Habiba Amani Abdullahi is the best graduating student of the class of 2025 at the American University of Nigeria, Yola, with a major is Natural Environmental Science with a concentration in Biomedical Sciences. In this interview, she spoke on how she overcame her mental health challenge and emerged the valedictorian and more.
By Chidimma C. Okeke
I’m here at the University of Victoria, of course it’s interesting.
What does it mean to be part of the AUN Honour Society, and what qualifies you for that?
The qualification for it is just attaining the highest CGPA in the whole class.
I have had high CGP, I think the years is the cumulative average, so at the end, the person with the highest grade is the person who emerges as valedictorian.
When you came in as a freshman, did you have a dream or plan to emerge as a valedictorian?
Not really, because I came here as a transfer student, so I was just, honestly, trying to get through school. I didn’t want to stress myself; I just tried to get through school. But today I met at the University of Victoria.
What do you think you did that is different from what you think others are not doing?
I would say I just started believing in myself more, because I used to doubt myself very often. And since I came here, I built my confidence more and started believing in myself. As I was saying that the things I thought were unattainable were actually very doable once I set my mind to them.
Was it a place of lecturers in helping you to achieve the feat today?
Definitely, my faculty has helped me very well, especially my lecturers like Dr Malakey and Dr Haji; they’ve influenced me, they’ve pushed me and they also inspired me so much to do research and just studying.
What are those things within the four years that you think were major challenges for you while studying?
I’ve struggled a lot with self-confidence and believing in myself. It’s also known as impostor syndrome nowadays, so when you think you can’t achieve things, but in reality, you can. And also, things like challenges at home, and because I was also an off-campus student, so not being in the campus, like on campus in school was also a challenge for me, because having to struggle at home and then come in here every day, it was a challenge for me. But I was able to overcome all of that.
Why didn’t you choose to do that on campus?
It was because when I was transferring here, I left my old school because I was struggling with mental health, so I wanted to be close to home, which was the reason I even transferred to AUN.
What burden does this place on you as an individual?
I don’t think it has brought me any burden, because for the past few years of my life, I’ve always kind of used other people’s opinions to determine my value. So other people’s opinions on me, or their own expectations, I’m not going to let it limit me or put me in a box.
What’s your dream beyond here?
After coming here, I plan to pursue graduate studies in biotechnology, and I have recently been accepted into an Ivy League University in the US. So, I plan to continue there and become a biomedical scientist in the future.
You’ve said you’ve been transferred here for some reasons, and you’ve excelled here too. Are there certain structures or initiatives that this school has that you think helped you?
Yes, I would say the faculty-to-students’ ratio, for example, in school, is way better than it was in my last school. So being able to talk to faculty whenever you have a problem, and then being able to address it as quickly as possible, compared to my former school. And just for my faculty, they just want to see the best in you and the best professors I’ve ever met. They played a role in my success.
What academic challenges did you experience over here?
Well, here, I did experience a challenge in my senior research project, which I was supposed to complete in a year but actually took me two years to complete because of certain challenges with the lab infrastructure. It is not about here at AUN but in Nigeria in general. I had to send samples from the lab outside the country for analysis before I was able to get the results, and that took a long time and it delayed my project.
What was your most cherished moment in school?
I don’t think it’s any big moment. It’s usually the small moment when I’m just hanging out with the friends I’ve made here, just hanging out in the dorm and laughing and talking, not necessarily anything.
If you are to meet someone in their first year, what are those things that you think you would want to say to them that would be very helpful?
I would tell them to just relax and breathe, because sometimes there are external pressures, and you shouldn’t let them get to you, because they’ll affect you academically, mentally, physically, in so many ways. So, as much as you try to study, and try to get all the As, and all that, don’t let it define you. So, I also try to balance your social life.
In what extracurricular activities were you involved in school?
Well, I was here as part of the Honors Society, where I did two, like my first three semesters. I enjoyed tutoring students on organic chemistry, most especially, because it was my favorite course. And at the end of the semester, when the students come and tell me also, like, I got an A minor, I got an A plus, you just feel that sense of fulfillment.
And just like, you feel accomplished. And it’s highly rewarding. Also, at the Honors Society, I was the event coordinator and working towards advancing STEM education for African women, where we go to government secondary schools here in Yola, and just promote STEM education to young girls. Because, you know, lots of girls are told, like, this STEM field is a male-dominated field, so you don’t belong here. I am just telling them that they also have a place here and shouldn’t get discouraged.
Finally, what role do you think your parents played that helped in your feat today?
Oh, my parents played the biggest role because they did support me financially and emotionally.
I can tell you so many times before an exam, when my mom would even start screaming out around the house. Oh, my God, Amani has an exam tomorrow. We’re not going to see because of how anxious I would get.
But she would always calm me down and just, like, talk to me; tell me everything is going to be fine. They were just my biggest supporters.
