Gaining admission into the university was not an easy accomplishment for Henry Emmanuel who has emerged the best graduating student at the University of Calabar.
Mr Emmanuel who was admitted into the Department of Zoology and Environmental Biology after three trials at the university was the overall best undergraduate at the 32nd convocation ceremony held on Saturday, 13th April, 2019.
He had a Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of 4.72.
Emmanuel who hails from Ini Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom state, Nigeria is among the 51 graduating students who had a First Class degree.
While celebrating the feat, he narrated how he had lost admission on two occasions and was left demoralised but did not give up.
“In 2012, I had my second attempt at securing admission in the University of Calabar rejected. I was dejected and demoralised.
“I was considered a failure by many. Yet, I never gave up those dreams. I saw failure as a lesson, hard work and resilience, a prerequisite for success.”
EduCeleb.com reports that with Emmanuel’s feat, he won several prizes, including the Tony Elumelu Foundation Award for Best Graduating Student worth a quarter of a million naira.
“Some dreams might seem too big and out of reach but I tell you today, that, no matter how big or scary they are, your dreams, every one of them, are valid,” he added.
Speaking earlier at the convocation ceremony, the Vice Chancellor of University of Calabar, Professor Zana Akpagu disclosed that 9,174 students, comprising of 7611 first degree graduates and 1563 Post Graduate Diploma, Higher Degree & Honorary Degree graduates graduated at the ceremony.
Also, 318 students were awarded Ordinary Diplomas, 251 got doctorate degrees and 221 students had their Post Graduate degrees.
Aside the 51 First Class graduates at the undergraduate level, 2356 had Second Class Upper Division, 4,532 had Second Class Lower Division while 672 had Third Class degrees.
