Fauzeeya Jamal-Deen

Fauzeeya Jamal-Deen is the first of four girls. Her mother is a trader and her father was a clearing agent at Tema. Setting out on her educational journey, she had always exhibited strong potentials and determination to attain the highest academic qualification possible.

After her basic and second­ary education at Mars Complex School and St. Rose’s Senior High, she gained admission to study at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) and also received a partial scholarship to study at Calvin University in the United States of America (USA) but could not enroll due to financial challenges.

Her father was diagnosed of a chronic disease hence his inability to support the family financially as he used to do while in active service. The situation, therefore, required Fauzeeya joining her mother at the market as they work hard to support the rest of the family and also settle medical expenses.

While selling, she was still focused on pursuing higher education and the financial difficulties did not deter her from chasing her dreams at the Ghana Institute of Jour­nalism, now University of Media, Arts and Culture (UNI­MAC-GIJ) where she recently graduated with Bachelor of Arts in Communication Studies (Journalism).

She did not only graduate with First Class but also won three separate awards. She was adjudged Best Student in Broadcast Journalism, Best Student in Journalism, and Best Female Student in Jour­nalism.

Hurdles

In an interview with The Spectator recently, the young graduate spoke about over­coming hurdles at different stages in her academic jour­ney and how she wants her story to inspire young girls in similar situations.

She recalled gaining ad­mission to GIJ at a “difficult time in her life” when she did not have the resources to settle her admission fees as a fresher.

After gaining admission, she was supposed to pay at least 60 percent of the fees (2, 400 cedis) at the time in order to complete student registration processes on campus.

She said her mother’s busi­ness was collapsing at time but a customer had provided 1,000 cedis to be re-invested in the business but her mother offered the cash as part pay­ment of the admission fees, although it was not up to the 60 percent required.

“One day, I got to campus and Auntie Vera (one of the staff at the academic affairs) ask if I had paid for the fees and if I knew the next day was the deadline for payment.

“Upon hearing that the fol­lowing day was the deadline, I was disturbed and feared I could drop out of school again. But kind heartedly, Auntie Vera helped me set­tle my fees for the first year and helped me apply for the MTN Bright Scholarship,” she noted.

This benevolence enabled Fauzeeya to continue her studies and although the four year period came with its own challenges she was able to sail through the rough terrain.

Motivation

Attributing part of her success to God and her family and Auntie Vera, she said her motivation came from the commitment to maintain her scholarship and also make her parents proud.

“When I started school, the goal was to just gradu­ate come what may. I did not think I was going to get any award at that time but Alham­dulillah (God) gave me what I wanted and more.

“I wasn’t expecting to receive all the awards. Based on my performance, I knew I would receive at least one award but others came to as a surprise.” I knew other first class students could equally win awards that was why I was not too keen on grabbing the ultimate,” she stated.

The awards mean a lot to Fauzeeya who is now a Teaching Assistant at Ghana Institute of Journalism. She believes it was a true reflec­tion of her hard work, per­sistence and determination. She is confident it would enable her to attain greater heights in her career and other endeavours in future.

She urges young girls to develop a winning mindset and not allow unpredictable circumstances of life keep them down. She mentioned Mr. Elvis Darko, the Editor of The Finder Newspaper, Mr. Benard Avle, General Manag­er of Citi FM/ Citi TV, Emefa Apawu, a Presenter at Multi­media and few other media personalities as some of her role models in journalism.

By George Obeng Osei