting down what I gained from the Vision 2020 workshop.

What do you hope will be the impact on people who read your essay?
I hope that those who read my essay will be positively influenced and take my observations and learnings to heart.

Is the essay competition a good idea? If ‘Yes’, why?
The essay competition is a good idea because it makes people aware of their potentials. It also brings out the need to be good in whatever you set your sights upon.