After graduating with my bachelor’s degree, I decided to join graduate school. As I looked for a job, I figured I might as well advance my education. It was convenient, classes were in the evenings, the school wasn’t far from home, and I lived with my parents at the time. A few months later, I got an internship and was able to juggle both, rushing from work to school. I loved it all, my classmates, the engaging lectures, weekend group projects, the lively cafeteria, and the well-resourced library.
My internship ended after 4 months, but school kept me busy. Eventually, I landed another job, and with my boss’s permission to leave an hour early, I managed to attend evening classes. By the end of 2018, I was done with coursework. That’s when the real journey began working on the thesis proposal under my assigned supervisor. But life happened. I changed jobs, shifted my focus, and had no time to commit. So, I took a break what I thought would be short turned into 2 years.
Then Covid came. I was working from home, and I used that time to get back on track. I defended my proposal and even got a new supervisor. But still, finalizing my thesis was a stop-and-start journey.
At the beginning of 2023, determined to see it through, I created a prayer board where one of my biggest petitions was to complete my thesis and graduate. I prayed for God’s strength, because I knew I couldn’t do it on my own. I prayed for motivation, time, resources, and a smooth process. I wrote down my prayers, tucked them into envelopes, and pinned them up as a way of handing them over to God.
This was not a new dream. For years, the unfinished thesis had haunted me. I can’t count the number of sleepless nights I spent staring at my laptop, wondering how I would ever get it done. I wanted so badly to close that chapter, but every attempt ended with frustration. By the end of 2023, I had a draft. In 2024, it was edits upon edits, back and forth with my supervisor, until late in the year when a family member kindly offered to help. That was such a God-send.
Then came 2025. The year began with a hard blow: I started the year unemployed. Suddenly, I had no idea what my future would look like, and at first, it felt like yet another setback. But in God’s strange and perfect way, what I thought was a loss turned out to be provision. For the first time in years, I had the time and space to focus fully on my thesis. I poured my energy into it, polished it, sent it off, made the corrections from my examiners, and by April, it was finally complete. My grade came through, and my name appeared on the graduation list. I’ll never forget that moment, after years of carrying this weight, I was finally free.
This past weekend, I walked across the stage and graduated with a Master’s in Communication Studies from USIU-Africa. It felt like a dream come true. As I held my gown and cap, I thought about all the nights I cried, all the times I almost gave up, and all the prayers I whispered when no one else knew what I was going through. God had been faithful. The delay was long, but not a single moment was wasted. I can see now that the timing had to be just right. Had I tried to finish while juggling a demanding job, I would have been crushed under the weight of it all. What looked like loss, my season of unemployment, was the very thing that opened the door to restoration.
Two years ago, I pinned a simple prayer to my board. Today, I stand on the other side of it, holding the evidence that God hears, God remembers, and God restores. The years that felt stolen by doubt, delay, and disappointment have been redeemed. The joy of this moment has completely outweighed the pain of the waiting.
Truly, God is faithful.
...THROUGH MY EYES ✨ 