My name is Samuel Shielu and I am aspiring to study Software Engineering. I have always loved computers and technology. The curiosity for how they work and how they can help us solve real wild problems. I also have a strong desire to teach children how to operate and benefit from them especially those who may not have access or support.<\/p>\n
I began my study at Yaba college of technology. I had to drop out because of my Father’s death. As the first son, you had to support your family instead of continuing school. This was a difficult and dark period in whi b I experienced grief and loss (with more deaths following), which pulled me away from my dreams for a while.<\/p>\n
But eventually, I had a personal turning point: “I saw a light and followed Him” That moment helped me refocus my life.<\/p>\n
After that dark season, I began to work on myself again, trying to redeem the time as quickly as I could. I rediscovered programming, my passion from before and started to learn again. So I began coding with a phone, even though I had no laptop, I used my phone to write code. The screen was small, the process was hard, but it felt good and for the first time in years, I was truly happy.<\/p>\n
After a while, my cousin gave me his old laptop and I continued to learn , though progress was slow as I had to work and code but I kept on going. I thank God for his help and family and friend he were supportive. I learnt that with grit, love, diligence and faith, I could survive anything. These experience has made me stronger, more focused and deeply compassionate.<\/p>\n
I have come to believe that no matter how far I fall, as long as I get up and keep moving, I will always overcome. <\/p>\n
So far on my programming journey, I have learned the basic structure of the web, how websites are built and styled and I\u2019ve gone beyond that to study several programming languages. I started with C, then Python, and I\u2019m currently learning JavaScript<\/p>\n
At first, I learned on my own using free resources online (MDN). Later, I joined an online bootcamp, and eventually got into the ALX Software Engineering program. That experience really accelerated my growth, even though it was challenging and time taking. I have completed projects in C, built responsive web designs, and even developed a custom shell program, all of which are available on my GitHub. These projects have helped me gain confidence in solving problems with code and building things that work<\/p>\n
My long-term goal is to become a skilled app developer. I want to use technology not just to build things, but to solve real problems affecting my community. I want to create tools that are simple, helpful, and accessible, especially for young people who don\u2019t have much but deserve better.<\/p>\n
Being awarded this scholarship would be a huge relief to me. It would remove the financial pressure that constantly weighs on me and give me the chance to return to school and continue my studies without delay. It\u2019s not just about money, it\u2019s about reclaiming a dream I was once forced to pause. Thank you!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","cohorts":[21],"class_list":["post-5364","nominees","type-nominees","status-publish","hentry","cohorts-cohort-2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sterling.ng\/decide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/nominees\/5364","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sterling.ng\/decide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/nominees"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sterling.ng\/decide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/nominees"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sterling.ng\/decide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5364"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"cohorts","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sterling.ng\/decide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cohorts?post=5364"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}