Can we meet you?

My name is Umar Ismaeel, a 400 level student of the department of English, University of Ibadan. In addition to that, I am a student leader on campus who has served in various positions and is still serving in some.

I am a writer and a content creator. I am a big fan of a simple life. One of my biggest dreams is to be a successful person that does his very best to assist people in the ways that I can. On the other end, I hate injustice.

I think I should stop here for now. Your further questions will reveal more about me.

Interesting. So, why are you studying English?

Initially, I wasn’t planning to study English at the University. So I should say it is a child of circumstance. I picked CLA in my Jamb registration and later changed to English when I heard there wouldn’t be PUTME. Fortunately, it held and I had 78, which made me qualify for CLA, had it been I had not changed my course. But I am grateful I made the decision. 

However, after spending some years in the field, it has become crystal clear that it is a field I would have loved to be interested in initially. I am a lover of language and its science. And that’s what we do here. We study language and how it can be creatively used to convey messages both at the denotative and connotative levels.

Being a writer and a public speaker, I have got to appreciate my course more. It has birthed in me the required skills and requisite knowledge to become a professional. That I must be grateful for.

Thank you. How does it feel being a finalist?

I would say it is a mixed feeling. You are so happy you are almost done with 4 years of trials and toiling. You can’t wait to get out of here and take the next challenge the world is pushing at you.

On the other end, you are a bit tense about the commitment this level requires. This is the year of long essay. This is the year you are not going to see your results. It’s a year of permutations. It’s also a year where external electives are very hard to pick. It’s a deciding year for many.

We truly want to leave here as finalists but the thought of the memory we have had with friends, lecturers and colleagues; the things we have not been able to do yet; and the uncertainty of what the next phase holds want you to desire for a bit of replay of events or a pause in time.

But all in all, the achievements we have raked and the expectations we have makes it a beautiful thing to be a finalist. It’s what we have all been looking forward to for so long.

What are some of the life and/or business lessons you have learnt?

I have learnt a great deal from the positions I have served in. They have made me a better person. I have learnt many things here that the world outside demands. 

I have got many opportunities to showcase my leadership skills as a class rep, committee chairman at UISRC, Deputy Speaker at Bello, Welfare and Social Secretary at MSSN Akinyele, Jihad week chairman, presently MSSN faculty coordinator, and a host of other positions. With these positions, I have learnt how to deal with those in the top echelon and lower cadre of a structured organisation. It has also made me learn emotional intelligence, I have improved my public speaking, analytical and persuasion skills. I learnt problem solving and have improved my critical and creative thinking skills. 

UI has given me exposure. I have served as campus ambassador for two brands during my studentship and I learnt a great deal from them. I learnt how to work with a team, how to meet up with deadlines, and a bit of marketing skill.

My stay in the press was also impactful. I served as the political editor for NASELS press and also as a UCJ UI senator. These improved my writing skill and eye for detail.

UI gave me great friends, good connections, and a new family. My stay here has been positively impactful. 

How have you been able to balance your academics with all the activities you’re involved in?

Firstly, I will briefly talk about the importance of being involved in extracurricular activities. This is a university. A place of universal knowledge. To be a complete student, you need to learn things outside the four walls of your classroom. Things that you can’t get to know in the classes of our honourable professors. That’s where the engagement in the extracurricular activities comes in.

Extracurricular activities are a great ground for breeding great minds and the most sought after persons. It is a training ground that affords you the chance to garner many life skills, soft skills, employability skills that you will need outside the walls of the University. 

The outside world is so competitive, you need to have an edge over others. One of the places to get the edge is your engagement in extracurricular activities. It affords you the opportunity to develop in areas that matter. Your academics makes you a good student but your extracurricular activities make you a great and employable student with the needed skill set and required experience.

However, we must also remember that our primary assignment here is our academics and one must not affect the other. This is the mindset that has kept me going. I will say my hatred for failure and determination for success have also been instrumental. I found what works for me academically, I adopted it and Allah has been seeing me through it all.

What do you want to become in future?

I want to become many great things but I will say being successful, having a productive, impactful and happy life summarises them all.

I see myself as a leader in any place I find myself. Like I said, I have many things planned out which this interview may not be the right place to reveal all but one thing is common to them all, I desire to be one of the best in anything I do.

It has been my long time dream to be a leading journalist, be it in print or broadcast media. Recently I have gained interest in business and also in Digital marketing. I won’t also forget to add that I wish to lecture in class one day. I have a God-given gift of precise explanation and an excellent teaching method. 

Those are some of the things I have in stock for the future.

What are your hobbies, likes and dislikes?

My hobbies are public speaking, giving analysis, writing, reading and enjoying life in the simplest and softest of ways.

I am not always good with likes and dislikes so I am going to keep it short. I like doing things that make Allah happy with me and I dislike doing things  He forbade me from.

One of the former is being good to people and assisting them in the best way I can. One of the latter is that I hate injustice and seeing people being cheated.

What is your relationship status?😁

I hope I will be paid for this, lol. You want to ṣe yẹ̀yẹ́ mí. I am single but searching for a committed relationship that will be built on trust, honesty, love and sacrifice.

What advice would you give to freshers and stalites alike?

For the freshers, it will be the same as any fresh university student, I guess.  You must be ready to read voraciously. You must also be ready to teach yourself many things. 

Being a student in our department requires you to be really smart, have a great command of English, be ready to cram tree diagrams (that’s in syntax), be inquisitive, be a mini researcher and you must be able to say a single thing in at least 5 different ways. 

In addition, you have to understand that language courses are scientific and straightforward. It’s either you know the answer or not. While the literature courses require your creative mind to excel. So as a student in our department, you need to know the different ways of approaching the questions from the two subdivisions as well as how to attempt questions from different lecturers as they have different styles. 

I will also advise them to start their academic profile on a very strong note as it will assist them later when things start getting tougher.

Above all, be ready for different trials, which means you need to have a strong resolve because you will be tried. They are going to test you!

Thank you so much for your time.

My pleasure.