THIS IS HOW TO ACCESS GLOBAL OPPORTUNITIES

So she'll be giving me all the feedback, just in case I trip off at any time, which will not happen. All right, so moving on, I would like to introduce our first speaker for tonight, Mr. Gideon Olawaju. And I'm not going to do the introduction, I would allow him to actually introduce himself. And also, he'll be sharing his screen with us. So I'm going to give the floor to Mr. Gideon. Now, let me make him, um, co-host so he can, you can share your screen. Just give me a second. All right.

[Music]

Okay, all right. So, Mr. Gideon, you have the floor. Do I need to unmute him? Sorry, guys. Where did it? Sorry, guys. Coming. Okay. Sure, we can hear you. Yeah, that's fine. I was just commenting that that's interesting. I don't know. There's a new feature on, um, Okay, one minute. Yeah, I can see you properly, actually, just like right at the corner. Yeah. But can you see the slide? Yes, I can see the slide very well. Okay, he's asking for permission to be able to record the slide. So I'm trying to grant that. Yeah.

Okay, okay, fantastic. Hi, good evening, everybody. I believe you can hear me. Um, I want to welcome you officially to this Go Global webinar, being, uh, put together by myself and my partner. Thank you so much for the privilege to do this alongside with you. I know this is the first time we would ever be hosting something of this magnitude together, and I think it is really humbling to have a partner that we can, you know, train people on how they can develop opportunities. My name is Prince Gideon Olawaju, and, um, I'm the co-host of this webinar. I intentionally put all of these things on the screen so that I don't have to go through them again.

Now, one of the most significant things when you have events like this is for people who have signed up, who have paid their hard-earned money, to believe that they have come to acquire the knowledge and skills that allow them to take the lessons that we'll be sharing on here to do global exploits. We would be teaching from personal experiences. What you know, as regards this subject, might be different. So, remember, we're speaking from our own lenses. So if I say something, it might be different from what you've heard somewhere before. That is totally fine. This is us leveraging on what we know, what we've done, and this is not try and error, right? Uh, what you have on the screen is just a few of the professional accomplishments I've been able to garner over the last 12 years. So you're really learning from the best, no doubt about that. So anything I say may not be casted in gold or stone, but believe it because there is proof to show that we've done this before.

Now, it is experiential. How do we access global opportunities? Right? The assets are there for you to see. So please listen to me for the next few minutes that I have. It's not going to be exhaustive, but I want you to know that every single point we'll be raising would make sense to you. I'm saying all of these things because I'm trying to buy time. I see that there are people in the waiting room. So, um, but I'll jump right into it. Right?

Okay, I think it is fundamentally important for us to define or explain what global opportunities are in the very context of the conversation we are having today. I would always say that an opportunity is what you make of it. We have found individuals who get presented an event, an occurrence, and they do not know how to interpret or recognize that kind of event as an opportunity, right? So it is always very key that we are able to establish on this call for every individual who has registered what we mean by saying opportunities on this webinar. I have defined it either as a noun or a verb, and I will explain what I mean. As opportunity as a verb, when I keep explaining or bringing examples that allow you understand what we're trying to teach. So our divine global opportunity as a series of events or activities, occasion or occurrences that brings about advancement, progress, or growth in personal or professional development aspirations.

Now, let us unpack that. As an individual, you might have the desire to move from point A or from point A to point B or from point C to point D. An opportunity is what takes you from that point because you need to advance from point A to point B. So any event that brings about that transition or that move, that motion, that movement from point A to point B is an opportunity. Now, contextualizing that would be you understanding that if your desire is to get a promotion at work, if your desire is to get a scholarship that allows you move from a BSC holder to a master's degree holder, from a master's degree holder to a PhD holder, an organizational leader whose organizational revenue is $5,000 per year and you want to move to an organization, you know, getting grants to the tune of $100,000, that is a movement from one point to another. That advancement, that progress can be brought about by an opportunity, and in this case, it can be global.

This definition of opportunity helps you understand that sometimes opportunity might not be global, can actually also be local, right? It is important you are able to understand that anything that allows you accomplish your personal dreams, your professional aspirations from a point to another is an opportunity. Important.

Moving on, it is key too on this call that we are able to refine and define what we mean by these opportunities. We've defined it, but what are those kind of opportunities that I hope my expose today allows you to be able to understand how to access them, how to explore them, and how to leverage them for advancement or progress as we have defined in the previous slide. So this can range from internships, right? I have seen individuals who had gone on from, you know, ordinary university graduates, maybe locally or globally, and have taken up opportunities in form of internships, whether paid or unpaid, to move from a point to another. A huge example of them is a very close friend of mine called Hu Sila. He won't forgive me because I've always referenced his case as a great opportunity of someone who leveraged internships, an unpaid internship as a matter of fact, to go global. He has worked with the likes of the African Union, United Nations Economic Commission in Africa, UNESCO, and many more. He got an unpaid internship at UNHCR in, uh, Geneva, and he was required to actually find money to sustain himself in Geneva. He went on to do this six-month internship, moved from there to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where he had gotten numerous opportunities to work with the African Union and many of these global opportun, uh, global institutions. So you need to also understand that it could come in form of an internship. From doing an unpaid internship, he's now an international civil servant.

An example can also be summer schools. As students, either international students outside of the country or even undergraduates in Nigeria or in any country across the world, there are numerous free, fully funded, uh, summer schools online that are out there for you to apply for, leverage on. They are summer schools, which means they come at a time when there are academic breaks across the world. So it is needful that these slots are always there for people to fill. You can, you know, apply for some of them, go, and you are able to get either knowledge, new skills, uh, change in your attitude or values, which is, you know, the pinnacle of education, right? It could be training camps, it could be conferences and workshops. I have attended up until last year since 2016. I cannot count the number of conferences I have been, and some of these conferences had resulted in attracting organizational funding for my organization.

Now, it is important that a lot of people think, "Oh, opportunities that come through conferences are just networking opportunities." Yes, they are, but they can also be get, you know, funding and many other things that can come with you being in a community of practice physically and able to showcase, you know, what you do, where you're from, the potential you carry, and the significance of your contributions to conversations within a space. It could be volunteering positions as well. I very much know individuals who have built significant financial wealth by volunteering for the United Nations, for example. There is an online platform called UN Volunteers, and I'm not even talking about UN Volunteers now, I'm talking about online UN Volunteering that has limited, uh, unlimited, I mean, unlimited volunteering opportunities that allows you to support, you know, organizations to, you know, do transcription of documents, translation of documents, you know, joining for project management online, and very interesting things like that. Away from that, there's a global organization called, uh, Volunteering Service Overseas, VSO. VSO gives people opportunity to actually go volunteer abroad, and VSO is just one of several organizations that provide opportunity for young change-makers or young people to actually volunteer for a cost. All expenses paid, your flight to cover, they provide you with food and any other thing that you might need as a form of upkeep in these locations. So volunteering, which I'm still going to very much talk about, is also part of those opportunities.

Fellowships. There are various professional fellowships that are either academic or professional. For example, there is the Ashoka Fellowship, there's the Mandela Washington Fellowship that gives you opportunity to become a part of a network that beyond the specific time of going on that fellowship, you can always leverage on the resources that that fellowship has to offer. It could be awards, it could be funding. Hors. These opportunities are limitless, and on this call, we continue to share what they can mean for different kinds of people. And I'm saying this, I took time to explain this because when we got questions on the Go Global webinar, what are we teaching? We subcategorized the different people on this call right now into four. Right? We have university undergraduates, Nigeria. We have recent graduates. We have working professionals, and we have nonprofit professionals. Those are four categories. So we had contextualized our teaching today to feed into the learning aspirations of everybody, regardless of who they are and where they are from.

So moving on. Yes, um, I have seen over time that in this current knowledge economy, there's been a transition in the reason that young people aspire to leverage opportunities. A lot of people think it's an opportunity for you to travel. That is secondary. There are a lot of primary reasons because there is no point leveraging opportunities for short-term gains if it is not there for long-term significance. And let me explain that. Some people think opportunities are meant for me to go to a conference in Sweden, take a selfie with one or two people, come back to Nigeria and come and prepare my classmates, right? Or prepare people in my organization. And this has been the thought process of the current generation of emerging leaders in the school of thought of leadership when it comes to global development. There are three categories of leaders. All of us on this course, we are leaders, right? That is why you've taken your hard-earned money to register for a webinar like this. So before I move on on explaining why opportunities, why are these opportunities important? And it is not for the reason that I initially mentioned, which is go to an event, take a selfie, come and post on Instagram, and that's it. There are established leaders, the likes of Samson Too of Yaga, who has established himself as a beacon of modern, you know, election and democracy in Nigeria. The likes of Amzat Laal, that works on, you know, quite a number. The book is Shapers of this world. Those are evolving leaders, those who by virtue of expertise and knowledge are still trying to find their feet, but they have actually done remarkable work and have been able to attract professional accomplishments. So these are people with, you know, minimum to maximum of five to seven years of personal and professional, you know, experience in their field of interest. And then we have those that I like a lot, called the emerging leaders, those who are trying to still figure out what is their sphere of influence and what is their direction to go when it comes to actualizing purpose.

Now, I say purpose because when you have a potential, right? This is debatable. I don't want to sound spiritual, right? But everybody has a talent or a gift or a potential that you have been allotted that you're supposed to harness and on for you to pursue live purpose, right? Now, emerging leaders, many people, we live in a world where the saturation of information brings about confusion, right? And at this point in time, it is important you're able to fine-tune why that is important. It is that confusion that makes some young people, emerging, reach out to me and say, "Sir, I want to know how you are attending conferences so that I can go and come back." They mix up the importance. And that is why it is really great that I explained this.

Now, the first thing that I wrote here is improved cultural understanding and awareness. It takes a global opportunity that could come in form of a fellowship for you to understand that there are this number of cultures in India. That when I went to the University of Sussex, let me use a scholarship opportunity to explain what I mean by improved cultural understanding. I was in a class that had up to 47 nationalities. We are individuals that have come from different or diverse academic, cultural, religious, professional backgrounds. So when we bring, um, our nuances or our insights to fall, it is always diverging. I am born and bred in Nigeria. Before going to the UK to study for a master's, I've been to other countries as well, but my exposure is actually limited. But when I got into that classroom, I had to internalize some lessons, which is as a function of the cultural, uh, nuances that these individuals from different countries have brought about. And that is what has enabled me, for example, to get or attract other international consultancy opportunities because I understand what it means, maybe, to study with a German or with an Estonian or with a Finnish. When you get some of these opportunities, whether a fellowship, you spend three weeks in Geneva with people of diverse backgrounds. You are able to build something called multicultural skills, which is the concept of multiculturalism that is really vital in this current global economy. The ability for us to work in international multicultural environments. So these opportunities enable you to do that.

Improved language skills. You cannot go on to do an internship, six months, either paid or unpaid, in France, for example, at the UNESCO headquarters, and you are not forced, even by virtue of shame, to learn French. For example, when I got enrolled in McGill in Canada, I saw that in my class of 21 students, about 17 of them can speak French. By virtue of shame, I decided to go, go register for a French class. You cannot desire to grow global and the only thing you can speak is your half-baked English and your local language of Yoruba or Hausa or Igbo. No, it's not done. And that is why by virtue of you getting an opportunity, which can be any of the ones in the previous slide, right? Which can be any one of these, it allows you to improve on your skills.

Robust international networks and multicultural connections. It has become a norm now that we walk into some conferences in some part of the world, and you will see someone that knows you. That is the depth of your international connection. Somebody made me understand that you cannot know how well you are connected if when you need something, a name doesn't pop up in your head, and that person is not Nigerian or African. You can measure the depth of your international connection or the robustness of your multicultural connections by having access to, if I decide to implement a program or a project in Rwanda, in Kenya, in Ethiopia right now, there are some names that come to my head. That is what a global opportunity can, you know, afford you. And how can that come by? You just attend a two-day conference in Bonn, in Germany, and in a room of 200 people, you are able to connect with one or two people, you become friends with them, you sustain your relationship over time, and then you begin to collaborate for mutual benefits over time. That is the power of opportunities.

Access to global communities. I used to be a part of one of the world's most classic groups of young people. It's called the World Economic Forum Global Shapers Community. Please just give it a Google search. And these are communities that you can be a part of anywhere you are across Africa. World Economic Forum Global Shapers Community. Now, it's interesting because this community has, or in more than 700 cities across the world. At a time when I was a member of that community, by the way, they have more than 12 hubs in Nigeria right now. If you are in Calabar, Port Harcourt, Owerri, Lagos, Abuja, Enugu, this is a community. This is a community you can join. We used to pride in the belief that there is no event you go as a young person in the world that you will not meet a global shaper, and it is the absolute truth. So we used to find ourselves for a global shaper selfie anywhere in the world, right? That shows you having access to global communities. That is the beauty of an example of a youth network, which I'm still going to get to.

Now, I'm going to skip right to the second to the last one. You may not know how pivotal this is, but I will tell you that the first time I was going to consult for a global organization, it was through someone I had met at a conference and we connected on LinkedIn, and this person continually, you know, followed my work. And there was an opportunity that opened up. They reached out, I applied for the opportunity, and I started earning in dollars in my room in Ondo or Oyo State, right? Making money is very simple. It's about understanding the fundamental basis of global opportunities.

The last one, the very last one, which is important in this current dispensation, increased financial independence. Not every time you need to call home and or depend on friends or take loans. There is a lot of things involved. There are some fellowships that are opportunities that you get engaged with, and they, they pay you. Let me even talk about scholarships. There are some scholarships in this world. Once you get that scholarship, you are in money, right? And a huge example is Mastercard Foundation Scholarship in some institutions across the world like Cambridge, like Edinburgh, like University of California, Berkeley, a lot of them like that. They buy you a laptop, you know, really interesting stuff. And at that point in time, you go from having zero Naira in your account to, you know, having few pounds and dollars in your account per month. And if you like me, that you save, you are part, you're creating your path towards creating financial independence. These, for me, why I think young people in this current knowledge economy needs opportunities, not to prepare anybody, to leverage on currency situations that brings about advancement or growth in their professional aspirations. And I'm going to go, the one I mentioned now, uh, Mastercard Foundation Scholarship. I just got a wind of that.

So moving on. Okay, fantastic. Now, if you have not been listening before, this is where I think you need to pay attention. If you have ever listened to Land R Shapers share anything anywhere, you will know that these three things have been my cardinal point over the years, right? I have always maintained that what has enabled me, you may not know, but I am 29, clocking 30 on July 10th. When some of my colleagues look at me, they say, "Things you have done are things that we want to." And these are people in their late 30s, going to 40. And I say, "Something has really helped me over time to define and accelerate that advancement that we defined when we are talking about opportunities." Now, three things make professionals, right? People, platforms, and opportunities. You can move from point A to point B, like I mentioned, you can advance. That is made possible not only by opportunities that we are discussing in here, but by people and platforms. But it is opportunities that facilitate you meeting people. It is opportunities that facilitate you leveraging on platforms. So it is really important that you understand why opportunities are key for you to progress in life.

Now, back to what I was trying to mention. Something has helped me, and that thing is what you know, translates into these three things. I have been able to do what I have done at my age because of clarity of purpose and a sense of direction. I'll repeat that: clarity of purpose and a sense of direction. Now, all the things I will be explaining on this slide illustrates or justifies why I have held on to that mantra that the key to unlocking your acceleration as a young professional is having a clear sense of purpose and a clarity of direction. Now, that translates to how do you even position and access these opportunities? The first thing is capacity. And here comes a Lera classic quote: passion is key, but capacity is king. In this generation, we have a lot of young people who are so passionate, they want to change the world, they want to, uh, buy Bentley for their parents. That's passion as well, don't misquote me. But one thing that helps them visualize that passion and actualize it is a function of capacity. And I used to say, the first thing important that you need to understand on that path of not only being a passionate person, but you are a competent, passionate person, is you having the basic personal upskilling. Regardless of who you are or what you do in this life, there are five fundamental skills that I think you should have as a person. I'm not talking about professional skills. You can be an MBA and expert, and you need to understand how to use Microsoft Excel and Power BI. Those are professional skills, right? But I'm talking in this generation, basic personal upskilling. Five skills you need to have. Number one, research skills: the ability to dig deep into Google and find usable information for your advancement. Research skills. The second thing is data analysis or data visualization. That is really, really fundamental, regardless of your field, regardless of the work you do. Second skill: research, data analysis. The third one, communication skill. There is a very laughable video that I have on YouTube that I've successfully unlisted from public to private now. It's a video of me seizing an opportunity in South Korea in 2016. I've been funded by the then Senate President, Bukola Saraki, to go for a conference. And at that conference, I had this very important question I wanted to ask. It's at the end of a panel. I was on a queue. It was a very long queue. And then the panelist, the lead panelist, said, "After the person before me, no more questions." So everybody left. But as a typical Naija boy, flew all the way from Nigeria to South Korea, more than 21 hours. I can't go and sit down without asking my questions. No way. So I stood on that queue and waited. Immediately the person before me was done, I rushed away the microphone from the person. And at that point in time, the justification of my action is as a function of my ability to consciously express myself. And that reflects the importance of communication skill, either written or spoken, in this generation. If you cannot speak truth to power by your ability to consciously romanticize your words inside a room of professionals, then you are not ready to go global. So research, data, communication skills. The last two skills: interpersonal and networking. Networking is not walking up to somebody at a conference and saying, "Sir, can I take a selfie with you?" No. When I started my journey as a professional, if you know me very well, I have two uniforms to global events. Is it? I'm putting on a white agbada with green embroidery, or I'm wearing a blue suit. And there's a secret behind that. It's their conversation status. There's no place I wear to and somebody knows, "Oh, sorry, where are you from?" "I like your outfit." "Well, I'm from Nigeria, and my name is Gideon. What do you do?" And we start talking. The networking part. A lot of young professionals, they go to conferences and collect a lot of complimentary cards and then they dump it at home. By taking a picture with you at an event, having you commented on my dress, I'm going to ensure that immediately I leave the conference, I send you an email with an attachment of the picture that I took with you that you remember that guy you took a picture with and say you liked his suit. Yeah, this is me. How can we work together? You need to understand how to gain and sustain attention over time. The last one: emotional intelligence. It is really key that young people know when to speak and what to speak about, right? I, I have been in events and you would, you would shake your head when young leaders who have not mastered how to be emotionally intelligent just mismanage their opportunity. And yes, that can be mismanagement of opportunity.

Moving on. The second one when it comes to capacity development is verifiable thought leadership. If you're on this call right now, I would ask you, when you hear the name Tobi Salami anywhere, what is the second word that comes to mind? Please drop it in the comment section. I just need five people. Even three is enough. You see, I'm proud of you, baby girl. Oh my God, my head is swelling. Yes, that's it. When I say verifiable thought leadership, at a time, ah, it don't do it, don't do it, don't do it. I have made my point. Right? The same thing applies to me. When you mention Prince Gideon, why only one thing comes to mind? And that is education. Nothing more, right? And that is because if you Google either of the names, it is there is a direct correlation in what we do and what we speak about, right? Can people verify what you know, and how you know it, and how you apply what you know, right? That is the concept of verifiable thought leadership. The idea that when you mention your name, there is a corresponding word that comes with it, which is very much equated to what you're known for, right? That is verifiable thought leadership. Short and long-term professional development plans. There's a lot of people who over time, they do not know the direction of where they're going. It is really important that if you are going to become a thought leader in the field of, let's say, education or environment, you know what, what, what you're doing in three years, in five years, and 10 years. It is really fundamental. If you are not able to define that, rating a very detailed personal short and long-term professional development plan, then you are not yet ready to build the capacity that can allow you access the opportunities that moves you from point A to point B.

The second thing is credibility. Credence. Now, this is very important as well. The confusion that I said the young leaders in our generation have can actually be demystified if they relate with the Sustainable Development Goals. The SDGs has created a very perfect, um, um, template for young people to know the basis of sustainable development is three things, right? Society, environment, and economy. When you hear sustainable development, there are three dimensions: there is economy, there's society, there's environment. There's environment. You can work in either of these things in this current dispensation, and your work will be relevant. However, you are not able to do any of these things if you do not define your area of interest. Lander, education, Salami, environment. And there are various, you know, spheres of influence that you can build over time that allows you to attract opportunities in that area of interest. There's a direct relationship between an area of interest where you can build as your sphere of influence. Area of interest, sphere of influence. You can work in humanitarian aid, women and girls' rights, education, sexual and reproductive health and rights, access to water and sanitation, climate change and environmental sustainability, and so on, right? It is really important that you are able to have a defined area of interest from early on. That is why you will know you have that thought leadership. When they are having a conversation in Morocco, and they are looking for African leaders, young African leaders working in the field of water and sanitation, and in the top 10, your name is there. Yes. Now you are, I mean, you're talking. But that would not be able to happen if this last point under credence doesn't apply.

Visible specialization plus digital footprint. A lot, a lot of people. He, I missed that one. Which one? What are the categorizations? We'll come back to that. A lot of people do tremendous work as Nigerians or don't worry, I'll send the area of interest later. Please do. A lot of incredible work, but you cannot find that anywhere online. They will say, "I just decided to be very private. I'm a very private person." Hey, you cannot be private if you want to go global. It is not possible. That was a time. That was a time that the only, the only youth-led article on the P.A.C.O.T. suit in Nigeria was written by Tobi Salami. I remember that was the time I was still, you know, trying to, you know, toast the babe, you understand? And any people were calling from almost anywhere in the world. "I read this article of yours on the P.A.C.O.T. suit." Let there be a digital footprint. If you do something, you already have an area of interest or a field of specialization. Showcase yourself. Have a visible LinkedIn page. Post your work on Instagram. Post your work on Facebook. The world will not know that you know if you do not show that you know. It is really fundamental. So sometimes when you see that some of us post, it is not show-off or show-biz. I had gotten an opportunity that took me to 11 countries before because of an hashtag. Lady and gentlemen, an hashtag I used, an hashtag in one of my posts, and it led me to a table. That table presented me to speak and attend conferences across 11 countries free of charge. Oh my God. And that has. I'm proud of you too. Thank you. And that has led to so many things as well, right?

The last one is communities. I cannot speak too much about this very one. For you to position and access global opportunities, you need to join communities. And how can you join communities? Remember, we already established the importance of, you know, having an area of interest or a sphere of influence. May it be education, like many of you know. Interpreting that will mean I have joined youth networks, and there are quite a number of them out there. There is AIESEC, there is the Commonwealth Youth Networks, there's the Queen Commonwealth Trust, there is the Global Changemakers, there is, uh, World Global Youth Ambassador Network. There's quite a number of them out there that you need to be a part of if you want to access opportunities. There are some opportunities that are just waiting for you right now when you become a part of a community or a youth network. And that is why I was talking about the importance of, um, of the Global Shapers Community. It would interest you as a member of the Global Shapers Community of the World Economic Forum, you can attend up to 15 events every year. All you need to do when you're part of that community is record a two-minute video of what you're doing to change the face of the world, and that's it. And you can find yourself in Geneva or in Switzerland or in Zurich or any place, right? That can bring about all those benefits of global opportunities as initially pointed.

Moving on. Did I go back? Okay. Where can I get these opportunities? The first thing. H. See, sometimes you need to know, we function in an economy that is value-driven, right? An economy that is very much dependent on your ability to outshine and outrun or outperform. And see, regardless, this is very debatable and very, um, complex as well. This next line of thought that I'm about to share with you. My best movie in life forever, I don't think they can ever produce any movie that would be that movie. It's three idiots. I work in education, so it's an educational movie. But there is a quote from that movie that has stuck with me for life by that very wicked, uh, principal in that engineering school. For those who have seen three idiots, he said, "Life is a race. It's either you run faster than others, or you are trampled upon." I know believers on call will say, "Oh, life is not a race, life is a journey. We cannot be trampling upon people." Yes, yes, I believe. I believe. But imagine we have 259 people on this call right now. We all want to go global. Let me use Chevening Scholarship for example. Chevening Scholarship is funded by the FCDO. It's one of the, you know, most prestigious scholarships in the world. Every year, they have just 1,800 slots for over 880,000 applications globally. Mind you, Nigeria used to have historically, over the last seven years, Nigeria has had the highest number of applicants. This year, 8,000 plus. And trust me, the selected people cannot be more than 50. Right? Now, there are times three of those people who are invited for interviews, maybe 150, 160. You may be on this call and you've gone for a Chevening interview before. Trust me, it's not easy. But when I train people to get Chevening, I tell them, "At the point of going to the interview, you are only showing up to say, 'Do not select me.'" And I know what I say when I say that. It is because of the nature of the competitiveness that is now very dependent on your ability to outshine and outperform. So what used to filter the privileged few that get some of these opportunities is actually knowing where the opportunities are. Many of us are building credibility, upskilling ourselves, we have good digital footprints, but sometimes it is where the opportunity is coming from that makes some people miss the opportunities. So I say the first thing you need to do is join newsletters. I have a special email address where I, where I used to subscribe for newsletters. It's like an addiction, and that is because a lot of people do not know the importance of that. Moving from newsletters, let's go to membership organizations. There are some organizations that when you're part of them, you have to pay a membership fee, and because of that, when you join their community, you have access, exclusive access, you know, exclusive access to opportunities. Another one is follow media pages. I have been in contact with some universities in the US who would tell you, "Per year, we have up to 57 or 70 funding opportunities for African students, and only seven of these seven of 57 slots are being filled every year." And then you ask them, they say, "People don't apply for them." Really? How does that happen? Access to information to go global. You need to be able to leverage on information. Subscribe to repositories of opportunities. Now, it would interest you to know that in the year 2015, 2016, when I wake up in the morning, I say my prayer, I drink water, the next thing I do is to visit opportunitydesk.org. It is laughable because this page is developed by an amazing Nigerian woman called Grace Ugo, and it is a big repository of opportunities. So when we wake up dead every morning, you refresh, maybe there's something new for your field of interest. Most of the things that I got early on when I started my journey were things I stumbled on on Opportunity Desk. But thank God, in this generation, it is not only Opportunity Desk that we have. There is Youth of Africa, there's a Success, there's Opportunities for Africans, there is Colors for Dev, and lots more like that, right? The very last one here will be attend local or global networking opportunities. Now, in 2014, 2015, there is a pastor in Area that leads Dominion City. Apologies to those who are Muslim on here, sorry to mention something religious, but this man organizes a conference in Abuja here called the, uh, International Youth Conference or something at the ICC. We used to come all the way from the Southwest with night bus to Abuja to attend that conference. It is really interesting the number of people I've met at occasions like that. We need to start local before we go global. How many networking opportunities have you heard about in Nigeria that you've gone for? That could be where you will meet someone that moves you from point A to point B. Remember advancement, progress, and growth. It's really important we pay attention to that.

Thank you very much for that. Uh, he. Okay, sorry. So that is everything that I have on accessing global opportunities. I trust my beautiful Dam cell to shed more light on global opportunities when it's our time. So I'm going to move very, very, very, very quick to another subject that I really love to talk about. Right? But before we move forward, please let me drink water. Tell me over to you for a few, few seconds.

And while he drinks water, um, I would just like to say that, please, we're going to share with you the bonus resources, and the three materials that actually be in the bonus resources: you know how to write winning essays for scholarships, how to access international opportunities, and myself and I, I'm already working on a repository that has all these platforms that you can, you know, search for. I know I, I search for opportunities. I shared something like that, you know, on my Instagram, and a lot of people actually follow those pages. So I'm just going to do like a lifetime, um, repository that you can access. So don't worry, anything he mentions on this call is going to be in that repository. But just hold your pen and paper at this moment if you know that you want to apply for scholarships because it's going to be amazing. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Em. So the first thing I would need to say while we move on is, guys, trust me, it is never easy for myself and Tammy to compress the knowledge we have about this subject in three hours. Trust me, I can spend the whole three hours talking about access to global opportunities, but there's just so many things to talk about, and that is why those materials are going to be, you know, very useful. I have a, I don't know, maybe, uh, can you see my screen? Yes, we can see your screen. What can you see? Scholarship Positioning for International Scholarships. Okay, you still see my slide. So I have a material on Careers and International Development that is 169 pages. I have a scholarship, how to win and leverage scholarship for graduate studies abroad, which is about 50 pages. There's a compilation of international scholarships that is about 84 pages, and we're going to be sharing all of that, right? That is to say that even though, even though we don't have all the time to talk about the subject, that resources that are exclusively available for people who have paid for this webinar, right?

So moving on, real quick. Scholarships, scholarships, scholarships. I'm really always excited about this. I have 720 to do this. Oh, God Almighty. Telly, you forgive me, darling. I will steal from your time, right? Permitted. Access granted. Oh, that's my girl. Thank you very much. So one of the things that is important to note is that across the world, there is yearly millions of unclaimed scholarships in the UK, in Canada, and in Europe, as well as the US. The misconception that a lot of people have is that the best scholarships you can access are just crowded in very few study abroad destinations like the US, the UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, and perhaps Germany. But trust me, far, there are unclaimed scholarships in several parts of the world, even apart from these leading scholarship destinations or study abroad destinations. So it is really important that I first clarify that misconception that if you had not won scholarship in the US, in the UK, in Canada, and in Europe, you have not won scholarships. No, that's very, very, very wrong. Either within this space and outside, there are millions of unclaimed scholarships per year, and there are reasons for that, right? The first reason is lack of access to information, to start with. The second reason is people having the fear and not understanding that regardless of who they are and where they are from, they are also scholarship materials, right? But activating that, being a scholarship material, is one of the things we are going to be talking about on this call.

Now, of 100% of scholarships that we have in the world, that are some of them that are very dedicated and devoted to those who are candidates of academic excellence. So you've gone to Covenant, you had first class in Economics, you've gone to Babalola University, you've studied, you know, Sociology and International Relations, and you have a first class. Unfortunately, some of us are not that lucky, right? My first degree is in Medical Biochemistry, and I went to LAUTECH, Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, and I had something we call escape by chance, second class upper. Now, what do I mean by that? I graduated with 3.51. If one professor just mistakenly turned one A to B, I would have left school with a two-two. But the beautiful thing is that we are in a knowledge economy that are not forsaken those who, by virtue of circumstance or privilege, have not been graduate or first class. Because in Africa, in Africa, you would agree with me that your final grade is not a perfect reflection of your academic intelligence. And a lot of people will relate to this reality because we function in a space where lecturers would just attend you just by the, the bubble of your cheek when you smile, which is a very flawed reason. Yeah, please, if you can relate with this, let me see, you know, thumbs up, right? I mean, we all connect with the reality of sex for grades, for example. Many people are unable to access opportunities because they are denied. Some people, some schools have a tradition: A is for us, B is for my family, C and D is for the brightest students. Can you imagine that kind of a thought process? But the beautiful thing is that if you are someone who have dedicated your time to community service or humanitarian development, you have the chance to leverage on free money to build more skills and knowledge through an advanced graduate degree abroad or even locally. But away from those people, there are also scholarships available for those with special needs. When I say special needs, I'm not talking about physical deformity or, um, physical, uh, incapability. I'm talking about those with even financial indigency. There are scholarships, uh, for example, a Shiga scholarship, and many of them like that for those who are orphans or those who can demonstrate that they have a financial need, and by virtue of their background, they cannot pay for their tuition fee. So everybody, in one way or the other, can actually win a scholarship.

So I like to say this thing that not everybody will win a scholarship, but anybody can win scholarship. And this psyche, this understanding, helps decipher the very flawed assumption that scholarships are made for special people. No, I do not agree because sometimes when you see those who attract financial funding to pursue their degree abroad, they are just humans like you and I, right? But this is what makes the difference, right? Having the right profile and accompanying that with a perfect delivery. This is what I have been able to master over the years. I have leveraged that for myself. So supported my darling, uh, wife to be, sorry, not wife yet, wife to be, yeah, as well as so many mentees in my network to actually get the scholarships you need to have the right profile that you need to perfectly deliver.

Now, moving on, it is important for you to know that of all scholarships in the world, 70% of them are essay-based and non-appearance. What does that mean? The most scholarships, you need to write and script something in your notes for them to access your suitability for those scholarships. But of all of these scholarships, that are some that are two-phased, right? When I say two-phased, they will be that the first thing you need to do will be to write the essay, and the second phase will be for you to do a one-on-one interview. But in all of these things, there is something that makes you stand out, that makes you a scholarship material, quote and unquote. It is something we refer to as investment worthiness or funding bias. And I'm going to unpack that, right? So the question that you're going to ask yourself is, am I investment worthy? That is what.

We're going to be talking about on this call now. Investment worthiness is usually a function of your compatibility, your own compatibility with the funding buyers of a particular funding body, which can either be a university, a private sector uh funer uh an individual philanthropy.

And I will give you an example. For example, you have the Chin scholarship. The Chin scholarship funding buyers is a function of investment into countries that share foreign strategy relationship with the United Kingdom. Right? You have one scholarship in Nigeria called the AIG scholarship that allows people to study for a master's in public policy in Oxford. That scholarship funding bias is about raising the next generation of public administration professionals in Nigeria. So they are looking for people whose experience over the years or their current status shows that they will go on in life to become public administrators.

The idea is, what is your profile? If you do not have one, sometimes I tell people, it takes just one year or two years of intentional positioning for you to actually transform yourself into a scholarship candidate. That your profile, and yes, it is what it is. You have limited opportunities for a big pool of emerging leaders who also want to leverage on free money to go and study abroad. So it is important that you elevate your profile to be able to feed into the funding agenda of some of these organizations.

Now, going quick, I tell people to win a scholarship is like a bird, and you have seven bullets to kill that bird. Now, these seven bullets is what I've highlighted on this screen. Remember, yes, I like your question, Jennifer. Steven, what should an ID profile look like? That's what we are diverging right now. We are distinguishing and sharing and telling me, give me more, more English. You're the Garian here. Come on. Yes.

Okay, moving on. Remember we said two things: your content and then the structure. Your content is actually your profile, right? Your uh structure is how you deliver. That is the perfect delivery. So let us start with the five things aligned to your profile, which is the content. Please don't be confused by this. The content, the structure. The content equals to the profile. The structure equals to the perfect delivery. Remember, I want to take you here, right? The right profile, the perfect delivery. Seven bullets. Bullet one to five applies to the right profile. Bullet six and seven apply to the perfect delivery. Yeah, let's go.

The first thing is the right university and course of choice. A lot of people would say, "Oh, I want to study a master's degree in analytical chemistry in a Finnish university." And they are not conversant with scholarships that fund advanced analytical chemistry in Finland. Sometimes the the right university and what makes the university choice to be right is you aligning what you have done over the years with what they offer in the modules of that course, right? The availability of funding opportunities in a space like that also allows you to begin to strategically position yourself over time, right?

So, one thing that I tell people is to attract the right scholarship is you deciding, "Okay, where do I think there is a conglomeration of these courses that I want to study or this course that I want to study?" I say these courses because there are some of us that are sold out to academic scholarship that we just want to read all the books in this world. We just want to have a Master of Science in this, a Master of Art in this, a PhD in that. So sometimes, you know, you have to just be positioned right. But what makes you make those choices is understanding where the potential scholarship for those courses are. And I would tell you, you may not know, but in the UK, in the US, in Canada, many of these countries, by virtue of the universities there, have an affinity for some subjects. What do I mean? If you want to study law, for example, law, and you need enough funding for law, please go to the US. Right? If you want to study anything environmental sustainability, for example, H sorry, Tammy, go to Canada. Right? Not even the United Kingdom. If you want to study, somebody's asking nursing, nursing with funding, interestingly, go to the Philippines. Yeah, I'll tell you for free. Yeah, Philippines. You know, 50% public health, go to the United Kingdom. Education, come to the UK. Microbiology. Sure. This is not going to distract you. It's distracting me, actually. So I think we can just move on and then add it to. Okay, good. Yes, we add it to the document. There's actually a finding I've done in one of the books.

Now, the second thing is having a feasible field of interest. I always say that service-based scholarship that many of us rely on, some of us that are not lucky to have a first class or have gone to Covenant or some highly ranked universities, is that these scholarships do not just fund anything. Chevening will not just fund anything. Mastercard doesn't just fund anything. Gates Cambridge doesn't just fund anything. Fulbright doesn't just fund anything. Many scholarships have very definitive subjects that they fund. Now, it is important that you are able to understand the underlying ideology of that funding opportunity or scholarship to know whether they will fund your your your subject of interest or not. You cannot win Chevening scholarship to study a natural science or a physical science course, for example. They would rather fund social sciences and humanities. Mastercard, the same. That doesn't mean that there are no scholarships that will fund sports marketing, for example. There are a lot of um universities in the US who will comfortably fund you for sports physiotherapy, uh, and, you know, sociotherapy, and so many interesting courses like that. But one thing that is important in this current age is settling for a subject or a field that is not only popular but that is relevant and bankable. And I will unpack that because it's actually in red on this platform, on my slide. Relevant, because a few years ago, when we were growing, our parents would say, "You are going to study banking and finance, right?" But it will interest you to know that in South Korea today, there are no individuals working inside banks. And that is because automation, robotics, machine learning, and the future of work is is catching up such that we cannot continue to study courses that are being outdated or being fizzled out.

So when I talk about the relevancy of a course, it is because it feeds into current and future developmental architecture. And what do I mean by that? By having a very definitive understanding of the underpinnings of sustainable development, which we mentioned earlier: society, economy, and environment. As long as the coming of Jesus Christ stays, those three things will always be at the center of world economy or global economy, right? So it is important that whatever course you're studying is actually able to fit into that. And then, you know, I have some of them listed here, you know, talking about health, development, environment, education, water, peace and conflict, law, public policy, AI management, you know, water engineering. I'm biased on this on this my slide. I put courses that are humanities and social sciences. So forgive me. That's so many courses like that. The idea is, ensure that when you're positioning for a scholarship, that there are actually courses that you know can feed into advancing the world in the stream of either the environment, the economy, or the society. And for just the society alone, there's a lot of things that's applicable: good health, good education, provision of water, and a lot of subjects like that, right?

Moving on. Now, applying for scholarships of highest affinity is when you pick a university or you are you you finally fine-tune the courses you want to study, and you have picked that course in a feasible field of interest. It is important for you to search or streamline your scholarship choices to those that have highest affinity. And what do I mean by that? I would not want to study education and now be positioning myself for Chevening scholarship or for Fulbright scholarship because I know there is no affinity between my subject of interest and that scholarship. Because I work in the field of education, I will be looking for scholarships that over time have been definitive in their profile or background information that we welcome to fund people working in the field of education, right? So it is important that your university and your course of interest must align with the funding ideology of the scholarships or scholarship singular and plural that you are planning to position for or even apply for. There are people who profile opportunities, scholarship opportunities, three years ahead of time. And what they do in the build-up to the time of when they are ready is ensuring that all the things they've done and built over time fits into the agenda of that funding body. That makes it very easy for them to land that opportunity when the time comes. What makes some people shoot this bullet three and they do not kill the object in front of them is that there is a disconnection or dissonance in between what they are trying to study and the scholarship they are positioning for. Don't say you want to study um sports management. And it's interesting, though, because Chevening for example, sorry, I'm using an example of something. Okay, let me change. Mastercard, for example, would not fund uh physical education for example, because in their ideology or the investment bias, that is not there. So one thing you will look out for when positioning ahead of time is to understand what would these people fund and where would they fund it, such that that can inform or concretize your field of interest choice, your university choice, or your course choice.

Moving on. Now, this is just reinforcing what I meant earlier, which is understanding investment bias. I just explained that, right? It is important that you know that all funding scholarship, either uh internal specific, internal general, external specific, external general, I have a material. Material will be sharing, you know, shed more light on when I mean internal specific, internal general, external specific, external general. Those are four major categories of scholarships. I won't expand on it, but there is a material that you will get, which is how to um, how to, I want to get the right name so that when we send it, you're looking out for it. How to Win and Leverage Scholarships for Graduate Studies Abroad. It was written by me. Inside that um toolkit, there is an explanation of the four major categories of scholarships: internal specific, internal general, external specific, external general, right? So what you're doing when you're researching and planning your scooping and looking for these funding opportunities is to understand their investment bias. And there's a way I tell people to go about this thing: is asking yourself, "So this scholarship now, for me to know investment bias, I need to ask myself, who have they funded before? Right? What are these people doing? Then before they funded them, what are these people doing now?" You are going to find a commonality in the profile of the people that these people have funded before. And I give an example of, you know, what some of the scholarship, you know, what the investment bias of some of the scholarships are. So you have Chevening, which is about foreign policy priorities. You have Mastercard, which is very much keen about social development and economic change. So most of the courses that they are funding aligns with this uh field of interest. Or, you know, this very interesting scholarship in France, which, you know, focuses on policymakers and public and private sectors. When you are able to understand and decipher investment bias, it makes it easier for you.

Moving on. Now, strengthening your case and improving your chances is about leveraging on the materials that has been developed in this tool. It is helping young professionals to profile scholarships and then align them with courses that they may want to study, the university they have selected, the areas of interest, and how they can build their track record, which is what the profile is really much about, right? So you are able to lay a perfect foundation of your profile to approach a scholarship when there is a harmonization of all of these points that we have raised. Is there a connection between the courses you want to study and the investment bias of the scholarship that you are hoping to get to study that course? What is your area of interest and how does it align with this course? What are the things that you've done previously or that you're doing currently or things that you need to do going forward that allows you to get this scholarship as informed by the course you've selected and the university you are open to go study this particular course? Right?

Moving on. The last two things I would expand so well on these because this slide talks about what increases the chances of people positioning for scholarships, right? The first thing that you need to know, remember what we said when we were talking about accessing global opportunities and I spoke about uh capacity and I was talking about, you know, basic profile upskilling. It is also very important when you define your area of interest or your sphere of of of influence, whether it is humanitarian aid or women and girls, right? Or education or sexual reproductive health or access to education and sanitation. It is important that you begin to garner the professional knowledge that you need. Now, you might not get academic training. You might not get access to paid academic training, but there are thousands and millions of Massive Open Online Courses called MOOCs that you can access on Coursera or edX or many of these free platforms. They even, some of them are paid, right? These are certifications. They are paid, but you have to pay a token, which even have scholarships for you to be able to get these courses, right? These serve as a fundamental platform that you can build up your profile. Another thing is professional affiliations. What groups or networks do you seek to belong to that when a scholarship reviewer checks your personal statement, they become instantly interested to say, "Oh, this person is a part of this network professionally, and therefore that means that they have continued to do something that shows that they are a potential policymaker or opinion former or leader in their field." Another thing that you can do to strengthen your profile is volunteering experiences. And like I mentioned, you know, you have the likes of the PSO, you have the UN Volunteers, for example, and many others. And I tell people, you don't have to volunteer for a global organization for you to boost or increase your volunteering experiences. You can do that by finding an organization that does something similar to what you're doing and offering your skills to be able to support them. That allows you to be able to put them on your CV and improve on your personal experiences and expertise. Research papers, article publication, or published opinions. Do you know when you open a Medium account or you publish something on your LinkedIn article page, you are building something we call thought leadership because you are increasing your knowledge bank and your expertise portfolio about that subject matter, and you become to be referred to as a subject matter expert on peace and conflict. So by the time you're sharing, right? Not everybody has the room to be able to write, you know, academic papers that can be published. But when you put them on a public platform like Medium, like LinkedIn, and people get to read and engage with them, you're an opinion former, you're a thought leader. That forms a base or part of your profile that can increase your chances and improve your profile in positioning for scholarship awards and honors as well for the work that you do, either as an undergraduate, either as a graduate, either as a professional. If you win an award, it is really key that you are able to leverage on these things in building up your profile. I said organizational accomplishment because there are people on this call, like I said earlier, who are nonprofit professionals, who have nonprofit leaders, right? Any one of these things can be used. It is the compilation, the accumulation of all of these things that increases your portfolio as a scholarship material, right? It doesn't have to be everything. It can be anything. It could be two or three of these, four of these, all of these. Anyone that works for you.

Now, where a lot of people used to miss it is that you need to be like Tim Salamy that runs Echo Champions. You need to be like um um Shara that runs Stand to End Rape or that runs RE Africa to be able to win scholarship. That is a very flawed assumption because we have, because of that misperception, have a continued and proliferation of non-governmental individuals, NGOs. So if you go on LinkedIn, you will see founder and executive director, hold my hands and fly Foundation, walk my hand, I see your face initiative. And the problem with that is, oh, short fired, short fired, apologies. It's not intentional, but it is really important. It is really important for us to talk about the continuous. And it is worrisome because you see individuals who do not have the professional understanding, the emotional stability, the social cultural awareness on how to run organizations, starting up initiatives with the belief that it is when I have a founder in my name that I can become, you know, a scholarship material. So you are, you go on LinkedIn, you see abandoned initiatives and organizations, which is really wrong. This is where I used to distinguish one: why you can be a volunteer and not a pioneer, right? I run an organization called Area High. This is the eighth year of existence, and I can, I can proudly share with you that more than four or five individuals who have worked in this organization, who are not me as a funder, have gone on to acquire and access global opportunities. Let me shock you. Yeah, Area High. See, one of my staff members here, one of one of my closest staff members, which I will very painfully miss this year because he's going to graduate school, won four global scholarships this year. Four, right? And this is someone who was denied an opportunity last year. He's now crossing his leg on the table and deciding, "Do I go to Oxford? Do I go to Colombia? Do I go to Cambridge? Do I go to Edinburgh?" Today, I was still asking him, "What is your choice?" He said, "Boss, I don't know yet." I said, "It's your time. Enjoy." This is some. He is not a funder. He's not an executive director. He is just a staff member here in the organization, but he has taken up responsibilities. He has contributed his skills and competencies to amplify the work that we do. One thing I did not mention here as I move on is having access to people who can write solid references for you, which is why having good relationships matters. That lecturer that you have gone to office to go and prep him on the day you did R day and signing out that you say, "Mob, bye-bye." You are still going to go to this person for a recommendation letter. Sh, you know, so it is important you sustain these relationships. Very, very much important.

I have two last points, and I will shut up for the night. Tell me, I promise you, I promise. Yes, two last points, which is really important. Now, this is going to be a sketch. This is where I move to writing solid winning essays. I taught people in my organization this. Sometimes writing essays is very, very uh scientific. It is an act and an art. Act. Writing is a combination of being a heart and a heart. Make sense? Fantastic. If you're on this call, I want you to find and buy one book. It is called The Sense of Style by Stephen Pinker. When I write Instagram captions, my wife to be will say, "You, you just be blowing grammar, be writing big, big English." I am different from her because I have read books in the past that have fought me. If I have not written something that I think is emotional, I'm going to repeat that. It's called The Sense of Style. Sense of Style by Stephen Pinker. If you are lucky, if you Google this book, you're going to see a PDF copy online. That is the first book I read. The second one is How to Talk to Anyone Anytime Anywhere by Larry King. Those two books served as the foundational premise upon which I build my writing, my writing winning essays skills to date. I am not, I am not being boastful right now, but I have close to 90% success rate when it comes to writing to win something: awards, scholarships, different things.

Now, this is where these bullet six and seven is important. Now, the resources we are going to share also has a breakdown of how you can translate this into practice. Now, there are three things that they taught us when we were learning English language in secondary school. They taught us that whether you're writing a narrative essay, an expository, an argumentative, or letter, they are subdivided into three components, three parts. You have the introduction, you have the body, and you have the conclusion. That is English 101 or English 001 because it is fundamental, right? However, to write essays that spark an emotion, that ignite a response, is you leveraging on a guiding framework. I'm going to be mentioning some thematic things. Please, it's important you pay attention. We've mentioned the components that we are very much familiar with: the component, intro, body, conclusion. Now, let's talk about the framework. The guiding framework. There are three things you need to pay attention to to write a very strong, bankable, and believable story. Remember when I was talking about scholarships that are scholarships that all you need to get them is to write an essay? But do you know that people are now contracting people to write essays for them? Yes. And then scholarship bodies believe that that is not representative of the identity of their selected candidates. So they include, "You write the essay, even if you have sent it to someone, come and talk to us about this thing physically." Ah, even Chevening, that's very good. That's going to be a talk for another day. But to write something that is believable, convincing, you need to to put three things into consideration. The first thing is the flow, right? Flow is also equals to coherence, and that is how your introduction links to your body, links to your conclusion. You need to be able to write essays that are coherent, and paying attention to that flow is ensuring that there's a connection. Now, magnitude. A lot of people do not know how to add material tangibility. Yeah, thanks to my pastor for that. English material tangibility to their essays. It is about you mentioning people, places, institutions, days. If you write an essay and you say, "On August 9, 2007," there is a believability in mentioning that thing, in mentioning people's full name, in mentioning places. So people just write things, boom, like an abstract of an academic paper, unrelatable, not connective. You can't do that. Direction is putting into consideration the potential you carry, and it is transmissible from the very first statement of your essay. Now, there is something we used to share about what is contained in. I'm trying so hard to rush, but there is a resource that has all of these things in breakdown. So please, don't let us, you know, have any form of confusion that will affect us. Not you. Have you have 10 more minutes? It's fine. Yeah, take, take your time on it. I should take my time with 10 minutes? No, Jesus. My Jesus is on the throne. Anyways, moving on, right? I have mentioned two things. I don't want you to lose track of it: components, framework. There's the resource that explains this more. So please, let's move on. Components, then framework.

Now, it is important that when when you're trying to build your component, remember your component is your introduction, your body, and your conclusion. You can leverage on things I have named: feelers. Remember, we are talking about scholarships here. I'm not talking about the essay that you are supposed to submit to your line manager about in your workplace, please. So don't, don't go and use these feelers in your workplace, so it won't work. Oh, I'm talking about scholarships in this case. The feelers that allows you to flesh out your components in this case, intro, body, and conclusion, is you talking about three fundamental things: your passion, your impact, and your vision. Your intro, body, and conclusion must be able to carry and transmit this message from you as the writer to your examiner or reviewer as the reader, right? Now, passion, impact, and vision. All scholarship essays, gentlemen and ladies, must reflect your passion, your impact, and your vision, right? For you to be able to communicate your passion, your impact, and your vision, you have to leverage on things I have named: effects. So if you are listening to me and you are not dozing yet, there are four things I've mentioned: components, guiding framework, feelers, and effects, right? Components: you have intro, body, and conclusion, right? Guiding framework: you have your flow, your magnitude, and your direction. For your feelers, you have your passion, your impact, and your vision, right? Now, the last one, which is the effects, is what allows you to explain your passion, what allows you to explain your impact, and what allows you to explain your vision. If you understood me so far with the four things I've mentioned, please give me a thumbs up. Um, you can also give examples. Okay, good. Yeah, I'm going to do that right away. So the example that I can give is what I have here, right? So the most important component, the most important effect, so that I don't confuse you in scholarship writing, that is a form of persuasive writing, is all of these things. Now, these are a mixture of things you can write about, talk about, that explains or elucidates your passion, your vision, and your impact. It could be about the fact about your work or area of interest, right? Yes, I'm talking about the examples of effect right now, right? Fact about my work, for example, is that currently Area High works in about 18 states in Nigeria, reaching an average of 50,000 beneficiaries across a number of schools. You know, we've done more than uh 12 funded projects. That's an example of facts about my work. Figures about what I have done. This year alone, we're trying to reach over 4,000 IDP students across 8 camps in Abuja. That's a figure. That's figures about my work. Statistics about what you're passionate about. If you are to talk about education, I can be talking about the fact that one out of three out of school children in Nigeria are girls. 55% of girls that enroll in primary education do not transition to tertiary education. That is me leveraging on the typical effect, which is statistics about what I'm passionate about, to talk about my passion. I hope you're understanding now. Inspirational quotes as your opening line, at this statement, or to summarize a paragraph. I tell people, the development of an essay is very simple. You can break down an essay into paragraphs. An essay is a compilation of paragraphs. You can also now break down a paragraph into statements. Usually, in essay writing for scholarships, your paragraph is made up of five distinctive statements, right? You have your introductory line, which is often referred to as your thesis statement. That is the statement that conveys the original thought, an idea of a paragraph, right? Then after that, you have a supporting evidence. Your second statement in a paragraph, or five statements, is your supporting evidence, right? Your third paragraph is something we used to talk about as your contradictory or corroborative evidence, and that is because it is believed that in persuasive writing, you need to have something called balanced critique. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forevermore. Is the fact. However, there are some thematic biblical statements that may contradict and at the same time corroborate that statement. It is important for you to balance that thought process. Without corroborating evidence, your fourth statement is all about you also providing additional evidence. And your last statement is you introducing using your next idea. Paragraph development that transitions into essay writing. That's a topic for another day. Yeah, three minutes more. Yes, I know. No, no, no. I also just wanted to say because um somebody asked, sorry to cut you short, that can we have like a sample essay and all of that? And I don't think that necessarily possible on the call. But what I think we can do is like give examples. Maybe you could use like my essay I wrote for Chevening, how I started out, ended dates, and something like that. Yeah, definitely. Yeah, that can be done. And all of these examples, yes, all of these examples of the effects.

Moving on. Yes, yes. I know I have just two slides and I'm done, right? Now, this is the most important table. There is a homework, an assignment in the material that we're going to share on scholarships. You would have the opportunity to leverage this table. The way it is, it's a tool for you to write a typical essay. You're going to read it to yourself and ask yourself, "Am I convinced? So if I'm a reviewer, will I give myself scholarship having read this?" Right? Now, this is a table that allows us to combine all of the four things that we've mentioned: from our components, to our framework, to the feelers, to the effect, which is not confusing so far, right? On this page, right now, if we go uh vertically, I believe, sorry, or yeah, vertically, you will see the transitioning from the intro, body, and conclusion. But the way the table appears doesn't mean that the only thing you're talking about in your introduction is your passion. No, it doesn't mean that. And it doesn't mean that you're using your body uh to talk about the impact and your vision in the conclusion. You can actually move your vision to the introduction. You can move it around. The application of this table is dependent on how a question is being framed. The application of the entire four things I've mentioned is dependent on the question of the scholarship. Chevening, for example, has four different essay questions that you need to respond to. But your ability to be able to translate the knowledge of this table into use when writing the essay is number one, your knowledge of paragraph development, and number two, your ability to unpack a question. "What are you doing to change the state of the world?" That is a question. The first approach would be to identify things we call the theme words in that question. "What are you doing to change state of the world?" Words: change, state, world. Those are three thematic words in that question. So words that means it is not one thing, it could be numerous things, right? Change, one, when they mean change, it could be about transforming, it could be about renovating, so many interpretations you can give to that. The state of the world as it applies to your case can also be different things. In the resources, there is an example of how to leverage this tool in writing. But by the time you get it, you will see the thought that went into using feelers as an effect to build up the frame, to to build up the components, and how the framework justifiably can be used, which is the flow, the magnitude, and the direction. I hope that helps. Ah, yes, that's my concluding. What it is, it takes time to be able to build a convincing profile. But I think all the things we've said on this call and examples of things you need to do to access global opportunities allows you to position. But when you are significantly positioned, it is now dependent on you to be able to use the knowledge that you have and the profile that you have to write convincing essays that can land you opportunities. It doesn't have to to to be scholarship opportunities. It could be any of the opportunities that was initially mentioned in the earlier stage of this conversation. And that is everything from my end. Thank you very much for listening to me. Uh, I toss it back to T to to you know, take it off from here, and we're hoping the question and answers later on that allows us to hear more from from me at that point. T, over to you.

Mr. Sheer, I just wanted to say that it might seem like it's a lot, but that's why we're giving out free resources because you cannot learn everything about scholarship in 30 minutes, right? Um, and one of the things that I've I've noticed over time is that you have to like consistently, you know, look for knowledge. You have to consistently practice. And one other thing I also say that when you get materials, there's a high tendency that you just want to get it and then leave it. Please actually read that material. I read some of these materials while I was preparing for my own scholarship, even though he's my man, but like they really helped me, and I studied fully funded in the UK. So when you get this materials, please like take your time to actually read them. Um, you know, we could have shared samples of essays, but I'm, I'm, I'm not, you know, I'm not a fan of that cuz we've had situations where people just copy and paste, and then they get to the interview, they're looking like, "Okay, I didn't write this essay." But one thing I also say in addition to scholarships and everything, please do your research. I'll give a very good example before I go into my own session briefly. So when I was applying for Chevening scholarship, and I remember the second time I applied, and I sat down in front of the interview panel, and the question they asked me is, "Oh, if you don't get a scholarship, you know, what's going to happen?" I'm like, "Okay, I'm going to continue my work." And then some of the questions that they were asking me, the way I was responding, it literally felt like I was in Sussex. And if you guys follow me on Instagram, you'll also see that when I was actually in Sussex, I I was sharing a lot of things. And that was not because, oh, I just wanted to share, but like I immersed myself in the school. Even before I got to the school, I could tell you where the beach was, even before I got to the school. So they want to know that you are knowledgeable about what you're applying for. So if you apply for things like Chevening, Mastercard, you know, they want to know that you've done your research about the school, what modules do they have in this school, what are the things that you're looking forward to? For example, I talked about looking forward to going to the beach, you know, although I went like three times because Brighton is, you know, is sunnier than other cities in in the UK. So all of those kind of details, there are not details that anybody will give you on the call. It is when you do your own research and you actually check out these schools. And the scholarship, by virtue of some of the essays I've read and reviewed for some people, I tell them straight up, like, Chevening is not for you. Not because they are not good, but I'm like, Chevening doesn't necessarily fund these courses. But there are other scholarships that naturally just give you this funding, you know, without you having to like cram in between 10,000 people applying in Nigeria. So do your research. I cannot overemphasize this. Even if ChatGPT writes for you, or somebody sends you sample essays, when you want to face a panel, ChatGPT will not be there. When you want to face a panel, you know, the person who wrote the essays will not be there. Larry has been on panels, you know, for Chevening, and I can tell you for free, you can tell through anybody who is lying in their essays. So practice makes perfect, right? So thank you so much, Cher, for that your very, very robust lecture. I call it a lecture, actually. Thank you. So before I move into my own session, I just want to um ask, like, in the comment section, how has it been for you? Let me know in the chat. You know, what have you learned so far? Um, Bui, you can just drop the link. There's a, there's a link to a Mentimeter. She will drop it, and I'll just. Can you please stop sharing your screen, Mr. Gideon? Thanks. Okay, let me just do it here myself. All right. Wow, I can see beautiful. Great, great. Let me share my own screen. I don't have a lot of slides. I think I have about five slides, but like, I'm going to be very, very practical, like based on my experience. I'm coming. Let me just share it. Um, what's going on? Let me pause. Sorry, guys. This is my fifth time doing a webinar. I still don't know how to share screen. All right, let me do this one. Some for screen. All right, so can you guys see my screen now? Just let me know in the chat section. So this is my own presentation, but I'm going to be very, very practical. You know, how do you position yourself on global opportunities? Okay, let me just give you like a backstory. I was studying Dentistry at the University of Lagos. We got kicked out, you know, in 100 level, and they said we should go into our houses. And the reason why I'm sharing, you know, some of this background is to show you that anything you are probably going through right now, maybe as a student, or anything, I've probably been there, except you're doing PhD. And, you know, I wanted to become a doctor, and all of those things happened. And then we moved to, I moved to Marine Biology after a long protest. And when I got to Marine Biology, you know, the first, my first few months, I actually felt like some curses and all of those things, you know, moving from studying medicine, you know, in Nigerian homes, if you're doing all all of those kind of courses, you're like, top, top guy. And then I moved to Marine Biology. And then I sat down, I'm like, "Okay, now that we're Marine Biology, what are we going to do? Like, who in Nigeria is studying fish and water? Like, who's my business?" You know? So I, I just sat down and said, you know, we are here and let's just make the best use of our time here. Maybe when I graduate, I'm not going to do anything Marine Biology for for now. I'm in this school and I'm in this course, and I will just do what I need to do. And then I graduated. Actually, I graduated with a 2.2. So I'm not like Sheer that escaped first class and did 3.5. Me, I graduated with, in fact, I feel like if a lecturer was wicked to me, I probably graduated with a third class. And it's not a reflection of my intelligence, you know, a lot of things happened, you know, lecturers and all of those things. So when I graduated, before I graduated, I already started an NGO and all of that. You know, I started talking about the environment. But here is the thing. One of the things I told myself is that I'm going to build knowledge. I'm going to build information. I'm going to make sure that I'm not an empty tank, per se, right? So imagine yourself going to a tank trying to get water, and the tank is really beautiful, and then you open it, there's nothing. No matter how beautiful the tank is, there's nothing inside. The tank is useless. It's not serving its purpose. So I said I was going to invest in knowledge. And investing in knowledge did not mean that I had to pay for anything, per se, you know, I said Google, you know, people working in environment outside Nigeria, because at that time, not a lot of people were working in environmental education, per se, or climate change in general. Majority of them owned like recycling businesses. So they were in between businesses and social enterprises. And then we had the likes of Sassy Vibes, but there were there were not so many templates, you know, on the ground. So I started making research and I said, "Okay, if we cannot go local, let's go global. Take our bag and go global." So I started looking out for people who were working in my sphere of interest outside of Nigeria. And I'm saying this to say that majority of the time, when people reach out and they ask questions like, "Oh, there's no organization doing this in Nigeria." I'm like, "Okay, there's LinkedIn, there's Twitter, there's Google. Like, just type on your phone, organizations working in this, that in Africa, in spread your mind, like spread your enlarge your mind, spread your your wings, like they always say." So after that happened, I, one of the things I also did was to look out for youth networks, right? That's the first thing is investing knowledge. And then to also look out for youth networks that that were working in my field. Now, I forgot to use my slide. I'll just go through it. So, and then I started, I said, "Okay, why do I want to do this? Why do I want to go into environment? When do I want to do it? What exactly do I want to do? And how do I want to do it?" So I'm going to go to what in the climate change space, you have a lot of, you know, spheres and all of that. Even in the tech space, you have some people who are, you know, they are tech, maybe tech marketing, some people are engineers. So you have, it's tech in general, but like everybody has their own roles. So my space is also like that. You have gender and education, climate and education. So I said, I don't want to play like generally. I can talk about the topics generally, but I want to niche down. And then I chose climate education. So that was exactly what I wanted to do. So when do I want to do it? Already I was studying Marine Biology, and I said, "Okay, two of them, no conflicting interest. Let me just, you know, volunteer." Before I started my organization, I actually volunteered for an environmental organization. So if you don't have the capacity, and when I say capacity, it doesn't necessarily mean money, because people have many people have money, they don't have NOS. If you don't have capacity, time, mental capacity, start an NGO, see, there's no need. Just look for all the numerous, one million NGOs in Nigeria, I'm going and join one of them. And one of the things I said is, "Why do I want to do this? Is it for money? Is it for fame? Is it for me?" To be very honest, it's passion that led me that first led me to where I am. Because I went for a field trip in school, and then I saw how the environment was really terrible. And if you're a marine biologist that went to UNILAG, you will know all those field trips you go for, and then you're just exposed to like, very, very funny situations and environments. That was it. It started for me. And then it grew to become a full-fledged organization. So I didn't necessarily wake up and say, "Okay, I want to name this organization Echo and Echo Champions." So it also shows you that where you find problems, you can position yourself to be a solution. And on the other part, it could be that you might be the person to find out the problem and then reach out to a funder to say, "You know, let's just collaborate and find something to do about this thing." I'm just trying to expand your mind to see that you don't necessarily need an NGO to be able to thrive and go global. Now, how do you want to do this thing, which is the major reason why I'm going to, you know, I'm on this call. The first one is, be clear on what you want. So I said, I'm in a climate change space. I'm going to say climate change a lot because this is my space and I'm quite familiar, but like this also applies to every other space you can find yourself. So if you work in tech, this is what I do. I do marketing. I write copies. I'm a copywriter. I'm a website manager. Be very, very clear. That if they wake you up, "Papa, hello, what do you do?" "Okay, I'm a tech marketer. This is what I do. Um, this and my roles." Software engineer. Be very, very clear. And it's also okay if you're not clear in the first year. So I always advise a lot of young people, test the waters, try a lot of things, and then find the one that you actually really, really like. And then the next one is, be intentional. Be intentional about your growth. Be intentional about everything. I'm going to give a very good example. Um, there was there was a time somebody reached out and the person said that he works in climate education and he just wants to travel and travel. I'm like, "Okay, okay, actually, to be honest, it's not bad to travel. Like, it's if you want it, it's a very, very good thing. But then I checked the person's LinkedIn, I checked the person's Twitter, I checked the person's Instagram. Nothing of sort, even though he was working in that space. But

He was not even intentional about the things that he was doing. He wasn't intentional about putting himself out there. So, you can't make believe, like even if you do that for people in your local community. This is a global world where, when you're applying for applications right now, they're asking you for your Twitter handles and your Instagram handles. Be very, very intentional.

So, another thing that I did with intentionality is, now I'm in school. I'm in 200 level. What is the next three years looking like for me? What is the next four years looking looking like for me? So, I said, "Okay, this next two years, I'm going to invest in knowledge. I'm going to talk a lot about climate change and do this." And then, "This next few years, this is what I'm going to do. I'm going to position for opportunities." So, when you start out, is not when you want to position for opportunities. I don't know if you guys get what I'm trying to say.

So, let's say you work in, um, let me use another example. Let me use another example. You guys give me another example. Another fi—I don't want to say Tech and climate change again. Let's say you work in, um, let's say Arts. Maybe you draw and things like that. When you start, you are not looking at, "Okay, in this first few months, what I want to do is, okay, now I want all my artwork to be in international galleries." And all, everything is a process. So, map it out. God holds tomorrow. God holds today, but you can also make plans, right?

So, in the first year, I'm going to invest in actually watching a lot of videos of people who do artwork, watching a lot of people who have actually moved from being local to Global, studying and observing them. And then, maybe in the next two years, you can now start applying for opportunities.

Then, the third one is, stay hungry for knowledge and information. One of the things when people tell me, you know, is that, "Ah, this our generation is very impatient." Like, like we like quick things. And I said, "For me, yes, I might be in that generation, but I understand that for the level that I want to play in, it's not an impatient level, right?" So, you might be Gen Z, you might be Millennial. People are watching what you're writing. So, I told myself I was going to stay hungry for knowledge and information. So, anywhere I find anything that is interesting about my field, I am reading. Even though I don't understand some technical terms, I am reading it.

If you're very familiar with the IPCC report, which is like the Climate Change Report, it's probably like 300 or 200 pages, depending on the year and what's happening at that time. If you probably give that kind of report to a Gen Z, they don't—they won't even open it. Sorry to say, Gen Z, I'm probably in your category too. Like, they won't open it. And that's because we are so engrossed in, you know, the quick things, you know, quick knowledge, um, carousels, bits, and somebody just summarizing. You go to some comment section, somebody says, "Please, can you please summarize these things?" I just read, probably like, on blogs. And I'm like, "Can't you even bring yourself for two minutes to actually read what you're saying?" So, you need to invest in knowledge because anybody that is playing global right now, their knowledge is, you know, hidden in what they have written. Their knowledge is hidden in reports, scientific reports. Do the hard things. Read the hard things. Go for knowledge. Go for information, right?

Also, the next thing is, know your strength. I always say, anywhere you find me in an organization, I'm a mobilizer. I know how to mobilize properly. I feel like if I wasn't working in climate, I'd probably be working in marketing. I know how to get people together. I know how to bring people together. It's my strength. The other part, I'm not, you know, you know some people like finance like very well. They like all those Excel sheets, adding. It's not my thing. So, I'd rather like get somebody else to do that. So, I know my strength and I play to it. I know how to design like really nice sites. I play to it. Some people know how to use the big English, and I leave them to do all of those things. So, know your strength and know that you don't need to like, you can improve on your weaknesses, but know that this is what you are very good at and hammer very, very well on it. Do you get?

So, the next one is, play the long-term game. Um, the, the reason why it's possible for me to probably be traveling everywhere, P, or going to places to G speak, is because I've, I've played a long-term game. Yeah. I've been in this space for about six years or five years, as you may call it. And one thing I realized is that there will always be a time where what you have right now, people will need it. As of last six years, nobody was talking about climate education. And it's not because they didn't want to talk about it. It was not just the topic on the global landscape. And now, you probably find almost every organization talking about climate change, sustainability, and education at this point. So, that positioning allowed me, you know, playing that long-term game, knowing that I don't need to blow now, now, you get? Like, I don't need to start what I'm starting now and then start traveling or start going for global opportunities or consult for, you know, big organizations. I gave myself time. And I also played a long-term game.

And this is what also happens, um, you know, in some spaces where you find young people. And in the past one year, I read some CVs. And this person has working six organizations, positions. And they actually think it's a flex. But for me, I'm like, it's scary. Cuz if in one year, you've spent the past one year of your life in like six places, it shows that you don't have staying power. You don't have longevity with your with your skills. Or there's just something taking you away from the organization. If I'm right, except you're a digital nomad or you work like remotely. But if you're not able to like stay for a long time, it's going to, you know, affect your, your, your leadership, the way people perceive your leadership, right? So, it's easy for anybody to invite me to come and speak on climate because I've been working in the field for six years. You trust me better.

So, if they say, "You want to go to a hospital now, and this is a specialist who has been a doctor for 16 years, and then there's this, what do they call them? People that go for, let's say, interns, per se, in a hospital, or student doctors, I think that's what they call them, right?" And you go to those places, and then they now bring the two of them together and say, "Which one do you want to treat you?" Please tell me in the comment section, who, who will you pick? To be very frank, please be very, very frank with yourself. I'm very sure that you, you, you will probably not, not find yourself picking, sorry, yourself picking the intern medical doctor. Does that mean that the intern medical doctor will not grow up to be a specialist? Of course, she will be, or he will be. But you don't trust that person enough to handle your life, especially if it's a matter of life and death. They will call a specialist or a surgeon for you.

And this is how I see it also. So, when you submit applications to organizations, they say, "Okay, let me give examples of names here." They say, "This is Shae, and then this is, let's say, B, for example." This Shae's application. Shae has been in this space for about, okay, six, let's say Shae has been in the space for six years. And also B has been in the space for six years. But this is Shae inside the six years, and she has done Tech, she has done climate, she has done art. And the reason why she's moving is not because her passion is changing. It's because, you know, they said, "Tech is raining now, so now I'm going to move to Tech." Now, "Climate change is where the money is. That's where all the donors are going. I'm going to go to climate change." But then there's B, that has been in climate change for six years. You, as an organizer, who are you going to pick? You probably go for the person that has longer staying power, right? So, always put yourself in the shoes of the people who are giving you these opportunities. If you were them, what would you do? Who would you choose?

And the, the next one is, be excellent. Now, I, I was chatting with a friend, and I think she's on this call. And I was talking about the fact that I can count how many opportunities I've applied for, and that's the truth. I don't say this to brag. And the only reason why I've had more opportunities and opportunities is because the one that they gave me, I, I did it very well. So, I go to an event, I look at the part of the event, I make sure that I'm giving my best at the time that I can give it without thinking, "This is small." So, if you find me speaking in Bomi, Tami is Tami in Bomi. I will, I will do what I need to do excellently. I'll do the project I need to do excellently. If you find me in another organization abroad, I will do what I need to do. My excellence is not based on my region. And my excellence is not based on who and what is in the room, right? So, you need that kind of mindset. If they say, "Do this thing," like, try to outdo yourself so that at least they will know that, "Give this job to this person. Give this work to this person." Even if in the corporate space, let people be able to say, "Okay, I don't like Tami, but see, when it comes to this thing, forget, she's good, right?"

So, it is in that kind of setting where you also have a lot of, um, applications right in front of you, and then people are actually reading those applications, and they're like, "Okay, this person worked." The difference between you and the person that they might not choose might just be just one thing, one extra mile that you will go. So, anywhere you find yourself, be excellent. Um, I remember when I did the first webinar I did in January, somebody actually reached out to say, "Why am I wearing suits in my in my own house?" But in my mind, I'm like, "You have dedicated your two hours to me. When I'm showing up, I'm not showing up because I'm not showing up like this because you in the room. This is the way I would regularly show up. This is who I am. This is how good I would dress, not because of who is in the room." So, have that kind of excellence in your mind. And also, like the way you work, anywhere you find yourself.

The last one is, stay on the radar. Um, you know, it's only God that knows our heart and the Holy Spirit. So, even if you're a very nice person, you know your work, you're very, very excellent, if you don't tell people that you're excellent, nobody's going to know. No one's going to know that you're excellent. Nobody's going to know that this is the work that you do. So, most of the time, I post about my work, not because I want to show off, as I don't even have anything to show off, but because there are organizations pinging people on Instagram, organizations pinging people on Twitter, organizations pinging people on LinkedIn. You know, I could give many examples. The first climate education leader fellowship event we had, the Zoom was sponsored by somebody that randomly commented on my LinkedIn post. And that day, I didn't even feel like posting on LinkedIn, but I just wanted to share that we launched the climate education leaders fellowship. And the lady was like, "Oh, okay, my organization wants to support you with." And she paid for her Zoom for six months. And if you know, if you use Zoom, like in your workplace, you know how much it costs per month. I was a student, and I was going to use my personal money, but somebody came through and paid for it. So, imagine I did not post that, right? Or I feel like, "Don't let me post that, they will not think that I'm showing off." Gen Z, get. So, nobody's really, really looking at you. Just do your thing and do it for the people that will see it.

So, next slide. Going to go to networking very quickly because this one is also very important. Um, and I will tie this back into how I access some of the opportunities that I access. So, the first thing is, sorry, do your research. This is what has worked for me. So, I remember very well, um, someone asked me, "How many youth organizations do I belong to? How do I get all of these opportunities and all of those things people to work with?" And I told her that when I was in Unilag, I joined YUNGO. So, what is YUNGO? YUNGO is a youth arm of the UNFCCC. So, UNFCCC is the body that has to do with climate change in the UN. So, you have UNESCO, you have UNICEF. If you Google all of these UN bodies, some of them work on education, some of them work on security, some of them work on technology, and all of those things, right? You, um, UNFCCC is climate change, like pure climate change. And then they have a youth body called YUNGO. So, what did I do? I applied to join YUNGO. Like, even if you apply now, you get in if you work in climate change. Like, it's not a serious application, right? And then they will add you to the mailing list, and you see a lot of opportunities popping up on this platform. And then I went for my first opportunity, I think my first travel opportunity, like professionally, was, um, I think, I think it was Glasgow. I can't remember very well, but it was in the UK when I was in my Masters. And that single opportunity brought many opportunities after it because whatever I did at that time, I did it excellently well. And everybody was in the room, so that I did my best. And then somebody reaches out to say, "Oh, my organization in Poland works in this. I think you're a perfect fit for it." This is how it happens, literally, right?

So, do your research. When you're going for an event, e.g., there's a local event happening in Nigeria. It's on, let's say, it's on, um, let's say, let me even use a very funny example, let's say crypto, right? And then you see the flyer. The first thing I will do is not to even check the venue. I want to check the speakers. I'll take one. This is what I do. I'll take one of the speakers, go to LinkedIn. Let's say the person's name is Shadu. I say, "Shadu, this is what Shadu does. This is Shadu's organization." The next person I pick, this is what this person does. This is what I do. That already tells me if I should attend the event or I should not. That already tells me the level of expertise these people are bringing to the event. So, do your research properly. Also, check the organizations that are probably sponsoring the event. You always see this logo beneath, sometimes those organizers, they always make it small so that you see it, but check. So, the speakers might not necessarily be, um, they might not necessarily be experts, per se, but the people are funding this event, they might be like, um, big companies, big shots, who will have like stands in this event. And that might be the only reason you want to attend, to be very honest. And it's okay. So, do your research. Pay attention.

So, don't go to events. You know, even me, sometimes I do it. But right now, I'm learning to also do, do away with my phone. If I'm in an event setting, what I see is many times, everybody just pressing your phone, pressing your phone, pressing your phone. But maybe during somebody's speech, the person has mentioned that, "Oh, and we have been working on, you know, getting more young people into." That might be the only thing you need to catch for that event. And the person is not even, but the person just mentioned. I don't know if you get, during their speech. And then the next thing I do is, "Okay, I noted it down. Mr. X said, looking for young people. Immediately he's going, 'Hi, Mr. Shae, my name is Timmy. This is what I do. D, okay, this, I heard you mention this. Could you please share more about this?'" A person does not have time. Okay, you can take their card, or you can ask for their LinkedIn. So, you need to pay attention in such meetings. And then have a one-minute speech, right? And this one is not, "Good afternoon, sir. My name is Timmy. I work." Like, make it, don't, don't make it sound like you've crammed it. So, my typical one-minute speech, depending on the kind of events and what I'm speaking with, it could just be, "Hi, my name is Tammy. I'm the founder of this, that, and that. Um, I work in the climate education sector. I also consult for climate communications. And here are some of the projects we're doing. We are based in Nigeria." Sometimes you don't even need to say much, depending on the setting, right? And you don't need to bore them. Do you understand? So, I know most of the time when you see "one-minute speech," they will say it's elevator, cuz sometimes you can meet the best in the elevator and not be able to say anything because they are not even looking at your face, right? So, it's okay sometimes that the person is not even responding, or you don't want to meet that person at that particular time.

And the next one is, offer value. So, when I go to an event, me, I'm not looking, "How to get?" Already, the person is very busy with their lives. The person is very, like, they're occupied. They're thinking about their wives, they're thinking about their husbands. You are not number one to ten on their priority list. And that's the truth. So, so, if you probably meet me at an event, while I'm done with the event, I'm probably just rushing to probably go and catch a flight, or sometimes I'm just hungry, and there's nothing you can tell me at that time that can enter my head, right? So, one, one way I've, I've been able to like beat that down, let me give you a very good example. So, if there are two people coming to approach me, and then one comes with a card and says, "Hi, my name is Shae. I just want to give you my card. I work in this. I'm a Nigerian too. Thanks, love this speech." And the person goes, "Oh, I'll collect your card." But I, I don't remember. But then there is another person. Maybe the person is trying to see that I'm rushing somewhere. I think somebody did something for me last, I think last two days or last three days, and it was actually a very kind gesture. So, I left an event, and I was trying to order, and I was hungry, like, very hungry, like it was showing on my face. And then the person was like, "Are you trying to order? Do you mind?" I know this person actually. So, the person said, "Do you mind me dropping you off?" Normally, I did not even talk to anybody after that event, cuz I know they even serve food. But that single guest allowed the drive time for me and the guy to have a conversation. So, it might just be something little. "Oh, do you, are you going somewhere? If you don't have a car, that's fine." Like, I'm not saying you should be driving people to their houses. I'm just trying to show you that these are some of the other ways you can reach people without giving them your card. I have cards. I think I printed one like last year, like 100 pieces. I still have about 80 because I don't share it, right? Because people are very conversational. They remember who you are, what you've done, and how you've introduced yourself. So, it could be that you've heard them talk about how they're looking for people in their company, or maybe a designer, and you do graphic design, and you're still upcoming, right? But maybe one person on LinkedIn has told you that you should not work for free. But you know that this is a ticket for you to access this person. You better tell them that, "Oh, I heard you're looking for a designer. Do you mind if I, you know, just work with your company maybe pro bono, or maybe you can just give me transport fare for about two months?" Because I know we live in a generation where everybody's saying they have used you, they have used you, they have used you. But there's also a limit. If you are the one trying to get access, you better, I'm not saying don't let them use you, but you get what I'm trying to say. I work for people for free, not because of what I even want to get, but I just feel like, "Okay, this person has a gap that they need to fill, and I feel like my expertise can work." You know, and I did all of that before I got to this point. At this point, I don't work for free. Like, again, there are still some, I still do free work for just because of our relationship. But I've been able, the reason why I can charge now is because I built, uh, you know, that, give me the English, this, I built that growth, per se, to allow me make demands. So, if you tell me you're not paying me, even you feel bad for not paying me. That's the way it is, right? So, you need to also offer value.

Um, the next one is, connect intentionally. I, I skipped the last, the other one, but I'll touch on it. Connect intentionally. So, don't just connect because you are seeing that the person is a very nice person. They look nice. Their suit is dapper, and all, all, all of those things. I have one trick, and I'm going to share it on this. I've never shared it. I think I only shared it with Larry. So, if I see somebody moving like a very high-profile person, everybody's rushing to them to take selfies. Me, I will go to the person. I follow them to the event. So, those people, let's say, for example, you see, like I attended an event in the US, and I saw the UAE Minister. I've been on this panel with, I've been on the panel with the man like three times. I can't even count. And then it came again. But I already, God, the people that followed him, they're like three people. I say, "You go be like, like, deal, deal with that." Like, I'm just going to focus on the people behind, because these are the people that he will still send the other people to to say, "Go collect my card from this person." So, me, I started a conversation with the people that followed him, you know, say, "This is what I do." Because those people have more time. So, it's not necessarily about the person, you know, in charge, right? Like, the only, if you want to get to a rich man, talk to his driver. If you want to get to a rich man, talk to the gate man. So, all of those people that are looking, looking down on, those are the major people that you probably should be looking out for at such events. You saw those girls that used to carry bags for all those big women that we admire. Then those are the people that you need to go and reach out. They know how to say, "Oh, I met one very interesting lady at this event. These are contacts. These are pages." And all of those things, very, very casual, right?

Um, the next one is, play the long-term game. I'm going to give you another very good example. I like examples because this is life. Life is practical. So, I, when I went to the UN, I met the AU Youth Envoy. So, the African Union, um, Youth Envoy. I'm almost done with my slide. And then, you know, it was a very busy time. I honestly wanted to connect with her, but I couldn't. Although I saw her, I just had this hint that this was not the right time. So, I let it pass. In that kind of situation, another person could have probably gone and taken a selfie. And if I take the selfie and post on my page, you people will not know that, you know, maybe we talked or not. I can't even lie that I had a chat with, which, which many people do. But you know, actually have a chat. So, I left it. I went about my own business. And then I went to LSE. That was about one year after. I went to London School of Economics, and she was a speaker. Another thing on the first day where I met, when I met her, I just saw her. And then I wore this, like, "Oh my God, nice suit." This one, she hugged me, and that was it. I didn't push for that. Then I knew she was going to be on a panel that I was going to be in the third day, and she was there. I was teaching how to leverage social media for, you know, positioning globally for UN entities. I was speaking for about one hour, and she was seated in the room, looking at me teaching. So, sometimes it's not the right time to actually meet the person. So, let it, let it go. And she listened to me for like that one hour. After, like, I didn't even have to ask for her number or contact. She gave me, like, willingly, right? And she was like, "Oh, we think we can work together. There's something we can do together." So, it's just about timing also, right? And if I probably connected with her the last time, she might just say, "Ah, okay, maybe that's that girl coming again. She has come to come and give me a card." So, it's also about perception. Study the person's mood. Study how busy they are. If the person is busy and they're leaving the event, let them leave. There's no need to force them for selfies, right?

So, make it mutual. Don't let it be parasitic. Don't always be the person asking the person for things. Also, like, offer value. I've touched on that before. Um, this other one, show up ready and look good, right? So, when I go to events, I like to wear my best, because just entering the room just sends a message that I'm here for business, right? So, don't dress casually. Don't, don't just dress like, "Okay, I want to do this thing. I look as basic as it is." But I can tell you for free that it might be the, it might be one of the reasons why people might actually invite you to an event to come and speak, at least a secondary reason. So, show up and look ready. Look good, right? And be your business card. Like I said earlier, I don't necessarily use business cards. If I meet you right now, I can download all the things I'm doing, like without giving you a business card. And the reason is because you see a lot of people that have business cards, but like, when you collect them, everything. There was one I collected, like five, when I went to the US. I can't even remember the conversation I had with the people again. I just know I have business cards. So, it shows you that when they collect it, they can't remember. Like, the majority of them can also not remember, right? And the next thing is, network horizontally or vertically. And I think this is where we also meet it, miss it as young people. Many times, when you go for events, you leave all your young peers that you're working together with, and then just want to network with the big guns, you know, all the big people, the ministers, and everything. But me, I've been able to understand over time that it's not really about like this, sometimes also like this. Those people you are ignoring in the room, these are people that you grow together. These are people that probably have opportunities, and they want you to apply for those opportunities. Some of the opportunities I've gotten, they don't even publicize it online. Maybe somebody that I connected with, and like, "Oh, I work in this organization, and I think you're perfect for this. My boss said this, and I said I should send it to you." And these are young people that you might probably have ignored at events, right?

Um, the last one, maybe it's not just time, right? Like I always say, maybe it's not the right time for you to network with that person. So, backtrack. How I was able to like, you know, grow, or I've been growing so far. So, when I joined this UNFCCC group, I knew that they were working on climate change. Now, I needed another group that was working on education. And then I saw a call for application for UNESCO SG, right? And that was their first cohort. The next cohort is coming out very, very soon. And when it comes out, I will share on my Instagram, you know, not via email, but like on Instagram. So, if you bump into it, you can apply for it. And then the thing I did was, when I go to some of this, you know, youth networks, I'm not a, what do they call it? I'm not a stat. I work, and I let them, when I know, just also work. I work and let them know that I am working. You know, when it comes to, you know, in a church setting, I don't necessarily have to let people know that I'm working because we are doing it for the Lord. But this one is like, you are literally like doing your work and your career, you know, you want to get promoted and stuff. So, do your excellent work and let them know that you're doing excellent work. Do you understand? So, when I, when I'm in such youth groups, I get to use, in UNESCO, for example, we are over 100. And they called an application for people to lead the group regionally. I knew by capacity that I was in a Masters, and I was not interested in that. And then I asked, "What's the next other thing that we can lead and work on?" And they said, "There's a working group that has to do with education and sustainability." And I said, "Okay, I'm me, I can be a focal point." Let's call it class captain in Nigerian terms. And then that was just it. And when the UN opportunity came, I think they actually just reached out to the focal points that were leading the group, right? So, automatically, I fall into the opportunity because I was serving. So, when you go into youth networks, don't just be the rigid person who is always doing that. If they say there's a webinar, can you volunteer to moderate? Can you volunteer to just, just be active in those networks? And one other thing I would say is that, look out for opportunities. There's opportunities for youth. I'm still going to share that resource. There's, um, opportunities for African youth, opportunities, a lot. And I see a lot of these opportunities that they share, like almost every day. Like, people are not even paying these guys, but they keep sharing opportunities. I'm going to give a very good example of some things that would happen when you're looking out for these opportunities. So, the first thing you see is, when you apply, they will tell you, um, you, you first ask yourself, "Do I even have an organization?" You don't necessarily have to. So, if you work in this organization, let's say you work in KFC, right? And then there are two workers. And somebody says, "Oh, what do you do?" The person says, "I'm an attendant in KFC. I'm a server in KFC." Okay, that's fine. And then there is me. I don't just see myself as an attendant that's in KFC. I'm serving people, right? I'm contributing to the company's growth. I'm contributing to their revenue, their profit, everything. So, I'm going to pitch myself based on the value that I'm giving in that company, not how I see myself or how people see me. So, I won't say I'm a server, right? So, you might decide to pitch yourself in any way that you want to pitch yourself, but make sure that you are pitching your value. You are seeing the things that you are contributing to the organization. So, you don't have to be a founder, right?

And the next thing is also, you know, there's imposter syndrome. I can tell you for free, I also suffer for it, you know, from it. Last year, somebody reached out to me on LinkedIn to apply for a grant. I think the grant is about $30,000. I feel like, "Why would you?" Like, they personally reached out to me. And I even told, like, one of my friends, I was, "Oh, yeah, you should apply. They actually reached out. It's because they know you're a perfect fit." Imposter syndrome did not allow me to apply for the opportunity. And the person that got it was actually my friend. He's doing amazing work, not a Nigerian, anyway. So, it shows you that this thing, they reach all of us. So, the only thing is that, you know, when to manage it, you know, the ones that you go for. And then there's also this opportunity. I also applied for, like, one YUNGO and everything last year. I didn't apply because also I was busy, and also I had, like, I didn't feel like I was, you know, enough for that opportunity. And this year, I'm just like, "I'm going to apply for it, and I'll get it." And I actually did get it with a scholarship to attend. So, imposter syndrome is a normal thing. You will see applications. By the time they start asking you questions, you'll be like, "Where will I start from?" But start from somewhere. If you don't do application one, and they don't do rejection for you, you will not know what to do better in application two. So, the way I can give you all the tips, but the way to actually grow is to use the tips and apply. So, as you are leaving the call, before, when, after the Q&A and everything, as you are leaving, look out for all of those opportunities. Some of the pages I've talked about, "Opportunities for Africans," Google them. "Clear Opportunities," "Youth Opportunities," Google them. If you see the ones that apply to you, go ahead and apply. Last, last, must have your breakfast, but you will know that you have actually applied, right? So, that's one thing I always tell a lot of young people. The opportunities are there. And I think the most painful part for me when I miss out on opportunities because of imposter syndrome, when I actually see the people that get it, I'm like, "Actually, like, I'm at fault, not them." Because I would not, by pride, but like, based on growth level or based on the things I've done, I'm probably like a perfect fit. They are also perfect fit for the opportunities. But if I had applied, I'd probably gotten the opportunity. So, go ahead and apply for the things that you want to apply for, right? Very, very, very important.

Um, I'm not sure if Larry is on the call, but we have answered some Q&As. I know that we sent a form, okay, before I go ahead, please, very shortly, let me just X my screen. Um, sorry, stop share. Before I go ahead, please let me know if you are getting value in this because I've not been checking, checking the chat. Okay, the meeting will close soon. So, we're in Q&A now. So, if you'd like to ask any question, I know we gave a form like for you to fill, and the form informed a lot of our content, right? But before we go to the form, I'd like to just give the floor to about five people, ten people. So, just raise up your hand if you want to ask questions, and, um, me, U, me, and Gideon will just go ahead and answer. Um, Shae, is that okay? If you can hear me, okay? Can, um, all right. So, I really have to thank you for staying this long. I know we are past time, but let's just do this Q&A so you can get all your answers to your questions and everything. So, by the raise of hand, I think we have Lilian. So, please keep your question very, very short, like short, and they will answer, um, you know, with time. I'm also checking the chat too. So, you have the floor, Lilian. Let me ask you to unmute so you can speak now. Lilian, if you can hear me, please speak. Hi everyone. Can anyone hear me? Yeah, we can hear you. Thank you. So, all right. Thank you so much, Timmy. Thank you so much, Mr. Gideon. Um, so, this is actually just a quick question about, um, an extracurricular. So, for like professionals who are like out of school and don't like have the luxury of time to building their maybe their experience and their profile early on from school and trying to do that while they're currently working, right? I think like personally, the major challenge I faced is trying to pace myself. What would you say like, it's the way you unwind while you're like doing all this like concurrent work, research, trying to volunteer, and like still be able to unwind such that you enjoy your process and actually like enjoy the value you are bringing and don't get burnt out? Thank you. I think I answered that question very quickly because I don't think L Sher unwinds. So, I'm the best person. Um, so, to be very honest, you, you probably get burnt out. Okay, let me use myself as an example. I know when I'm getting burnt out, and I know when to say, "At least this year," like, I've been able to say no to a lot of opportunities, like speaking engagements. So, one of the ways I, I try to as much as possible create time for myself is to say that, "Yes, the is good, but I don't have to attend. I don't have to speak. I don't have to be there. I don't have to do everything, per se." And the other one is spending time with my friends. So, this is a new avenue I found to unwind. I'm a very boring person. Like, people ask me, "What do you do for fun?" And I cannot remember. And it's not a good thing, to be very honest. So, my friends are just teaching me how to have fun, how to, you know, not be too serious. And my own definition of having fun is actually sitting in my house and not doing anything, just watching funny Hollywood movies and all of that. But for some people, that's not fun enough, right? So, find that thing that makes you unplugged. And know that you cannot be everywhere, every time. You know, people have made me feel bad for saying no to opportunities, but I did it for my mental health and physical health. So, if that answers your question, let me know. But that is the way me, I unwind, knowing that everything is good, but I don't have to go for everything. And also knowing that it is when I'm alive that I can go for opportunities, right? Um, I think your first question also borders down to like, people were not able to build their, let me use the word credentials from university. That's absolutely fine. Cuz I also saw in the comment section that people, somebody said, "What if your age is more than CH?" Like scholarship opportunities. I can tell you for one that CH does not have age limits. If I'm right, like we've had people who are 40 plus, 50 plus go for CH and they get it. So, check out for the opportunities that are within your age limits, you know, that are not youthful, per se. If you are not a young person anymore, but if you're able to build that credence from school, that's absolutely fine. Like, you can be an expert at something in three years, in four years, depending on the intensity that you give it, right? And the visibility you give to yourself. I don't know if you get what I'm trying to say. I hope that answers your question. Yes. So, babe, I want us to to hot and it. You take hand. I check the comment section, and I think I can see a question that says, "Are opportunities only available for professionals and NGOs? Are there opportunities for people who run businesses, entrepreneurs who love knowledge and actually provide employment for youth, especially female?" You're doing something fantastic, and I believe that the categorization I gave initially when we started the call may have, uh, mischaracterized the people that we were expecting to be on call. I believe that there are also, yes, that are opportunities for people like yourself who businesses, for a virtue of knowledge sharing. In this current dispensation, you can have three subcategories of people that work around the kind of work we do. That are those who are nonprofit professionals, that are social entrepreneurs, and that are business entrepreneurs. Business entrepreneurs solve problems and make money outright from it. Social entrepreneurs might not be, they might not be profitable, but they also, you know, they are doing social work, solving social challenges with a business model. But when you're doing business, and you're a business entrepreneur, you make money. You may be solving a social problem, an environmental problem, or a societal problem, and you're using the business model. Now, to someone like yourself, a lot of opportunities. There is the Tony Elumelu, uh, funding opportunity. That's an opportunity. You have access to, I think, $5,000, $5,000, I mean, as a form of grant for you to scale your business, right? Other than that, there are also opportunities provided by organizations like, you know, the Netherlands Embassy in Nigeria, through a program called Orange Corners program. So, it provides grants, business grants for business entrepreneurs in Nigeria. There is the BOI Bank of Industry. They also provide, you know, grants. There is something called Harem Labs. Access Bank in Nigeria also has a funding and professional development opportunity for business entrepreneurs. There is something called House of Titans, which is similar to Big Brother Nigeria, but it's a residential business boot camp, residential boot camp for business entrepreneurs. I've given you about five different examples of opportunities that I know of in Nigeria at the moment. Globally, there is something called the Global Entrepreneurship Startups Awards, or the Global Entrepreneurship, uh, the Global Youth Entrepreneurship Competition. Now, what all those opportunity repositories I mentioned earlier allows you to do is have access to opportunities that are tailored to your own industry, focusing on business entrepreneurship, supporting, and providing employment opportunities for young people. I hope that answers. So, yes, there are opportunities for you. Over to you, Timmy. All right, thank you so much. And I think there are actually like about five examples now. What you have to do is copy these things I put in the chat and then search for it. I think everybody knows about Tony Elumelu and the other thing I would like to add to what he said very quickly is that you can be running a business, but from your question that I see, you're actually employing people. So, that's a social aspect of it, and you can go for grants that don't necessarily have to target like NGOs, right? So, you could also come in from the point that you are creating employment. It's literally how you're able to like weave your narrative to like get whatever you want. I don't know if that, that, um, that also answers your question. So, thank you so much. I'll just go to Chin. I think I'll take all the questions together. Um, Chin, Blessing, and Homa. I'll take the three and then I'll answer simultaneously. So, Chin, you have the floor. Okay, good evening everyone. Um, I would like to ask if you could elaborate on having the one-minute pitch. Okay, all right. I'll answer that. Um, Blessing, you have the floor. You can speak now. Hi Timmy, can you hear me? Yeah, I can hear you. Thank you so much for the class and thank you, Mr. Gideon. Oh, Mr. Gideon has kind of answered part of the question from the one from the one from the comment session. But my question is, I have a passion for marketing. It has been like the longest passion since 2018 since I was in school, and I've been going in that space. Who I also have a passion for helping, um, girls, young girls especially, bridge the, uh, digital skill barrier. Is it, is it where I can merge them together, or it's just non-exclusive? One is either one goes or the other? Really, really good question. I'm going to get to it. And then if Larry has something to, but I'll take Homa now, um, as the next person before I answer the questions and go to the next step. You have the floor. Okay, good evening everyone. Can you hear me, please? Timmy? Yes. Okay, okay, okay. So, um, I have two questions. Sorry, I would just be fast about them. The first question is,

So I applied for Ching in. I'm the only one not hearing Omar anymore feedback from the interview panel, at least to the extent of my knowledge. However, when the when the when the results came out, hello, we missed you at some point. Sorry, can you start? Sorry, hello, can you hear me? Please. Yeah, we can hear you now. You can hear me now, please. Right, yes, yes, yes. Okay, okay.

I said I applied for Chie in 2020. I put in all the work in my essay. I get someone to review the essay. She did. She gave me corrections. I still did some more work. I did research and everything, and I was elected to come in for an interview. So when I got to the interview panel, of course, all my research star approach this one. I watched lots of YouTube videos. I did all the research I wanted to do. It was still University of Success. I wanted to attend. Did all my research about the school and all the place I wanted to go to. Amazing interview from my end, I think so. At the point of, you know, when you when you attend an interview now, you get feedback from the interviewer, like the panel, what they are saying, they like really nodded well. Everything seemed right. When I got the mail, I saw, "Sorry to inform me." I'm like, this thing does not match like what I said, like what the feedback they gave me. Everything doesn't even rhyme at all. So I was, I, in fact, I felt really bad. It made me not apply for next. In fact, it's this year I want to try to reapply again because it got down to me really bad.

So I was trying to find out. So when Lar, um, M Shaper was giving the slide, the most important slide for me was the part that had to do with the interview panel, like that part where he was talking about the um effects and all of the things, things you need to say at introduction, body, and conclusion. However, I didn't really get that so much. I don't know if he could throw some more light on that because I think that's a major area that I had a problem. Then secondly, can someone who is another in another country apply for a Nigerian Ching? I mean, you're a Nigerian, but let's say you are currently in the US or Canada, can you still apply for Sheling from that place where you are and you get the opportunity to travel to the UK? So I just needed to find out. So those are my two questions. Thank you.

I think I'll just quickly, yeah, you will take the last question. Question, let me just take the first two so that I clear it and then you, you treat the try one, 'cause I don't know, yeah, about the US and Canada. So about the one-minute speech, like it's just something that you say to introduce yourself. So don't see it as anything serious. So a typical one-minute, it's not even up to one minute speech, could be, "Hello, good afternoon." If you meet someone and they say, "Introduce yourself." "My name is Tammy. I work in a climate education space. I'm the founder of Echo Champions. Um, this is what we do at Echo Champions. We leverage education for this, that, and that." For you, if you don't own an organization, it could be that, "I work in, let's say, Flave as a tech marketer. I work in Flutterwave as a designer, right? I create catchy designs. I create communications design for our client." Simple as that, like no pressure. That's what I count as a 30-second speech to me. So I hope that answers your question.

And the second question is, um, you are doing marketing and you are also interested in another thing, right? That has to do with women or any other thing, right? Also, say this thing, you don't need to match, like you don't need to merge things. I run a business, light and CS, it has nothing to do with the environment. You don't need to merge it. So if I'm in your shoes, I love marketing. This is my work. I would do marketing. And then every other thing that I'm probably like interested in, let's say in the development space, I found an organization that is doing it and I volunteer for them. I, simple as that. So I also hope that answers your question. So I'll give Sheer the floor to answer her question on if you're in the UK, I mean, if you're in the US or Canada, if you can apply and then go, and also what you did wrong. Sometimes what you honestly, but yeah, Cher, you have the floor.

Yeah, thank you very much, Timmy. So one thing that I would mention that I jotted with that question with someone asking how, I mean, I work in marketing, I'm also helping girls acquire digital skills is, you don't have to merge. What is fundamental is that a lot of Nigerian organizations who are, uh, provide digital skills for girls and women, that you can pursue that passion with, in contributing your skills towards helping girls to acquire digital skills. There is, there is Cyber Safe Foundation, led by Confidence Step. There is Tech for Dev, led by Joa. There is, um, Blessing Dada on call. I can see your face. I know you have, uh, digital skills training for girls. I want you to, you know, introduce yourself in the comment section to the person who asked that question. That's what I think we can pick away from this call, connecting and networking with each other. Also, Blessing Dada, can you hear me? Link up with that person. That's a potential, uh, member of your organization. Remember the rule of volunteering versus pioneering. You can also contribute to the success of people's advancement in the organization. Yes, thank you. VW Tech, yeah, a lot of them, you know, there is She Leads Africa, She Innovates. There's a lot of them out there that you can actually support.

Now, going on to the Chevin interview, let me take the first one. The Chevin scholarship is open to nationals of, uh, Commonwealth Nations, I believe, not only African. But I mean, if your country is part of the Commonwealth, you can apply for the Chevin scholarship. You can be a Nigerian who, by virtue of work or studies, you are currently in the US or in Canada, you can apply for the scholarship. However, because I have become somewhat of an ambassador, a respected, uh, alumni of that network, it is important to heighten and emphasize on the caveat that comes with that scholarship. The existential need for you to return back home to your home country two years after the completion of that scholarship. Yes, it is very important. So you cannot leave from the US to Canada to go to the UK and then go back to the US or Canada. It's not going to happen. But I know individuals who had come back into the country to hold their interview. So your location doesn't matter when applying for the scholarship, but it is important you are physically available to attend your scholarship interview session. So if you are selected, you go to the UK. But it is very key, pivotal, important that you return back to Nigeria when you're done studying. And that's even very lenient. There are so many scholarships like the World Bank scholarship, you have to go back two years. There is a scholarship in Nigeria, you need to be in Nigeria for five years after you complete your scholarship. That's the AIG that allows you study for an MPP at Sport.

Now, last one, I'm going to talk about is, you see interviews, either inter, either for jobs, for scholarships, for fellowships, are a very tricky experience or exercise, right? It is a combination of a number of factors, right? One of them has applied to the, the Chevy scholarship for three years now. I have sat on the panel of, you know, Chevy to score people and say whether they would, you know, get through. And you are on this webinar today, and I would not leave out any trade secrets. It is important for you to know that going for an interview like Chevin is 75% persona than the 25% of what you are going to say. And that is why, and that is applicable for many opportunities, fellowships like Mandela, was Fellowship, one, what speaking about, lot of them in the world right now, that has everything to do with your individual persona, your charisma, your gesticulation, your eye contact, the way you are stressing your words. There is a way you speak and conduct yourself physically that conveys your potential as an individual. And that is why you see people go for professional trainings to learn more about elocution, um, emphasis on words. It is something that is not just limited to what you say. Everybody's going to come to that panel and say things, right? It's the ability for you to convey yourself to becoming believable, right? It is very, very important.

Now, I used to say something as well, that not everybody will get some opportunities by in function of circumstance, privilege, access. There are some people that their surname, we can't decide where we're born and what family we're born to. But there are some people that their surname alone on an interview panel, the work is done. And it is just the sad reality of accessing some of these opportunities. But I will tell you for a fact, for example, that the day that opportunity is for you, regardless of how factors are working against factors, you're going to get that opportunity. And I'm going to give you an example as I move on. There's a girl that sat on a panel this year. The only thing that stood out for me was that she had watched all my speaking videos online, and she doesn't know I will be on the panel. But she said everything that I look forward to hearing. So if you're on this webinar and you've seen things I've explained or expatiated upon, and I meet you on an interview panel, and you reiterate everything back, the law of nature and luck on that day is working in your favor. See, because at the end of the interview panel, she scored 14 over 16. Now, the two other panelists asked me that, what do I think? And to be told, she's presented herself as a right candidate. And by virtue of that, I said, it is 16 over 16. Do you believe this score should be given that opportunity? I said, yes, let's move out on. So I would always say, there is always one factor over our, the strength of our profile, the, the, the, the elegance of our charisma, and that is the God factor. When it is your time, you are unstoppable. Things will align to just ensure that that thing falls on your lap, because you have. Let me give you final, final, final thing. The Rhodes Scholarship at Oxford is one of the world's most competitive scholarships. Only one or two people are selected to represent the entire West Africa. They gather 15 to 20 finalists, usually first-class graduates, medical doctors who have graduated with 24 prizes on their valedictory ceremony for one week engagement of one-on-one interview with former presidents in a location in West Africa. The last year was in Ghana. By going to that place alone, you, there's no option now, just two people. And they have brought the best of the best together. At that point, it is not about whose profile is stronger than the other. It is just whoever nature favors. So you will find yourself in such circumstances sometimes, and that is where the power of alternatives also comes in. When you apply for a scholarship, have plans set as a backup. Right? Moving on, Timmy, time is really fast. We'll just go through the next set of four questions again. The last person that has their hand raised is. So as I can see here, we have 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. We have 16 people. So I'll take four rounds, um, you know, I'll take four rounds, four times, right? So let's, let's just ask for questions, like really quick, um, and then we move on. Thank you. So you have the floor. And then after, we have Promise, and then allow me. Okay, yeah, thank you so much, uh, Tim and G. Okay, so my question is, uh, I, I actually realized that, um, very becoming part of this, uh, Global Youth, that you have to have an NGO. Like I tried, uh, what calling it, becoming a global chaper or something like that. And I've been asked that, okay, what are you doing currently in your home country or stuff like that? So I actually want to explain, um, becoming a pioneer because I don't really have, right now, I'm currently like working on so many things, so I don't really have the capacity to be an NGO right now. But how can I pioneer and also, uh, become like a global leader? So that's my question. Thank you. Oh, you, you mute. What like, what do you do if you're open to sharing so we can tell our that? Yeah, okay. Thank you. So, uh, I'm like passionate about chemistry education. And, uh, I'll be, um, going for graduate school this fall. And aside that, I'm a student recruiter. I work for Study Right, competing for students. We are the type of people that help people to write SOPs. I don't want to actually bring that here. So for people that don't want to travel to UK, not on scholarship, basis. So that's what I do. Okay, now I get. Okay, that's fine. Um, so we'll go to Promise and then All me and then Jessica. Good evening, Timmy. Good evening, Mr. G. Yes, thank you so much for this opportunity. I really appreciate. So my question is, um, taking myself as a case study, I graduated from religious studies department at Afe. And I've been a banker for six years. But I'm just doing that because that's the opportunity I got in Nigeria, anyways. So my dream career paths are Tech, HR, ethics, and business entrepreneurship. So is it possible for me to actually still get opportunities in these fields or I should just eliminate like three of them and just pick one field for myself? Great question. I actually love it. So, um, I'll just go to the next person and then Jessica, and then I'll answer like together if Larry also wants to add something. So you have the floor. Hello, everyone. Hello, Timmy. Hello, Mr. Larry. Thank you all so much for having this session. Much appreciated. My question is about how, you know, sometimes when we have events or you go for things, you meet people. Sometimes you tend to meet a lot of people, especially if you're well, um, trying to be, uh, well, trying to network and meet people, right? So eventually, we end up meeting a whole bunch of people. Maybe you go for events and everything. And I, I would say to myself that I see myself as a good communicator. But I understand that we, you have, you know, mentors, you meet people that you like, and they're just in various, um, segments or styles of work that they do. So my main question is, how do you keep in touch with all these people at the same time? And I think Tammy may know how to answer this properly. Or how do you just keep in touch with a bunch of mentors, you know, people you've worked with you in the past, you've liked what they do, um, they've, they've been influential in your life, right? But you can't talk to everyone at the same time. But at the same time, it's good to keep those relationships or at least check on them. So how do you do it, um, for yourself, Tammy, and those mentors that truly helped you in everything that you've done? Thank you. Just question about maintaining your network. I think I missed Promise. If I'm right, so can you ask your question now? Can you hear me, Promise? Yes, um, my, should I repeat my question? Sorry. Can you just hear me on what you asked? So like, I don't forget. Okay, I asked about my dream career paths, which are Tech, HR, ethics, and business entrepreneurship. I'm currently a banker for six years after I graduated from religious studies department. All right, thank you. I got that. I didn't want to miss out your name. So I think I'll just take it from, um, you know, the, the last person, which is W. So I, I've come to the realization that I don't have to like reach out to everybody. And that's the truth. It's not everybody that you connect with in life that you reach out to everybody. But here is one of the ways that I actually like keep in touch with people. So I believe that people are generally busy, right? So when they do birthdays, I send them gifts. It sounds very, very kind of, but like, this is what I do. I send them gifts. I say hi once in a while. If there's maybe they receive an award or they get promoted, most of those people like that, they share it. I also send messages, congratulations, really amazing, this one, that one, and the other thing. When you also go to events and keep in touch with a lot of people, one thing I always do, I don't keep in touch with a lot of people when it comes to like events. So when I go to events, I highlight the people I want to meet. And that's just the truth. That's what works for me. So let's say I'm going for a climate change event, somewhere like COP 20, COP 20, like COP generally, you see thousands of people working in climate change. So how can me as one human being, you know, speak to 50 people in a day? So what I do is I look at all the programs happening that day. I look at the specific people I want to reach out to. And then these are people that probably take their cards or follow them on LinkedIn and I connect with people that probably like in the line of my work. There are also people that are not in the line of my work that just connect with just for connecting's sake. But the way to keep in touch is to, when I'm done with the events and I get their cards, I send a follow-up, you know, message depending on the intensity of the event. So for example, if it's a one-day event, let's say you attended yesterday, I send a follow-up email like the next day. And the reason why I do that is because that person is probably trying to get home that day. So any message you probably send, they might not even see it. But if you send it the next morning, they're seeing like refreshing their emails. And if it's like a five-day event, honestly, you don't want to be like texting the person like on the spot, except the request that you send a message to them so that you can get something. But these are some of the practical things that I do. And I hope that answers. But I've come to like full terms with the fact that I can't connect with everybody. I can't reach out to everybody. And sometimes the global space is very, like, one of the, one of the major things I like about the global space, it's not a case of you forgot me, like things like that don't happen. So when you see people, like some people, I meet them in the US one day, and maybe it's another one year, I meet them again, we connect, and that's just it. So nobody is blame shaming or blame gaming anybody. So I hope that works. Um, the other question I would like to answer is the tech, HR, and ethics. And if you're trying to like pivot, if that's what you really like, I would really advise that you just pick one of those things because ethics is a field on its own, trust me. Like business and entrepreneurship is a huge field. Tech is huge. So I would advise that you take the one that you have, you know, easy access to at the moment. And when you balance properly, you can now start pivoting. This is what I would do if I were your shoes. Um, I think Larry can answer the global shaper question so that we can move on really quick. Yes, please. Um, so one thing that I think it's important for us to clarify what we said is that you can either be a pioneer or a volunteer. You don't have to be a pioneer. You don't have to be a pioneer to access global opportunities, which can be any of the things we highlighted earlier. So for example, I know almost like, let's say half of those who belong to the global shaper community in Nigeria, and half of them do not have nonprofit organizations. All you need to demonstrate is that you have an area of interest that aligns with the ideology of that community. So if you are not a pioneer, you are a volunteer. You can be a volunteer by contributing your skills and expertise to the advancement of an organization or an institution. And that could even be your workplace. There are people who work in corporate sustainability departments of Zenith Bank, and they are Global Shapers because they are contributing to the growth of that organization. Right now, you mentioned that you support young Nigerians in accessing global opportunities. What you're doing is something we call opportunity gap. You are closing opportunity gap. That is a milestone of professional work that you're doing. That is something you can tell stories about on how you are contributing. Yes, thank you. Service, that's the language, right? And the person who talked about tech, HR, business, and currently work in banking, all you need to do is close your professional gap. And you can do that through online certifications or academic training. I hope that that. Moving on, we can't hear you. So Jessica, you have the floor. Hi, good evening. By, um, okay, I'm just going to quickly get to my question. So, um, when you were speaking and when also Mr. Sher was speaking, you guys mentioned, you know, getting knowledge and researching about the field that you're in. You can hear me, right? Yes, properly. Yeah, yes. So, um, something I struggle with is researching because, um, I'm passionate about raising awareness about albinism. But I struggle with getting, you know, like key information like statistics and all of that. Do you have tips for, you know, carrying out research? So if you have, if would be great if you could share. That's my question. Yeah, I think Larry can answer the question. But let me take the second person, Samson. You have the floor. Hello, good evening. Evening. Okay, my name is from State. I'm a public health specialist in training. 30 L. Uh, okay. My question is, I, I, I have an initiative just starting because I have volunteered with an NGO for close to six years since I finished secondary school. I worked with them after I finished my SE program, and then before going back to university, I worked with them for two years as a full staff. But my first two years as a volunteer, then full staff, and then every holiday from the university, I go back to volunteer. Now, I, I, I'm starting an initiative in school so that other students can volunteer with me to get something done. So why I want to ask is that the way, uh, Mr. Sher categorized the, uh, focus of, uh, the global focus into three, education, social, and environment. Now, what I'm passionate about is majorly longevity. So the way I was able to break everything down with focusing on education, encouraging people for exercise, nutrition, and environment, and then reproductive health. Those areas. So now, for each area, I was able to see what's like for education, SDG 4, exercise, SDG 3, nutrition, SDG 2, 6, and 12, and environment, 7, 9, 11, 13, 14, and 15, and reproductive SDG 3. How they relate to all of those. Now, my question is, since you put everything into three groups, like having a particular focus, how do I bring, uh, everything into either one of the? Because it seems more like everything we are planning to cover is touching the three. That's question. Do I have to fix it? One. Great question. And I think I can answer directly. You don't necessarily have to like pick one, right? So it could cover the three, right? Because every development is, is intertwined, if I'm right. Um, but if Larry wants to add something else, he can. Let me just take P's question, Vivian, and Chris. Yeah, we need to close the meeting soon. So P, you have the floor. Okay, Vivian, can you, can you speak? If you, if you can hear me? Yes, yes, I can hear you. Thank you so much for the opportunity. So I'm a media student at Abala University. What will it take to have this kind of webinar for media students so that you can answer Tor questions and provide Tor opportunities? What, what, what will it take to have this kind of webinar for media students at Abala so that you can answer Tor questions virtually? Um, I think just send me a DM on Instagram and we'll just take it. Yeah, thank you. Um, so we have Chris. Okay, good evening, everyone. Good evening, Mr. Larry. Good evening, Sher. Good evening. Okay, so just very quick diving in. Good evening. I'm a project and a product manager. I work for a tech company, for a software company. So I'm into the tech space. Well, I have great passion for quality education. And I'm currently working on a project, um, though it's a school sensitization that is focused on leadership, career, and, you know, how to maximize teenagers' age and all. Now, my question is, how do I, um, carry these two things and position them well on my social media platform? Because currently, I'm currently a global youth ambassador. But how do I on my LinkedIn? I want it to be that yes, people know that yes, okay, she's a project manager and a product manager. Yes, but she's still, you know, in the education space. Is it possible for the two of them to be on my form? Is that possible if it won't confuse, you know, my audience and I could still get people to patronize me for the boots? Thank you. Good question, 'cause I think I fall in that shoe. So very good. Um, I don't know, Larry, do you want to answer any question from this set of questions? I think I'll take the one that I was talking about. So the idea of talking about the dimensions of sustainable development is to dispel or enshrine the belief that whatever you do in the current disposition fits into the realities of the world right now. Whether you work in banking and finance, whether you produce shoes professionally, that is economical in nature. And that is how that framing of what we do in the world right now is being based economy, society, and environment. All of the things we do connects to all the three right now. If you work on longevity, people building, you know, having the awareness on how they need to eat right and all of that, like Tammy mentioned, they are all intertwined. All the goals do not stand alone on their own. There is the interconnectedness that ensures that we achieve personal or professional dreams or aspirations. So I do not think that you should be meet yourself by thinking this is what you need to do, you know, in this area, and then, you know, it's separate from this and all. No, it is all connected. Now, because of that, you need to know that all the things you're doing falls under just one goal thematically. And that's good health. Read about more of the goals, the targets, and sub-targets under each of the goals. You will see that indeed, the expression might be you leveraging on educational approaches to support people learning on how they can live long. It is still under good health, which is goal three, I believe, right? So I don't think no. So that goes as the unifying umbrella for all of the things that you have mentioned. So I don't think there is any limitation with that. Uh, so before I toss back to Tammy, I want to say that there's a lot of questions, and we may have to close, but I'm doing my best to answer questions in the comment section. So if you have, please just drop it, and we'll try and respond to them as much as we can. Take me over to you. Great. So, um, there was a question on research, and I think Sher can answer that. Jessica asked on, you know, where to get research, how to get research. Um, I think that was the only question that has not been answered. Okay, so let me take that. So if, uh, if you, um, doing research, sometimes can be based on what kind of research you're doing. There are open-source platforms such as Google or Wikipedia that provide open-source access to information, right? And all you have to do there is a science also behind actually, um, um, researching things online through Google, Wikipedia, or Bing, and many these, you know, search engines, and getting the right results. Sometimes you have to put, maybe you're trying to look for scholarships in Canada, so you can put scholarships in Canada plus PDF plus PPT plus word. It gives you access to some materials that normally if you have typed scholarships in Canada, it would not have, you know, given you that information, right? That is if you're just trying to search for random things. Another place that a lot of people do not know, there is a huge repository of information when you want to do research, is actually YouTube. Open YouTube, type a particular, you know, word or sentence or statement that you're looking for, and you'll be shocked the volume of information you can have access to if you're trying to get, um, access to research materials. Now, talking of academic research materials, kindly open an account on these three platforms: ResearchGate, Academia.edu, and, um, ScienceDirect, right? That is if you want to be able to leverage on, let's say, you know, more academic, uh, explanation to a concept that you're trying to find access to. ResearchGate, Academia.edu, and ScienceDirect. Some of them I require you to open an account or create an account. You can do that to have access to some of this, this information as well. So, yeah, uh, that's on that on the research. All right, so I think if you have, I was supposed to stop at if, but I can see like just a few more hands. So if you use, if you check the chat, we are actually answering questions there. So if you have any questions, please drop it there. So I'll just, if you can keep your questions very short, it'll be really good. So we have Joy, then we have O dot Col, and Blessing. Let me just take those set for now and then. So Joy, you have the floor. Hi, Timmy. Good evening. Hello, Mr. G. Good evening. Um, um, a s engineering student at AOU and also a MasterCard, um, scholarship recipient. So my question is like about my, um, kid sister. Apparently, the school I was supposed to attend, I actually had to give off my scholarship because during the late period, I realized that they don't like admit two persons from the same family in that same school. I'm wondering 'cause I don't know how their selection procedure works. So does one person getting a scholarship from that particular foundation tend to affect the next person that may want to apply? And secondly, she's done like a lot of things around her field, which is art in film production and directing. But then she does not have like a social media or like a digital footprint, so to speak. But then there are evidences and organizations that are willing to write her recommendation based on what she has done. Please, what would be your advice? Okay, um, I've noted your question. Um, so answer it. So we have O dot and then Call Blessing. Yeah, you have the floor. Oh, okay. Hi, good evening. Okay, I have two questions. I'm not sure. I don't know. But okay, my first question really is, um, what do you think about opportunities that require that you pay for them? Right? Um, I mean, some people will tell you to be wary because some of these opportunities might be, you know, fraudulent, right? So how do you like see through, especially like if it's the first cohort? I understand that like if they've had like multiple cohorts, yeah, um, it's easier for you to see their track record, their social proof. But for opportunities that don't, like they don't have any like record, how do you like, this opportunity to make sure that, especially if they ask you to pay, to make sure that that opportunity is like, it's, it's legit? My second question, I think it was buffering when response came in because I think somebody else has asked that question. Is if you have, for instance, I'm a product manager. I started law. I, I eventually like pivoted to to tech. I'm currently a product manager. I have a podcast. I have, I have a non-for-profit, right? So it's like a lot of things happening, and I'm very loud about the things that I do. So how do you like brand yourself in a way that you're not confusing, you know, your audience? Are you like putting, should I put like my career, my product management, you know, career on LinkedIn and like my NGO work and social on on Instagram? Or what? How like, how does that even happen, you know? Yeah, yeah, that's my question. Thank you. You're muted. I can hear you. So I don't miss out on questions. I think I'll answer your question and the last person. So, um, about your sister and the work that she has done, your sister, I've seen people who are doing amazing work and they don't have digital footprints. But one thing I've noticed about those people is that in the global stage, they are probably like the CEOs, you know, top people that don't need social media to show that this is what they're doing. I don't know if you get what I'm saying. So let me give an example. Someone like Tony Elumelu does not need to come and post Instagram posts for people to know that it works in the African finance space and entrepreneurship, right? Because he has already built that track record. But I would advise that for your sister, I know it's not something easy. If she doesn't want Instagram, at least or Twitter or anything, can at least share her work on LinkedIn. And I know that there are people that probably would write recommendations for her, and that's absolutely fine. But if the school requires that, you know, they want probably want to see her portfolio, she could just whip up a very quick, easy website. If she does not want to use like Instagram or links that, you know, link to social platforms. This is just my thoughts, right? Because not everybody's comfortable putting out their stuff on Instagram and Twitter. But LinkedIn is a more professional platform. And I say this in context to who your sister is and the state that she is. If the person was probably like a very, you know, high profile person that has built that capacity over time and is not looking for opportunity, I'll say like it doesn't really matter, right? But if you're looking for opportunities actively, you need to put yourself out there. So it's like winding in the dark. Nobody's going to see you, right? So you need to put on the light. That is the way I see it, genuinely. And I hope that really answers your question. Um, I think the next question is about paying for opportunities. And I think Mr. Sher touched on this one. And then the other question you asked about having a social media page that you do a lot of things. I can use myself as an example. Like I always say, it's my page. I will put what I need to put on there, right? But what is more specific is that if you go on my LinkedIn, you will not see anything about my business. You see everything about the work that I do, like Echo Champions. If you go on my Twitter, it's a little bit mixed. I tweet stuff, I respond to people, I don't abuse people, I stay on my lane and things like that, because Twitter is more like, I find like very, very interactive platform. And you also have to like tread, you know, the kind of information you put on there. Not on my Instagram is mixed because I feel like Instagram are happy people, right? So they take whatever you give them at any time, right? They are very. This is where I see social media is a full course on its own. Know what platform to post what. So if I were you, I'll post my product management stuff. And I want to believe that if you've been a product manager for a long time and already know that this is what you do, put stuff out there. And if you just joined, let's say you just became a GYA, put it that you just became a GYA. If you volunteered, put it there. It's my page. Do you understand, right? So when it now comes to opportunity and they say fill out a form and put your social media handle, I'm going to give them my, my LinkedIn. And if I eventually give them my Instagram, I'll go and copy the link of a video that I have that has to do with my work. One thing I always say is that we are humans, we are not robots. So people that are even reading applications, they also want to see the human side of you. So everything does not necessarily have to be curated up. Do you understand? So I've gotten into spaces just because of, oh, like, oh, I know the person that you are dating and stuff like that. And all of those things. And you find like very flimsy excuses of why people actually like you, not because of the work that you do, but maybe because the way you share funny stuff on your story. So just be human, but know how to control the content that you put on different pages. So I'll say for your LinkedIn, you can do your product marketing thing. And your Instagram making mixed. And I hope that answers your question. Yeah, so I think Larry can answer the paid opportunities thing very quickly. And then we'll take Call Blessing and Daring, and then we're moving. We're almost done, actually. Yeah, okay. So about that, I would, I would say the same way you've actually paid for this webinar is because you had a perceived sense of value that you are going to accrue from joining and listening to us. And I think that is applicable to many opportunities that are out there. Sometimes free things or free opportunities, I mean, I want to interpret it in the context of having to pay for, let's say, a training program, for example. You would know that if you apply for, um, let's say certification at Harvard University, for example, I'm not talking of online, talking about the physical one, it's an opportunity and you have to pay for it. And that's because of the kind of value that they offer. So many are times when I want to gauge opportunities to pay for it would be considerably because of the value I believe I can accrue or gain from such opportunity. So I think it's about profiling and understanding that, oh, this is what I seek to gain from this opportunity, and the financial value, uh, would compensate me at the end of the day if I'm able to pay for this. I'm not sure if I answered that, but I think that is the way I approach things. Will I pay for something? I would pay for it if I believe that at the end of the day, I'm going to benefit significantly from, you know, such a thing. Such opportunity has a financial value for a reason because they believe you're going to benefit from it. Uh, to the person who hacks product manager, studied law, had a podcast, and an NGO as well, I would say the way social media works is that there are some things that works for some platforms, right? And that's the same thing Tammy mentioned as regards, you know, not mentioning light and cutting on LinkedIn and keeping it extensively to environmental sustainability and climate change. So I believe you have to be able to tailor your content and your messaging based on the audience available on certain platforms. So I think that's the way I'm, I'm, I'm going to respond to that. Great. So Mr. Kako, you can speak. And after Mr. Kako is done, Mr. Blessing, and then. All right, good evening, everyone. Yeah, so I'm Kul, and, um, I appreciate the this platform because I was supposed to attend one in 2020 by Mr. Gideon, but I was not opportune. So I was looking forward to this, and I'm glad I'm, I'm a particular. So some of my questions has been answered, Admi. Um, some of the questions that were raised, but there's also one I want to ask a direct one. Um, I'm a product designer. I work in tech, and I, I also mentor designers, though that one has not really been public. But I've learned quite some things from today's topic, you know, pushing yourself out there and all that. So but and I registered on United Volunt, United Nations Volunteers, you know, to, uh, volunteer for my skill set and, you know, do little, little things. So my major question is that, how do I, you know, this, um, what I put it, this, uh, line of career that I have, understand? So how do I leverage, uh, these skill sets that I have on global opportunities? You understand? Yeah, that United Volunteer, United Nation Volunteers is particularly one of it. But I'm looking at a way that, you know, because it's not as common as like climate education in terms of student and all this, it's more like the digital skills and other. So I just have vague knowledge of that. So that's my major question for tonight. Thank you. Great. Mr. Blessing, you have the floor. Yeah, good evening, everyone. Good evening. Yeah, my name is Blessing. Today, that a quality education advocate. Just as I, I have a, I have a comment before my question. I firstly thank Mr. for this opportunity. So he mentioned my name the other time about working on the tech space, which is also Tech Rural Girls, which I'm currently doing at the present moment. And my comment is just that he mentioned about a particular book, is about Larry King's, which is How to Talk Anywhere Anytime. Actually, last year, I remember I was on a panel. I applied for Chevin scholarship. And I would say, I'm kind of someone is a phobia when it's come to interview. I do fear. But I was able to read that book, and it actually changed a little things, like more of a better things about my life. And I can actually say this year, I've been able to at least one in particular opportunities attending to interviews, which I just closed that for that. And the question I want to ask is about grant opportunities. I think we have actually focused more on scholarship opportunities. We have actually talked about grant opportunities. I want to ask, is there a way aside from the application when it comes to grant opportunities, we have to do some extensions to actually grab the opportunities? That's just my question. Thank you. Yeah, so I'll take one more person and I'll take Daring and then answer the questions. So if, and you have the, then we have. All right, good evening. Um, Timmy and Mr. Larry Sher. Just as you mentioned, my name is Damola, and I'm, um, I'm currently a 400-level medicine student. I'm in B University. I wasn't around when he came around, so, um, my question is, um, tailor a bit toward, um, a bit towards counsel. And I also just want to see this opportunity because I don't know when next I'll be able to get this kind of opportunity. So presently, I'm 19 years old. And like I mentioned before, I'm in my 400-level MBBS. And, um, since I was in, I've already, um, found out that I don't think I want to do clinical medicine, especially right now with what I've seen, to be honest. So, and I'm interested in administration, PR, I'm also interested in media. So I have like two major concerns. No, I have a concern and then my question. So I've been mentioning my age because my question is still up towards that. By the time I'm done with medicine, I'll be 23 years old. And next month, I'm going to be turning 20. And for some reason, I've been very scared about like the age I'm turning, especially since, um, presently, I'm not very, especially since presently, like I know that I don't think these are things that really appeal to me, to be honest. I just want to see it through. So, um, I just wanted to, um, ask for counsel towards, um, my concerns with my age and everything. Like, I'm just very scared. And the next one is, um, my plan is, um, from this year, I want to like attend a lot of conferences that tailor towards my interest. And, um, I just wanted to, um, also ask that.

What are other like ways you can advise that I can just pursue my interest while I'm seeing through my degree? And yeah, I think that's just it. Thank you.

Great. I will take, I think I'll take, I'll answer your question and then I'll take, if if you have the floor. All right, thank you so much, Miss Timmy. Good morning. Morning. Good afternoon. Good evening, everybody. Please on your time zone. Thank you so much, Ms. Tammy and Mr. Larry for this opportunity. I sincerely appreciate.

So, um, my question is pointing to the fact that I have, um, diverse experiences and not necessarily diverse passion. So I'm a physics graduate. I am currently working as a human resource professional and I have had professional experience volunteering with AIESEC both on the on a national level and global level as well. However, I do not have a global footprint or an online footprint that points to these things. I want to know if backdating my experiences work and how you would recommend, you know, spacing them out to ensure that I effectively share what I've done. And also, how I can and transition from my physics background to doing something in tech product management on a master's level, that is on the scholarship level, with my physics experience as BSC. I am not interested in physics by any standard, but I did well in physics. But I want to do something else. That is my question. Thank you.

Um, I think I'll would just start from me from I. So it's already clear that you don't like, you did well in physics, but you don't like it, which is fine. I've seen doctors become, you know, different tech leaders and all of that. So if you want to access, you know, opportunities and you did not study what is, you know, in line with the opportunity. Lar is a very good example. He did biochemistry in L-Tech and he works in education. But what gave him a hand was the fact that he was like, he was working in education, is still working in education. So he had that experience. So if I were you, by now, I'll be looking out there. Lot of people giving out a lot of free tech trainings. I can mention Ingressive For Good, um, there's Tech Tech with E or something. Tech people, help me type those names. You guys know about them. I think Tech on Heels and so many tech platforms like that, depending on what you want. And there are a lot of people, old school, there's, is it old Alt? I know there's Old Schools and a lot of tech organizations like that, giving free trade and even paid ones. So if I were you, by now, instead of, I might be looking out for scholarship, but not for this year, right? So this year is my preparation year. Maybe the beginning of next year is also my preparation year. I will gather that experience. I'll gather, you know, the step for stars. There's, we tech, see a lot, short Africa, a lot of it. So all of these platforms, I'll look out for the one that I want and then just immerse myself in the whole learning process. And then if I was writing a scholarship application, I would say, okay, this, this is what I did in school, but this is what I want to do. And the reason I want to do that is because I've been doing this for about two years and this is where my passion is, and this is why I want to do it. I don't know if that makes sense. But right now, if I were in your shoes, I would not be applying for scholarship. I would be looking out for learning opportunities and then use that to apply for scholarships, right? I hope that answers your question.

And then there was also a question on, um, age. Um, I think that was from Dy. And I will tell you, you know, I'm not 19, but I have been 19 before. And I'll tell you that the feeling you're feeling right now is very, very valid. Especially if you're in school and you're probably doing something that you don't necessarily like, and you want to pivot based on what you actually, you know, you're passionate about and what you like. I would say that just finish school, you know. And this is my very candid advice. Finish school first. And even while you're still in school, you can just look out for petty, petty things that you can join online that has to do with media, right? Or fellowships that has to do with media. Yeah. Or events that you can attend. Cuz I know you're in private uni, so I don't know how you can leave your school and things like that. But if you see events that you can attend that has to do with media, also attend it. But right now, if I were in your shoes, you are not behind time. And I'll say this very clearly. Like, even if you're 25, you are not behind time. There's nothing wrong with you. Like, whatever you see that people are doing online, anything that happens in three years can happen to you in one year, literally, right? So give yourself that, like, breath. Do you get this? This is me advising like your elder sister. Like, breath. You are not 19. You are still very right on track. In fact, I'm very shocked that 400 level. But yeah, it's absolutely fine for you to just space yourself. Finish school properly and finish well, if you have to. And then you can say, okay, yes, I finished, and this is now my interest. Do you understand? But for now, no pressures at all. Let me just finish with that. So I think Lar can answer the funding pro, um, question and also Mr. Kak's question. Yeah.

Very quickly. Yes. Very quickly. Yes. Yes, ma'am. I know. Thanks for the emphasis. I know. Thank you. Anyways, I would refer back to, uh, medical student, finish at 23. The first thing I would say is, go on LinkedIn and look for the name. For me, I'm looking for one last name, right? You are able to see far into the future because you are sitting comfortably on the shoulder of those that have gone before you. What I know that students in Nigeria that I know have done comfortably well is number one, having a very interesting. Wait, did you say you're interested in media? Yes. Oh, if that's the case, let me excuse you from the line of thought that I'm going. Yes, if that's the case. I just saw somebody mentioned Cassidy David, so I know that I'm going in the wrong direction with what I was supposed to mention. But please, like she said, do not rush yourself. You can connect with people now. Mr. Kakul, one thing I, I, I need to tell you is you need to create a public portfolio that highlights the designs that you've made in the past. As a tech person, it is important that you have something that you can actually show and showcase. It is important that you create and find avenues to show your skill set to the world. And a huge example of that is having an online website, you know, repository that shows your work. And one way to leverage opportunities going in that direction is actually to apply for, um, tech visas, which you have a lot of them. A huge example is the Global Talent Visa that is available in the United Kingdom right now for people who have digital technology skills. Uh, there are so many countries in Europe that provide significant employment opportunities and immigration opportunities for those who work in the space of tech, UI design, product management, product design, data science, and many other things like that. For the person talking about grant opportunities, so one thing I'm going to say is we have limited time to treat a lot of things on, on, on this space. But if you follow me on Instagram at Larer, I think I would dedicate this week to post some carousels that have some places you can access. I mean, we just mentioned just ResearchGate, Academia.edu, and ScienceDirect. And people are accessing, you know, these platforms right away right now. So I think what I would do is just, you know, you know, post things that are around, you know, where you can find funding opportunities, volunteering opportunities, youth networks, and things like that. So it will be in form of carousels. I'll just do maybe five days in, in a row and, um, you know, focusing on different things. For, uh, Blessing about grant opportunities, see, global opportunities sometimes is also not usually about application. It can either be by invitation and by recommendation. And that is also as a function of people that you know and that you're connected with. You need to be able to identify mentors who have accessed some opportunities that you are eyeing, and they can refer you when the time comes. Referrers are really significant in these our space when it comes to accessing funding opportunities. Number two is accessing those opportunities through public domains. And a huge example of that is websites. A huge, um, uh, fun opportunity that many nonprofit professionals do not pay attention to in Nigeria is, uh, public embassies. Almost all embassies that operate in Nigeria have funding opportunities. The US Embassy, Canadian Embassy, German Embassy, you know, uh, Chinese Embassy. And on their websites, there's always regular calls for funding applications for you to apply. Netherlands and many one of them like that. Last one, or second to the last one, is youth networks. When you become a part of a youth network, if it's a network that has funding opportunities, the award, Youth Global Youth Ambassador, Queen's Commonwealth Trust, Global Changemakers, One Young World, they have internal funding opportunities only accessible for those who are a part of that network, which recycles back to what I mentioned on joining communities and joining youth networks. The last one is through something we called cold emailing. Cold emailing profile organizations that have funding opportunities in the field and live work that you're doing. If you have a considerably proven track record, package your work in form of a broker or, um, or a document so that I don't complicate it and send it to them, telling them this is what I do and I believe that you give grants and opportunities and I believe you should consider it. It will shock you that most funding opportunities sometimes happen through these means. Calls for funding that are not openly available and people have to reach out directly to the organizations. You apply for them and they fall on your life. I hope I'm able to address those questions. Thank you. Thank you so much.

Sh, we take and we take the last set of people and that would be all for today. So you have the floor and after you, just go. Thank you so much, Toy. I was, I would say that this has really been, um, mind, um, opening, insightful, and all of that. Thank you so much. So much, Mr. Larry. I've been following your works and I was, in fact, when I saw this opportunity, I thought, oh, I need to jump on this. And, um, okay, so my name is Z. I have worked around the climate, or on the climate change, um, frontiers for three years now. And so because of all of the experiences and all of that, I think I met Tammy, um, at COP 26, if I, if I remember very well. We just had a chat, very quick one. Now, with all of those exposures and my work has been around for three years now, I now have, I don't know if I, I should put that way, that I now have an interest in education. Also, the organization I had worked with, you know, had some thematic areas and all of that. And so it was really, um, a learning call for me, this three years, a very quick and deep one. But now there's somehow an interest around education. And the way it's coming is, it's not, um, just okay, yes, I've built strengths, networks, and all of that with, or around the climate change space. How do I tie this, you know, to education? And I know that Mr. Larry Shaper is, you know, one household name when it comes to that. And mine is not just, okay, um, yes, I could leverage on the climate education space. Actually, I typed this information, but, um, I think we lost it along the line. That's why I had to raise my hand so, you know, coming from that space and the network I've built, how do I tie this to education? Because that's one of the things I know Larry also talked about, um, either being a pioneer or volunteer and all of that. And and I really picked that because we have a lot of initiatives and initiatives going on and people just, you know, lay their dormant and all of that. This is not even my desire, but it's something I know that I have to do because of impact currently. And so, um, if even in the course of trying to get this done, I made an inquiry on how to volunteer, you know, in an area I, because I know someone there and all of that, who works there. But of course, I got an information around that. So I like, okay, fine, I think we just take, um, coppers and all of that, which was okay by me. But so I know that anyways, I longed for, you know, an opportunity to meet with Ms. Larry one of the days because I'm still trying to tie things, um, document-wise and all of that. So this is my question. And then briefly also, I'm on an application anyways on something around climate change and, um, development and policy. And it's also, um, at the University of Sussex. So I wanted to ask because I found out something along the line around, um, academic interest and, um, personal statement. So there's a particular place where, you know, they're asking for, and maybe a document for you to upload on regarding academic interest. So I'm like, is this, is it same as personal, um, statement and all of that? So I dropped this question, but I think we lost it along the line. So I just need to ask. Thank you so much. Thank you.

Great. Um, so we take just Tony and so you have the floor. Just and then he, Fa. Hi, hello everyone. Good evening. Um, thank you very much. Um, thank you very much, Timmy and Kon, for hosting this webinar. Um, I have a couple of questions. My first question is, could you give some tips for, um, pioneers starting up NGOs in the environmental sector? Then, um, I've seen a couple of your videos, Timmy, and I don't know you personally, but I'm proud of you. I love the way you speak. I like the way you handle, um, questions when you're in, um, forums. And for me personally, I don't really like public speaking. I don't know if you can speak on, like, how you handle anxiety and things like that in that kind of space. Then I'm not such a social person, but I would like to network because, um, I've always been passionate about the environment ever since I was a child. I've, I've been volunteering for as long as I can remember. Every World Environment Day, noise pollution, everything, I share, like, you know, I've been quite involved. But one way or the other, I've found myself in the banking sector. And, um, no offense to the banking sector, but it's not as fulfilling as I thought it would be. So I'm trying to, you know, move back into the environment field. And even though I have some certifications here and there and some experiences here and there, like I feel like there's a lot of gap in between, like my last environment, um, experiences and like what I've been doing for the past, I think four years, which is banking. I don't know if you can, I don't know, help to see how I can, like, tie things together because this particular banking job that I took, I took it because they had a sustainability team. But then shortly after I joined, they scrapped the team. So I found, I found myself in the compliance department, which is not bad. Like, I'm still, I'm still doing the work. I still try to, you know, influence in any way positively for the environment and stuff like that. But it's not the same as working fully in the environment sector. I know you know what I mean. I don't know if you can just, you know, those are, those are my questions. Oh, and then I have another question. Sorry, please. Um, so I've been applying to schools for masters in environment-related topics, and I've been getting admissions. I've not been getting scholarships. And I don't really know what the issue is. Cuz like, I think last year I got like five admissions, then I got some partial scholarships. By the time you check the difference between the one they've given you and the, uh, uh, this one is giving, he's giving discount. He's not giving scholarship. You understand? So I don't know if there are any, I don't know, funding opportunities that, you know, maybe 50% above, you know, something that can really help out. Thank you very much. Those are my questions. Okay, so I'll go to E. Sh, um, and then Ivon. Thank you. See, giving discount. H. Everyone, good evening. Thank you so much, Tim, and Mr. Larry, for this great opportunity to learn from you. Actually, I typed my question earlier because I didn't think I was going to get the opportunity to speak. So I'll just read through it. I'm a fellow, a penultimate student of the University of Lagos. I hope to get my Master's Degree in Public Health, we focus on epidemiology and health policy. Usually in school, I assist my medical microbiology professors because medical microbiology is very, you know, close to epidemiology. So I assist my medical microbiology professors on their research studies and projects to build my knowledge and capacity. Um, how can I use these experiences as building blocks for a potential scholarship application, you know, after school? And I'm asking from the perspective that I don't, I do not own this project. I mean, I just do basic support roles. So it's not, it's not like I'm not fully involved, really, you know, from like the research, the lab work part, you know, the study of the microorganisms, yada yada. It's just maybe, okay, if I work on this abstract, or if I compile a link of previous studies that's been done on this and all of that. So how can I use these experiences as building blocks, you know, for for scholarship, um, potential scholarship applications post-graduation? I, I, I'd like to mention that one for, for example, a typical example would be, I worked with one of my professors who was the, um, who was the head of the National Malaria Elimination Project for Nigeria in 2021, no, 2021, yes. And I, I worked as, um, sample collector and preservation. I worked in the sample collection and preservation unit. So I'm just trying to give an idea into what I do. So basically, when people bring the blood samples from all over Nigeria, I take the logs, I collect the samples, I store them, I monitor the storage, you know, environment every day. So how can, how can I just fed all of this in when I am applying for a potential scholarship, saying that it's not, I'm not at the forefront of all of this work? Yes. And also, I was asking because you, you mentioned something about building your digital, um, footprint. And I asked the question about how do I start sharing my work, you know, or building my digital footprint, particularly on Instagram, seeing that this is a picture, it's mainly a picture posting platform, really. For LinkedIn, I most like, I most times share articles, you know, that I write or that other people write. I just share or comment. But for Instagram, what can I really post? Yes. And I, I, I made an example. I said, pictures of me in the lab. And M already answered that, said I could post that. But I'd of course like to get more ideas on what I could post on Instagram. Lastly, I got an opportunity to volunteer with the African Circular Economy Network through a referral from somebody in the circular economy space. If we're looking at it from the front perspective and from like the front lines, circular economy and public health, particularly epidemiology and health policy, do not really align, especially if you're even looking at it from the SDG perspective. They're like under different SDGs. And I just felt like no opportunity should be wasted, you know, I could learn one or two from it. Do you think that this is a good goal? Yes. I think those are my three major questions. Thank you.

Um, okay, so I'll answer all the questions like very quickly. Ena's question has been answered because I think that a more technical question like that has to do like application. Lar already shared, you can reach out to the person. Is also like a friend to us. So please reach out to the person. Is in best position because it works at Sussex. Um, and then for J Tony, you asked about how to start an NGO in the environmental sector. I would say, identify the problem you want to solve. There are so many intersections for the environmental sector. Do you want to go into recycling? Do you want to go into education? Do you want to go into gender and climate? You want to go into finance and environment? There's just a lot of intersections, right? So you get to decide the one that you want. And starting at an NGO, of course, you need people, right? So look out for people that you know, they will have the same interest with you. Look out for projects that you can do. If it's for education, you can go to schools, you can work on a book, you can write articles, a lot of things, right? So that's for me, starting an NGO. Before you even think about registering it, I registered my NGO three years after. So it's not really about registering it per se. So you can just start by solving a problem around you in your community. The next one is public speaking. So if you probably scroll through my page like down, down five years ago, the way I was speaking is not the way I'm speaking right now. In fact, when they play that video, I like to cover my eyes. And it just shows you that practice makes perfect. So you don't think something to perfection, you do something to perfection. So if you see me speak on those platforms, three things have happened. I have practiced and practiced. That's number one. Number two, I have a very good knowledge of what I'm speaking about. Before I'm on a panel, I've asked what the questions are. And most of the time, I don't even get where the questions are, to be very honest. But because I've had repository knowledge of what I do, I might not be able to talk about tech like that, like I might be stammering. But this is climate education. If you put me on that panel, I will speak. So public speaking for me is first of all, from a place of information rather than confidence. I know there are some people that are confident and they say rubbish, but you face out with time. But like for me, it's more of what you digest than what you can even tell to the public, right? So what you have inside of you, the repository knowledge that you have, is what makes you confident. So this is the reason why I can speak for one hour on climate education because I swallowed things that had to do with climate education even when I did not have a panel. So I don't prepare for the panel. When the panel comes, I've been preparing even before now. So knowledge gives you confidence. Information gives you confidence. I hope you understand, right? So, um, for me, that is just. So public speaking, practice and practice. Before I went to the UN, I practiced in front of my mirror, as cliché as it sounds, it is the truth. Before I went to the UN, I practiced in front of my friends. I practiced, you know, in my room with no mirror, just imagine myself talking to people. So you don't prepare on the stage, you prepare before the stage, right? Um, the other thing I would like to talk about is, um, handling anxiety. I'll tell you for free, for every time I've gone up to speak, I feel anxious. And I think any, no matter how good you are with public speaking, there's always this shaky hand moment you have when you to climb the stage. And it happens. So here are some things that I do. I drink water. And if you have probably invited me to your event, you probably see me using the restroom. I'm not going there to do anything. I'm just going there to like, just count my body because it happens. Like it happens properly. So I would say, drink water, relax, get to the venue before the event starts. That's another thing. And then if you say you're not social, but you want to be visible, see, there are no two ways to be visible in this global space except if you want to play locally. You have to be social. When I say social, I don't mean like go everywhere. My friends know me. I don't even, I'm not a fan of parties. So my life is literally work, church, and my house. So I, I won't count myself as a very social person. The reason why majority of people are seeing me like that online is because of the work that I do and the kind of person that I am. If you probably invited me to an event, you can tell how shy I can be before I get to the stage. So even me, I'm not social by rating, I'm probably three over ten. But when I get there and this is what I need to do, I do it and I go. Do you understand? So you cannot give excuses if you want to go global. So if you need to be social for you to be visible, please do go social, right? Either on LinkedIn. And then the last thing you said was somebody talked about overcoming shyness. There are no tips and tricks I can give you to overcome shyness that will make you overcome shyness. The way to overcome shyness is to overcome it by doing something that makes you overcome it. So eg, you, you are shy when you talk to people. The way to overcome your shyness when you talk to people is to talk to people. And when you do grade one, and you've successfully done it, you do grade two, you do grade three, you do grade four. So before you even go ahead to talk to people that probably like way high up like in your field or space, you've practiced with your peers. You volunteer for things in class. They say, who wants to answer this question? You raise up your hand. This is the way me, I viewed my confidence over time, right? Because at one point or the other, so I've been bullied to a point that I was not able to talk in class. But I knew that for me to go global, I need my voice, right? And you need that confidence and you need to overcome that shyness by doing what will make you overcome shyness. When you go to the gym and you are 50 kg, you don't carry 5 kg to grow muscles. You carry kgs that are higher than you so that you can build muscles. This is the way I saw. Um, I think that that that that's what I can answer. If there's any other thing that I've missed out on, um, please do let me know. And somebody asked about feeding in, like your, you talked about ideology. What I can see is that you are very useful to your professors. It's the way you see it. So you said you were in the lab where something was happening, you were collecting samples. I want to assume that there's a role for that, right? And even if there's no, there's no role, I can call myself a lab assistant and it holds water. You don't need to be the lab person. You can be a lab assistant and that's enough. Like your work is very important. So it's the way you see your work and you can use that to apply for scholarship. And then for the person who said that, you know, um, you applied for scholarship and then you saw that it was discount and all of that. Scholarship sometimes is not about you. It's not about because you're not good or you're good or your application. Sometimes life just happens, right? And one thing I will say is that sometimes you're also applying for the wrong scholarships per se. So look for the scholarship that perfectly tails into what you want. Majority of these schools give, I can speak about Sussex, they have like maybe Mandela Scholarship that just gives you like 100%. Some give you 20%, some give you 10%. If you know what you are looking for, I would say that you should apply for independent scholarship if you want a full scholarship. There's Commonwealth, there's Mastercard, there's Chevening. In a row, in a year, apply for the three of them. At least you get one good feedback. At least. And if you don't get, apply again. This is a role of life for me for Sussex, right? So I hope that also answers your question. So sometimes it's not about you, it's just about the number of slots available for that opportunity. Um, so I hope that answers your question. So we'll just, I, I like to up on that as well. The epidemiology, Med microbiology. So for you to be able to capitalize on those activities to access scholarship, you need to reflect on the fact that you do possess research capacity or acumen. And the novelty of the research ideas you've contributed to would have also supported you in building your writing skills. It is important you are able to show that in your applications. What is important for you to also do right now is find a way to publish your undergraduate thesis, if you can, right? Find ways to, you know, show some of the research work you've contributed to in form of, you know, conference presentations, which can either be, you know, posters, you know, poster presentation or online presentations. All of that cumulatively allows you to reflect and compile everything, uh, towards contributing to building a solid graduate school applications. Thank you.

Um, actually, we still have about 200 people on this call, and I want to actually just say thank you for staying for almost four, actually four hours. But before I take the last set of questions, which is the last questions, right? I would like to, you know, just say some things for the what next. So this webinar is going to, the reason why I said there won't be a replay when you registered is because I've had situations where people don't just show up just because they don't want, they just say they went somewhere and they not come for the webinar, right? So we wanted people to come, and we're going to make this replay available for 48 hours. And here is a reason why. Some people did not pay to be here, and it would be very unfair for them to access the webinar without payment, and it will be unfair to you, I want to believe. So this webinar is going to, we will have the replay for you for 48 hours when we send the link. So we're not sending the link tomorrow because I need to like properly edit the video and then share. But we'll share it via email. And I know there is a WhatsApp group that you guys have created. Maybe I'll just tell somebody to also share that now. Everybody can check their emails, right? So that would happen. And then for all the material bonuses that we promised, we are also going to send it by next week, right, right. And because we would have sent it this week, the only reason why we're sending it next week is because of all these things we've heard and your questions. Now we want to impute more information. And I hope that is fine by everybody. So we'll communicate properly by, let's say, Wednesday, you'll get the links to everything. And then it will be with you in a drive, and you have access to it for a lifetime. I hope that answers your question. And then, um, you know, if there's any other thing, we definitely let you know via email. I also noticed that some people put gmail.com, I, I mean, co instead of com. So there are so many people that couldn't access this call because they made a mistake with their email. So whenever you're filling forms, please do well to like check all your emails, check your spam, check your email, refresh, and just keep searching. But by next week, you are going to have all of the, you know, the videos. And the moment we send the video, just count 48 hours, and I'm sorry, you will not have access to it again because we've had moments where people just shared like group chats and school groups, you know, and I don't think it's fair to anyone. So we'll have that for 48 hours before we now open it up to like the general public who want to purchase. But for you guys, it's going to be free. Yeah, I hope so. After 48 hours, after sharing the link, please nobody should send me message on Instagram to say, I was busy, like, please just watch it. Some people were sick and could not join, and I totally understand. Network. So please, when you get the link next week, just watch it within that 48 hours. So yeah, I'll just take the last set of questions and then we'll close for the night. So we have, please kindly keep your questions very short. Ion, Fa, and then, yeah, so you have the floor and then after, and, and, okay, she is not speaking. Is in me. Hi, thank you. Good evening, everyone. Can you hear me? Yes, we can. Okay, thank you so much, Tim, and thank you so much, Mr. Gideon. Um, thank you for putting this together. It has been very resourceful. Straight to my question. So I'm just going to give a very brief background. Um, I started in 2017 working with an NGO that, um, basically focuses on, um, the fight against girl trafficking and child trafficking. I have been very passionate about that as a Christian, right? So I support the NGO's branch here and I carry out activities around that. However, career-wise, I am in the environmental space. And I have been thinking about starting up an NGO related to, you know, the sustainability aspect of what I do. And I need, I'm just basically still thinking about how to go about it. Is it wise for me to carry both? Do both activities? That is something relating to the girl child support, girl education, especially in marginalized communities, vulnerable girls, girls are vulnerable to sex trafficking. And also on the other hand, do my own personal NGO, or rather, you know, with an NGO, with an environmental NGO? Secondly, I put in for Atlas Fellowship, I think 2018. I got to the semifinal stage, but I have been hanging there for about three years now. I don't know why. We have gotten emails to just keep reapplying, but I don't know if the ideas or suggestions that can help me, you know, scale through with that. Then lastly, if, um, it's not a good idea to start off my NGO because I don't even think I have the capacity like you mentioned. How do I basically build up myself career-wise? How do I engage in activities that can show consistency of what I do? That can basically help me with building knowledge, expertise, and can open me up for global opportunities. I hope I was able to summarize that well. Great. Um, okay, we have Ion and then J and Fa. Um, hello, good evening, everybody. Good evening, Tammy, and good evening, Larry Shaper. So my, okay, first off, I just finished my internship. So Tammy, that thing you asked for doctors, residents, I did the far, I just finished the pharmacist version of it. So it's the internship. So right now, I'm currently like in between service and trying to see if I'll just like take a gap, some gap months, I guess, to kind of like build my resume and build my, just like build my activities. So like you mentioned before, I'm actually very active. I'm active in our professional platform, that's Young Pharmacist Group. But my problem now is the consistency. So I want, I'm in the sense that I'm active, but I'm also a bit lukewarm. I mean, when you eventually get me there, I will outperform, but to get me there is the problem. Like to get myself there is the problem. So one, I wanted to ask for like tips on generally staying consistent. And if it's based on public speaking, I'm actually very good at that. I won like awards in university based on my public speaking, scholarships and all that. And they also know me in my YPG group. But like I said before, I'm also trying to like, um, I'm trying to increase my community engagement on that. So I was wondering how, how to even reach out to NGOs or how to search for NGOs that are involved in like the health space. Because one thing about the health space, they don't, they won't just see you as like, if you're not like some years a doctor, a pharmacist, or a nurse, they hardly ever, they hardly take. Like the ones I check, though, like Doctors Without Borders and the rest, they don't even take co-ops. So how to search for like relevant NGOs? And also how to build consistency? That is my main problem. Like, how do you stay consistent? Are there tips? Are there hacks? Are there tricks and all that? Okay. And the third one is that, so I, I actually applied for one of these Erasmus programs and I did not get it. It hit me really bad. Cuz I mean, I, I think I have a very good portfolio. I've won scholarships, I'm a public speaker, I'm involved in youth groups, and like I'm out there, my socials are active. But I didn't even get to the interview stage. So I was really, really not happy. So in pursuit of that, I said, okay, let me go and let me do an independent research with one of these professors in a school, in my school. So I was getting like some side voices that what am I doing? Independent research? I should focus on my Pharmacy and whatnot. And I don't want to do clinical pharmacy. I want to do research. So I want to ask now, is it me like me trying to do independent research? I mean, I'm going to put my money, my time, and my into this, into building like a product. It may or may not work, but I want to have like that experience. Is it, do you see it as me not focusing or me losing focus? Or is it something that I should like continue and stuff? So yeah, that's it. Right. So we have Jima, um, and then Fa. You have the floor and then we need to close this meeting. We've been here for four hours. Great. Can you hear me? Um, hello, good hi, good evening. Can you hear me? Yeah, I can hear you. Um, okay, so a little background. I studied International Relations and Diplomacy at a university and I was able to graduate with a good grade. Thank you, Jesus. But I think the issue is I'm more interested in International Security, which is something that I have been looking at. But then anytime I look, I haven't seen any organization that does it. I even did my, um, final year project on the challenges of, um, the UN Security Council in the 21st century. And the gist of the thesis project was how can we better the UN Security Council to function in today's, like, climate with the whole, we the troubles in the international system. But my major problem is I can't seem to find any opportunity for everything I'm seeing is like International Development or climate or education. And not that I don't appreciate those things, I'm just not interested in carrying out a career in those, in that field. So that's just my major question. That how do I find opportunities in International Security? I've also tried, um, looking at the UN website, UN Volunteers, but I'm not really seeing anything that kind of like fits what I'm looking for. And then I was talking to a friend the other day, she was like, probably because it's kind of like a sensitive area, security is pretty sensitive. So I was hoping if you knew like any, like maybe similar field that can just be kind of like a platform to like launch your career in that kind of field. Bus. Yes, thank you. Sorry, sorry. Yeah, before before I forget. Yes, it's very important. Uh, sorry, babe. I just think we need to close out. I've forgotten almost everything I want to respond to for all the questions for studying. I interest is national security. There are opportunities out there for you. There are two major areas right now that I think you need to read more about and use online certifications or academic training to build expertise. You need for you to be able to bridge and pivot into what you're really interested in. You need to build a connection to it. I studied about chemistry, went into education. I used a three volunteering experience to bridge that gap. So that is what I mean by bridging. The two areas will be arms control and nuclear disarmament. Arms control, nuclear discernment. Re, research about Dr. Solid Samuel. That's the name, right? Many of the questions we have by just finding one or two people that we can read about. There's something called mentorship by observation, not reaching out to people, just studying their pattern of professional trajectory and adopting their home model to jump start our own career. As if you can do that, I think that will really help you. Babe, over to you. Before you looked, what I need to respond, I just needed to jump on that before I forget. Thanks. The health space, um, I don't know if Larry knows some of them. Um, that was the same person that also asked about Erasmus. So when you say that you applied for Erasmus, so let me tell you something about scholarships. And that was what we mentioned earlier. There are probably like specific things you're looking for, right? And, um, you know, you mentioned that you, you, you're part of youth groups, you've accessed some scholarships before. So sometimes we are probably applying to scholarships that are not in tune with what we do and what they are asking for. So that might be two conflicting priorities. And you need to check, like, into, like, very, very well, like what are they looking out for? They might say, oh, this is what we're looking out for on paper, but look out for the people that have actually accessed some of these scholarships before. What kind of candidates were they? What kind of field do they work in? What are you trying to use to apply? I know somebody that applied for Chevening, and I know the person works in, the person works in health. And then in an application that I read through, she said she wanted to do, um, Public Health in one school, and then she wanted to do mental health in another school. And even me, reading the application, the person had a lot of interest. The person does a lot of things. They've been to different, they volunteer for all the organizations in this world. But like, I'm confused as a person. So it's not really about the number of activities you've done. It's about the quality of work that you've done. So somebody might just be in the health space and they just belong to one youth group, and that is what they hammer on in their application. So they need people that are probably like in tune with what they have already set out that they want. So you might want to check again, first of all, if you're applying to the right scholarship. So Erasmus might not be the scholarship for you because of your field. It might be another scholarship, right? So spread your tentacles and see. Google is your best resource. Like Google things, Google scholarships for Public Health, Pharmacy, this, just put Google anything. Google lab. That's what I always see. And you will see at least 50% of your answer. Um, the other thing you also asked is, um, um, I don't, I'm not sure if I missed it. Somebody talked about building resume. Please, if I missed your question, just let me know in the chat section. So I'm trying to close this meeting as early as we can. We've spent 4 hours. But if I missed your question, please let me know in the chat section. And I hope that answers your question. The person that asked Erasmus, and then J. Lar already answered for me. I would also talk about peace. Peace and security are very intertwined. So there are a lot, there's, there are a lot of like organizations working in the peace. Even UN, they have like a peace arm that they work, you know, that people working. So you might want to also check, you know, for peace, maybe not security like International Security directly, because it's a sensitive issue. But what Lar mentioned, and then check out for peace and security together. I'm sure you'll find opportunities. I hope that answered it. So the last person that was.

On the list was F and Fe. Yeah, hello everybody. Good evening. Thank you so much, Tamy and Gideon, for this opportunity. It's so interesting that my question ties to what Jima had just said. So, um, my journey within the ENT space started with working around victimhood in Africa and then bridging the gap between young people and government stakeholders. A few years down the line, for some reason, I found myself in peacebuilding, working around strategy and stakeholder engagements. I did this actively for about three years before I relocated to the UK. And while you were just talking about visibility, I realized how sensitive peacebuilding is. I worked majorly in Northern Nigeria all through my career in peacebuilding. So, my question is around how do you gain visibility with a sector that is that sensitive?

So I belong to groups, um, I belong to the Global Peace Forum, the Global Peace Hub, and you are now allowed to share information about meetings. So we attend webinars, we have all of these activities, but because of the security risk of other young people who are part of this, you are not allowed to share information online. You go into the community, you're not allowed to share all of this information online. So my question is, how do you build a visible profile around that? And like I mentioned, I got into that space because I believe that that was the direction God was going to have me go at that time. I'm still very much interested in victimhood in the African setting, and my major strength is around strategy. So how do I combine all of that together? That's what my question is. Thank you.

Um, Larry, do you want to answer that question? Let me attempt it. Right. So, um, you've said a lot, and I can understand the component of confidentiality, especially when you are working in a very volatile, you know, area of interest like, you know, peace and security, violent extremism, and, you know, some of these things. But one thing I believe you can build on that allows you to build visibility personally is your area of specialization. And what do I mean by that? Your area of interest and your area of specialization are different. Your area of specialization would be that particular professional skill or competency to which you deploy in your work, and you mentioned strategy. Now, for strategy, yes, exactly. For strategy, there are different ways you can demonstrate the acquisition of knowledge and skill that boost and improve your ability to translate the skill and strategy for organizational growth, right? So, how much, for example, I don't know, at the organizational level that you work, maybe senior executive or intermediate or junior, regardless of that level, there are ways that you bring about your, you know, strategic contribution to, let's say, fundraising, for example, or organizational impact performance. You need to be able to, you know, define how your strategy work translates to the growth of that organization and show evidence for a program development strategy. That's confusing. But if it is program development, it would okay, program development strategy. So that would basically be about how you are able to improve on the effectiveness of the programs that you run, the conversion from just mere project activities to impact metrics. That is important, right? It is important because there are a lot of organizations that run projects and programs, and it is strategy that goes into building and designing those programs. But what is important, if you work on developing the strategy of implementing this program, is how do they transform lives and societies and communities? If you are able to deliver that, then your impact metrics can be what you can continue to sell. Someone who works on strategy for, you know, resource mobilization, for example, the conversion metrics can be, you know, you know, leverage opportunities to mobilize $1 million in grants. That's impact strategy to add. It could be $1 million to reach over 5,000 beneficiaries. There is nothing volatile about sharing those kinds of impact metrics that is reflective of how your strategic contribution has led to the growth and performance of an organization. I hope I answered that.

There's a question that was asked earlier that I don't think we've answered. Someone who works around girls and child trafficking and environment space. You've said it all that you do not have the strength or the mental capacity to actually become a pioneer. So it would be good if you have the skill, passionate, and you can build the competencies. It's about identifying someone that you can actually contribute your skills to advance an existing and already, you know, um, existing organization. Now, the beauty of such organizations, if they are very cooperative, is you can co-develop a project or a program that is incubated under the organization that you are the program director or the project, you know, manager of that idea, but it is incorporated into an organization. That's number one, saves you from the stress of, you know, looking for funding to, you know, independently run that structure. Through collaboration or coordination, you can have that project mobilized and implemented under that organization, but you are the brainchild for that project. I've seen a lot of people do that within the development space, and because of that kind of coverage that they have, they have gone on by virtue of the work that they do to, you know, independently stand on their own. Even though there are three different people who have independent projects, they brought it under one umbrella, they run it as one organization, and at a point, five years after, they can independently exist on their own. That's a very interesting model of pioneering that I know people have leveraged and done in the past. Thank you.

Great. Um, so very quickly, before I take the last person, which is Fei, um, this webinar was actually supposed to be for two hours, but we knew that we can't give like all the details that we wanted to give like in two hours, and that's why we extended, you know, to four hours. So first of all, we apologize for the long time. Although some people are even saying that it's short, but we can spend six hours and, you know, like give all the value in our head, right? And that's why we're making out the resources that were shared with you for free, that you have access to for your lifetime. So, there is a feedback form in the chat box session. Please, if you can please share it, I mean, just click it, it's anonymous, just give us feedback about the session. It's very, very important in case there will be a next one, we know what to do better, and if there's another thing that we need to do to serve you better, we do that. Um, so I just needed to mention that. And then we have Fei. So you can unmute yourself. If you can please keep your questions very short, we really appreciate. Thank you so much. So, okay, you're muted now, so you can speak. I'm not sure. Are you still here? Hi. Okay, so since I can hear you, if you can type a question in the chat box, I'll just go ahead to bring on Mor, and that will be the last person, and I'll answer Comfort's question on the chat. That's all. So Mor, you have the floor, please.

Okay, good evening, everybody. Thank you to Mr. Sheers and thank you for this session. It's been mind-blowing. Okay, so my question is, um, we've all been talking about education, climate, education, tech, and all of that for over the years. I actually studied Marine Engineering. By the grace of God, I was the best graduate student. But after coming out of school, I tried assessing global opportunities for Marine Engineering, and I found out that I didn't get any best. I even tried other companies in Nigeria, you know, politics, and all of that. Currently, I have to like take a break to rest, strategize, and all that. So what advice would you give to me on this break that I'm having right now? How do I rest, strategize in the space of the Maritime sector to be able to find relevance? As well, at some point, I was even considering going into petroleum engineering and all of that. But, um, of recent, I still had that personal conviction that, you know what, I think Maritime is what is best for me. So what advice would you give me?

Okay, so I studied Marine Biology, and I kind of have an idea of what you're talking about. If you're talking about job opportunities for anything marine in Nigeria, I can speak for a fact, it's probably like 20%. So if I were to be your sister, this is what I would say. Thank God you are taking a break to rest, strategize, look out of the country. And I'm not seeing like Jaa or anything, but by virtue of location, some places don't just give you the opportunities you want. Right? I have a friend who actually went ahead to complete a master's in something in Maritime, and she's currently working in a company in the UK. And she actually did like the scientific part, you know, because you also have like the people who are in admin, theory, art, and all of those things. But like, she's actually like a scientist when it comes to like marine biology and marine engineering. So what I would say is, don't just keep your focus on Nigeria. Spread your wings, look out for opportunities outside the country. And there are people because this is a field that a lot of people don't actually go to, and that's the truth, right? So there are probably shortages of, you know, workforce in that particular area, and that's a great opportunity. So if I were you, I'll probably Google, you know, Maritime opportunities specific to what you did in the UK, in the US, in Canada, in some of the countries that you probably like, and for opportunities that you can actually go for, including scholarships. And I said this because you asked that how can you rest, strategize, since you're taking a break. For me, you can still look at opportunities in the Nigerian space, but it doesn't give you that full, you know, that full experience of what you have studied, and you actually graduated as best graduate student. So trust me, your place is outside this country. I'll just tell you for free. So I hope that answers your question.

And then there was somebody in the chat that asked about, you want to go into special education fully funded. I also want a course that has accommodation for the specialist community. What would you advise? So I'm not sure if you're asking like, do you have like special needs and you're looking out for countries that their scholarship cover accommodation for you, or you want to go into the special needs space and you want funding? If you can clarify before we can type the answer.

I'm an environmentalist and climate educator. I would love to network, and one of the ways is by attending conferences, which I try to, but most of them are strictly by invitation. Please, what are the tips? I wouldn't say they are strictly by invitation, to be very honest. I've attended about three events in Nigeria, like even in this Abuja, in the past few months that were not strictly by invitation, and they were events based on environment. So I'll say maybe one thing I also do is to probably share. Like next two weeks, you know, the way I shared about opportunities platforms, I will share specifically for environment, for people working in Nigeria, right? So, top of my head, I don't know any events currently happening, but I attended about three in the past three months. And that's what I can answer to that question. If that answers your question, I don't know about events generally in Nigeria at the moment, but there are statutory events that happen outside Nigeria, like COP SB in Bonn, Germany, and all of that. But in Nigeria, there are probably a lot that actually happen every month, and all you have to do is know the organizations that organize these things. And I'm going to take it upon myself to share next two weeks when I'm free. So just turn on your post notification on my Instagram so that you see it.

This scholarship that can be transferred to fund any school and course. I'm not sure about transferred. Maybe Larry can answer that. So I think that answers all the questions. Larry, I think we're good. The only person left is Fei. So that's the last person. If you can unmute yourself, and then I'll ask you to mute. I don't know, maybe it's your phone. And that will be the end of this call. We have stayed for four hours, twenty-one minutes. Who's going to buy me, buy me pizza for staying this long? And maybe Dlex, I'm just joking. All right, I've asked you to unmute, but I can't see your question. So if you can just type it here, it will be really, really good. Please, like, so we just save time. Or maybe you can just send me a DM on Instagram. That would be way, way better. And for the special needs question also, let me just go through it. I want to go into the special needs space. My long time ago is to have a school, needs school in Nigeria, later, but to do my master's now in a more advanced country with scholarship. So it, I think the bulk of the work is on you. You probably need to first check out on the internet what courses are available in that field. Is it child education? Is it special needs education? Because I know not a lot of schools take that kind of course, right? So you want to actually look out for schools and countries that are very, very, you know, pronounced in that aspect. And then when you're done with your research, you now look out for the scholarships that align with what you want to do before you now even start thinking about building a special school in Nigeria. So precept upon precept, step upon step. If I were you, this is what I would do, right?

So I think that's all for tonight. Please, I would really like if you fill this feedback form to help us. And I think we are coming to a close now. Thank you so much, everyone. I would just like to reiterate, please look out for the video. The replay is going to be available next week. I'll try to, I can send it to you like this, but I really need to like edit and just put it together so it makes sense. And then I'm going to share the link to access it either on a Google Drive or like a platform called, and you'll be able to access it. And then I heard there's a WhatsApp group. If you want to join, please do join. It's independent of me, like of us. I just wanted to put that out there. And I really hope that it's controlled so you don't have like people joining in and then nobody gets scammed of anything. So like I said earlier, it is independent of me, but I love the idea that everybody wants to network, and it's easy to disseminate information. So one other thing I would like to ask for, if this session has been really useful to you, I would like to like post on your story on Instagram, Twitter, tag us so that we can reshare, we can repost. Thank you so much, and good night, everyone.

I think I'll just, you know, unmute. You guys can unmute yourself and just say anything you want at this moment. Sorry. Okay, so right, everybody's on mute at this moment. All right, so I don't, I don't think I can get to do that. So I think you can just tell us what you want to say in the comment section. But thank you. It was really like lovely having everyone, and see you again hopefully next time. Just keep tabs on our Instagram, on our Twitter. We share lots of opportunities. I even just shared one for South Africa on my story, so if you check it, you'll find it there. God bless you, and see you in the email with all the resources that we plan to share. Mr. Sheers, do you have any last words? Oh, my video has been off. I look so tired. Mr. Sheers? Yes, Mr. Sheers. I don't have much to say. I just wanted to say, if you do not pick anything from this call, just remember passion is key, but capacity is king. Clarity of purpose, sense of direction. Those two things. If you don't hear anything from me on this call, just take that. Thank you so much for attending. We really appreciate those who registered and, you know, joined us. We appreciate you. Yeah.

So someone asked if I'm going to include a Q&A session in the replay. I normally always do that for all my webinars, and that's because the Q&A session for me is probably like the most important thing because these are personal questions that apply to everyone. So I would leave it, of course, in the videos, and you will have the opportunity to watch and rewatch and rewatch. So fill the form, tag us on Instagram, we repost. God bless you guys, and thanks a lot for joining. See you. Bye.