A Bachelor’s degree typically takes between three to four years to complete. Successfully graduating after this time, for most people, is filled with joy and hope for the future. There are however a few instances where it has taken longer than 4 years to gain a Bachelor’s degree. Such is the case of Alfred Quainoo, a young Ghanaian man.
A brilliant boy with 6 A’s 2 B’s from Prempeh College, Alfred was admitted to pursue an undergraduate degree in Economics at the University of Ghana. Despite his obvious brilliance, he struggled to keep up with his mates in the Economics programme, so much so that after the four year duration of the programme while his colleagues graduated, he was still in school rewriting papers he had failed.
Battling depression and anxiety from his seemingly apparent failure, Alfred eventually gathered courage and gave up on the programme to enrol at The Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration to read a BSc Administration. Nine years after gaining admission to the University of Ghana, he is finally a graduate with first class honours in Bsc Administration.
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In a lengthy emotional epistle shared on his Instagram, this is what he had to say:
“Where do I even begin? I’m so very blessed to be alive and to have all my hard work and perseverance pay of. It’s all led to this very special day: my graduation.
I never thought l’d get here, or even be putting this post together. The road to this day has been difficult and so very challenging. It took me 8 whole years to secure this degree. From completing my time in Prempeh College with 6As and 2Bs, to going to hell and back in Legon and eventually coming to GIMPA. Then not graduating with my Legon mates because I was too invested with arts and creativity. Dealing with severe depressive episodes from 2016 to 2017, and having to lie to so many people that I was doing my Masters, instead of struggling to get this degree. Having to constantly rewrite and fail so many papers and losing all hope.
These past years have been a nightmare, but through it all, here I am with a smile I never imagined l’ve have ever again. Life dealt me the most heartbreaking cards, but with God, and with determination, I am here. And I am truly grateful to be graduating with a FIRST CLASS DEGREE. This isn’t a post to brag or to flex my successes. It’s a post to inspire anyone reading this that there is always hope to hold on to when all else fails. I never thought l’d make it to this day, but if I can do it, so can you. Keep your head up, be positive and hope for the best, because you deserve it.
All the heartache and the tears will make sense one day, and when the successes begin to overflow, you’ll have all the sorrow to thank for making you this powerful. This is a new beginning for me, the perfect end to the stormiest years of my life. Finally. I am graduating. And I’m happier than ever!”
