Stories of Faith: A Girl’s Walk With Her Lord (5)

Heb 11: 1 KJV 

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.  

Heb 11: 1 AMP 

Now faith is the assurance (title deed, confirmation) of things hoped for (divinely guaranteed), and the evidence of things not seen [the conviction of their reality—faith comprehends as fact what cannot be experienced by the physical senses]. 

Heb 11: 1 EASY 

This is what it means to trust God: We will be sure about the things that we hope for. We will be sure in our minds about things that we cannot even see.

Last night I was watching the video adaptation of John Bunyan’s popular book, “The Pilgrim’s Progress.” I noticed how each time Christian went through a tough season, he’d encounter a space to be refreshed and to be equipped before being sent on the next stage. It made me think of this series I am writing. I remembered all the times God sprinkled rays of sunshine in what was supposed to be a difficult situation. This shows how God looks out for us and why we should never think we are abandoned or forsaken, no matter what is going on around us. Just as the goldsmith’s eyes are always on the gold when it is in the fire, God’s eyes are constantly on us.

Missing Detail from Summer/Fall 2022

I realised today that the part of the story that made the miracle of the Fall 2022 tuition significant was missing. I thought it happened in 2023, but as I wrote today, I knew I had to revisit it. So in 2022, I came across a NY Times story of NYU female students selling their eggs (egg donation) to support the expensive tuition. That got my attention, and I did some research about it. At the time, I had no other source to pay my fees after all I had tried, so I started to flirt with the idea. I told my elder sister this was an idea I was now aware of, but I would ask God before I made a final decision. She was quiet for a bit, and she said, “Hmm, you better ask Him well.” Lol! She didn't want me to do it.

I have confessions I say daily at different watches. Basically, I declare God’s Word over myself in different areas of my life. One of the scriptures I declare is, “God has erased the certificate of my debt and all of its obligations that were against me and that were opposed to me. He has taken it away and has nailed it to the cross.” Colossians 2: 14 HCSB. And one day after saying that confession, I heard the Holy Spirit clearly, “At no point in this conversation did we ever say you were going to sell your eggs.” It was funny how He said it, but more importantly, I had just received my confirmation that I wouldn’t need to donate my eggs on account of my tuition.

Guess what! A few months later, I met an actual student, one of my coursemates, who sold (donated) her eggs to cover her tuition. Her mum was aware and supported the process because the tuition was too high. I knew I wasn’t going to do that anymore because the Lord had clearly made His stance clear. However, by December, when my chances of paying my tuition promptly kept getting slimmer, I was frantic. I called my younger sister and asked her to ask God what I was supposed to do because I wasn’t hearing or seeing a way out, and I was back to considering this egg donation matter. I had prayed, but I also needed someone else to pray. So she prayed, and the Lord said, “Tell her to read Esther Chapter 8.” As an obedient child, lol, I read it. As I read, a verse looked familiar. I knew I had encountered it before. Then I remembered, Esther 8: 8 was the reference scripture to the decree I had made and signed with the Lord in 2020 before I even left Nigeria. He needed me to remember our agreement.

Remember this from blog post 1

This is how my faith was strengthened, and after a few days, the Lord turned it around. This is the relevant paragraph from the last blog post, “The challenge here was that if I couldn’t sort this out before a certain time frame, I’d miss the next semester and lose my on-campus job. In the nick of time, just like a line in one of my confessions says, “God will help Ugochi right on time”, God turned it around. I woke up one morning to my dad saying that someone who had been owing him suddenly paid, and he had transferred the money to me. Same day, Dr. W also loaned me $8,000. In one day, I went from incomplete fees to having enough to sort that out and having some deposit for my third semester. I paid off $2,000 over time, and in April 2025, Dr. W canceled $6,000 and said God already paid it. He said, "If you beg people to do something for you, you're indebted to them, but if God commands them to do something for you, it is an honour to do it." The story of Elijah being fed by the ravens and the widow buttressed his point (1 Kings 17).”

The Plight of African International Graduate Students

Spring semester resumed, and some of our African students could not come back to school. They returned to their countries. From the feedback from students at our events in the last semester, I saw a pattern of requests for scholarships or tuition support. I shared this with the leadership team of our African student group, AGSA. I let them know that we could do something about this by reaching out to the school. But in order to build a compelling case, we needed data. We put out a survey that could collect the data points we needed to build our case. 

My assumptions were confirmed in that survey. These students were top performers in their different schools. Less than 35% of those who filled out the survey received any sort of scholarship, and they needed scholarships. Of those who received scholarships, they received an average of 13% of their total fees. This meant that they still had a huge chunk to pay off themselves. I began to build a case and theory of the gap for international student funding. For context, this conversation is referring to international students who did not receive a full scholarship and who do not have the support to pay off tuition easily. I made a presentation slide and reached out to a few offices to have a meeting with them.

In my meetings, I mentioned the profile of an African International Graduate Student. These students have uprooted their lives from their countries for a chance to better their future through higher education. But when they get here, they are working on-campus jobs, they are leading and serving in student associations, they are navigating their countries’ currency discrepancies, and yet they are still in the top percent of their classes. These students deserve to be supported to continue their education. They do not need a handout but a strategic relationship because, on account of their success, there will be a chain reaction that boosts the profile of the school, attracts, and retains top talent from around the world. 

Despite this opportunity, there is a huge funding gap that affects these students from transitioning from one semester to another seamlessly. Many scholarships are focused on getting people into their first semester of school, and some are for a full ride. But what happens to students who are already in the school system without full funding and need support? The scholarships that exist for such students are very, very limited. The demand highly outweighs the supply. I believe that any African international graduate student who has already left their country, invested all their savings, is working on an on-campus job, leading or serving in student clubs, and is still on top of their grades, is the type of student who deserves to be supported and should be supported to continue their education. This is the gap, and if you know any philanthropist willing to fund this gap, I am happy to help them build out the system.

For each meeting I went to make a presentation, a different person was recommended for me to speak with. I did this till my tenure was over. After my tenure, I spoke informally to members of the University leadership whom I had met. None of these meetings led to our intended outcome; however, some of them led to me being invited to certain meetings to share my perspectives, some led to our student association, AGSA, becoming noticed and included in certain University activities, and we built partnerships with other offices in the University. 

In the midst of this, I had volunteered to be a part of a subcommittee that had no idea of my campaign. At one of the meetings I attended, the international students were not on the agenda because they were not “URM.” My heart sank, and I withdrew emotionally from the meeting because I was hurt, but at a point, I couldn’t help myself any longer, and I raised my hand. I spoke and gave examples of why it was important to include international students in the meeting’s subject, even though the focus was on “URMs”. When I was done, there was this unusual quietness in the room. Eventually, the meeting was over and I left. I cried that day. I cried because I knew real students who had gone back to their countries and who would never be able to come back to school, and yet their issue was not on the table. After the meeting, I received several explanations on why the meeting was set up the way it was, and it wasn't what I thought it was. But, I was thankful that God placed me in that room, that I had data of students' lived experience, and the courage to speak even though I felt outnumbered.

Understanding Patterns in One's Life

That same Spring, I was expecting a response to a Fellowship at the World Safety Congress happening in Australia in November. They were supposed to get back to us on 30th April. That night, as I was about to sleep, I remembered that they were supposed to get back to us, and they hadn’t. As I thought about it, the Lord said to me, “Are you aware that the first time you went to the US, you were invited from the top and it was fully funded?” I said yes, that was the Mandela Washington Fellowship in 2018. He said, “Are you also aware that the first time you went to Europe, you were invited from the top and it was fully funded?” I said yes, the trip to Brussels was sponsored by EC-UNCTAD. Then, He said, “This is Australia, the event partners are also from the top.”

Immediately, I understood what the Lord was saying, and I jumped up from bed and started pacing around my room. I began to declare, “I agree with You Lord that the pattern of my entry into new territories/continents is that I am invited from the top and it is fully funded.” I didn’t beg, I declared, and after that, I needed to take a faith action to demonstrate I believed what God wanted for me. I googled the weather in Australia, and I started planning my outfits. A few weeks later, I got the email confirming my selection to the Fellowship. When I got to Australia in November, I saw why the Lord had wanted me to secure my position. I could easily have been taken off the list, but God.

The rest of Spring went well. I had an initial deposit for my Spring tuition. The Lord made it easier to pay the rest by providing access to some funds. I was able to retain my student status, maintain my on-campus job, and was ready for a beautiful summer. That summer, I received the Ellen Schall Fellowship. It funded the pilot of my safety education program at an after-school program at the Upper East Side in Manhattan. I also got selected for the NYU Summer Sprint. I didn’t graduate with the 2023 graduating class due to the detour I experienced in 2022, but everything else was going according to God’s schedule.

To be continued

Key Lessons

1. Decisions should be backed by God’s directives. Some things are not necessarily bad, but the motive can make them bad. Some things are good, but they may not be God’s will for you in a particular season. It’s important to live a life that is led by God.

2. God places you in rooms not just to occupy space but to be a voice for the voiceless. Speak up even if your voice shakes. Be a good steward of the leverage you have been given.

3. Be a student of your life. Know how God walks with you because it ensures precision. Are there times He will switch things up? Yes, but many times the pattern for our next can be decoded from a previous blessing.

4. Godly confidence and boldness are kingdom attributes. I once heard someone say, “The degree of your confidence determines your results.” Refuse to be intimidated or shrink. Let your light so shine before men.