PTDF Overseas Scholarship Scheme: My Personal Experience (II)

...the tricks and rituals behind winning the most competitive overseas scholarship scheme in Nigeria

In my life, I have had many amazing people—who through their unflinching support, I have been able to move mountains. Winning this particular scholarship would not have been possible without consistent pressure from Dr Marzuq Ungogo. I said pressure because he singlehandedly made sure I applied even though I missed the applications some years. He used to say: I know you will get it if you apply. And, I did get it on my first attempt. Lol.

This is why:

When I was about to round up my master’s degree, there were extremely difficult pathways to run after. And, trust me, each decision was bound to introduce me to a new field. There was a consideration for staying back in the country of study. There was an option for learning a new skill and venturing into a new domain. Then, there was a consistent checkup from the likes of Marzuq who wanted me to continue with my PhD immediately.

All in all, I wanted to do something differently. I wanted to work. I wanted to work and feel what it is like to learn and grow on the job. I wanted to work in the corporate, to be in a different environment, connect with different people and cultures. Above all, I wanted to work and get experience so that even if I am transitioning back to the industry after a Ph.D., I would have something to fall back onto. That was my only obsession as at then, that was the only goal.

Thankfully, after coming back home, I worked with two different organizations before I moved to my current role. Despite this, I was prepping myself for scholarships and keenly following people winning these awards. As I said in the previous article, to win a scholarship, you need to understand what is required of you, and how you are going to excellently tailor your answers to address the whys and hows. Throughout these years, I have kept on developing myself professionally and scaling up my skills.

Many people believe that by asking someone who has won a certain scholarship award to review your scholarship, you have already won. This is a huge mistake many of us are making. Factually, this even affects how one devotes more time and ideas to crafting award-winning scholarship essays and answers. For some days, I have reviewed more than 10 personal statements and statements of purpose for PTDF, and I could not but take aback looking at how some people tried to create stale stories.

“If e didn’t, e didn’t day” ~ Street Slangs

To win these scholarships, your ideas must be captivating. Your story must be unique. Your writing? Must be excellent. Nobody will award you a scholarship because you are living in the poorest part of the world. Nobody will award you with a scholarship because you fetch water from the river every day before. You are a different person, forget about the story of people you read on social media. Look upon yourself, there are unique attributes that could help you tell your story and stand out.

When Dr Marzuq was encouraging me to apply for this scholarship, there was no agreement that he would write my proposal. The only deal was to write and he would give feedback for improvement based on experience. However, many people would assume that by asking a scholar to review my application, which would be the end: I am going to win this scholarship. And, this is a terrible mistake many of us are making.

Final Words on Personal Statement and Research Proposal:

1.       Be authentic: I have already written about the originality of my work. Whether you applying for a Ph.D. or MSc, you must be able to own your story and stand by it. As a potential scholar, you must come up and propose something that has not been done before. Be precise and clear about your writing.

2.       Quantify your response: Writing can be extremely boring. Therefore, if you want to get people’s attention, try and quantify your work by including numbers through relevant information. For master’s applicants, it could be graduating in the top 1% or whatever % in your class. It could also well be some part of the work you intend to do in your master’s. For PhD, your literature review should be full of figures and sources from reputable journals. Most importantly, you may consider putting your literature review in a table, and make sure the information flows accordingly—from say A-to-Z.

3.       Know what you want to do: Oftentimes, people write stuff that they cannot defend. As a result, they tend to mess up their interviews and preparation. Whether you have experience in the field or not, try and assess your knowledge and know where you can close the information gap. By doing so, you will position yourself in a better way to respond to questions if you make it to the interview stage. This applies to both master’s and PhD.

4.       Follow the rules: PTDF has already provided the rules and guidelines for the scholarship application. Try and understand these rules and know where they are applicable. For MSc, do not write your statement beyond 500 words. Make your writing short and precise, five paragraphs maximum. For a Ph.D., the maximum number of pages is five. Your proposal should strictly be something that is implementable and has its root application to the Nigerian oil and gas industry.

5.       Pray for the best: I believe in the power of prayers. I might have boosted that I won this award on my first attempt. However, without trust in the Almighty, I would not have been where I am today. So, in the end, we must go spiritual. Hence, pray and leave everything to God. That way, you will be fine.

All the best to your applications, and please reach out if you have questions.

Extra: some valuable links that can help tailor your applications, statement of purpose, and PhD research proposal.

• https://thefasthire.org/ptdf-scholarship-personal-statement-sample-accepted/