Pre-Internship Tales – Adejumo Odiname

HOME-COMING

I remember leaving school that Saturday morning with this feeling of excitement in me. Everything that morning just seemed to be in tune with me, like I was the composer of one great symphony. But the truth was, I was excited to be leaving school, and this time for good. My small group of friends and I have always talked about that special day when all our academic sentences would have been served and we would then be free.

As time and chance would have it, the day came. On my journey home, even the packed and uncomfortable bus could not dampen my homecoming. The year after graduation and induction was already mapped out in my head like I was a cartographer. Being a young adult in Nigeria already prepares you for what might lie ahead. But as Nigerians, we all seem to carry this subconscious sense of optimism that just maybe we might be the lucky ones to escape the Nigerian factor.

I arrived home at about 5PM that Saturday, and for those few minutes of my arrival, all I could think of, was all that was in front of me at that moment. My mother’s beaming smile and my Dad’s subtle nod of affirmation was something to be proud of, regardless of the Nigerian factor which lay in wait.

A FIRST GLIMPSE

Being a graduate of a medical course, the next step after being inducted was to get placement for our compulsory internship. I remember applying for my first placement immediately after induction with this rookie confidence and the feeling of accomplishment. It did not take long for us to be shortlisted for the interview at the hospital. Traveling for the interview felt surreal, for someone heading for his first interview ever, I wasn’t nervous, rather I beamed with confidence like a child whose mum had just made the ‘sacred bicycle’ promise to.

Studying was one of my forte, so I had no trouble doing that, let alone when the stakes were as high as prepping for my first interview. My study time, the night prior felt like a young man who was being initiated into adulthood the African way. I was super psyched. The interview came, and by all standards, I aced it.

So, waiting for the list to be released did not feel like a big deal, my confidence was still sky high. The list eventually came out on a chilly Monday evening when I was relaxing at the verandah at home. I quickly opened the file on my phone and started scanning through for my name. It did not take long for me to discover that my name was not on the list. My surname starts with the alphabet ‘A’, so after going through all the names, realty began to sink in. was this it? I guess it was, my first Loss.

 THE UBTH SAGA

The first place I applied to for internship placement was the University of Benin Teaching Hospital [ UBTH] in Benin city. After my first rejection, the common saying of how ‘Nigeria always has other plans for you’ began to ring true. Though I still had ample supply of optimism. A few months later, another advert for applications was released, and I applied again but this time, I was cautious of my expectations, as you would expect, the lessons from my first rejection had sunk in. we also discovered that to be guaranteed a spot, you had to do more than just ace the interviews, you had to go the extra mile. In Nigeria, going the extra mile doesn’t culminate into putting in more work as most non-Nigerian would expect it to mean.

The extra mile, ironically means knowing someone, who knows someone, who knows someone, who occupies a key position in the establishment, as well as some financial lobbying. And this, sometimes does not even guarantee eventual success but it just might give you an edge.

Here we were again, here I was again at my second attempt. Along with my best friend, we too tried to go the extra mile with the hope that we just might get our soft landing. The interviews came a month after, and the results was released some two weeks later. Well, things did not go as you would have imagined it to go. At the second time of applying, I was rejected once again, I didn’t make the list. A chunk of my mates did, and as much as I was happy for them, I was also hating my current fortune. For some reason, this particular failure was more painful than the first, even though I had a better understanding as to why things would have turned out the way it did. A lot of young Nigerians have been here before, the more you try to get something, the more the pain of losing out. This is because, after several trials, it doesn’t just become a race to get what you want, it also becomes a race against time.

The UBTH saga dragged on for a while, and the longer it lingered, the more the rejections began to take a toll. Fast forward a bit and I had already applied four times, and each application came with the hope of it being the eventual success and still nothing happened. I remember each application being preceded by meeting a couple of individuals who I was told could help, and each time, the expectations were never met even though the promises were always made. The strings of rejections from UBTH prompted me to search for placement elsewhere, in a bid to turn the tides on my fortunes. My belief at this point was simple, ‘if they didn’t want me there, someone wants me somewhere else’. With my optimism becoming bleak by each rejection, I still soldiered on. 

AND IT CONTINUED…

Sucking up all the punches, I had been handed out previously, I continued applying for internship placement at different places. Interviews came and went, but still the rejection remained a constant. I still had not gotten the news I so much craved for. I was beginning to run low on optimism at this point. And for some reason this trough of my youthful life coincided with a lot of my mates hitting their internship peaks. This period felt like a test of my resolve, an experiment to determine the threshold of my young mind to keep optimism in and depression at bay. And not being able to even determine whether I was winning or losing this battle made the experience a whole lot worse.

One thing I was certain about during this period, was the love and support of my family. The feeling of having a support system, the feeling of having a safe haven, free of criticism made things bearable. I remember having a conversation with my mum about how fed up I was about the whole situation. Her response was quite a simple one “Ade, don’t worry, this too shall pass”. and with that, everything just seemed better.

My elder brother, Mifa also played a key role in keeping my optimism alive. Even though I’m quite certain he didn’t even know the gravity of what he was doing. It seemed like he knew exactly when to reach out to me, it was always perfect timing. He always left me feeling a lot better after we spoke with his last remarks always been “Ade, I’m proud of you”. Then there was my Big Sis, a true jewel, Lucky is the man who eventually ends up having her as a wife. And spear heading this band was my Dad, the “Mayor of Casterbridge” like he’s fondly called. His unwavering support and his prayers which I’m sure covers us all was definitely the right dose of spirituality I needed. Knowing I had a family who were in it with me, made trying again and again the right thing to do. Even if giving up would have been justified to a large extent.

THERAPY

The month of February brought with it a gift I wasn’t expecting. January came with a lot of promises, but I guess it was up to February to fulfil those promises in the most unlikely way. My gift arrived on a Sunday afternoon. I had just returned from church with my Mum and Dad, and as the custom is in most African homes, mum was already in the kitchen making lunch. I remember the church service that morning being quite stale, for me at least, and not for the remainder of our not so big congregation who echoed all the pastor’s declaration with a loud “amen”.

I was still wandering in my thoughts on my bed when my phone rang. I stretched to get it, glancing at the screen, I saw it was a call from my secondary school teacher Mr Felix. Answering the call, we exchanged pleasantries and he inquired about how I was faring. I remember my answers being short, but I could sense the genuine interest in his questions.

After talking for a short while, he asked if I was free enough to come lend a hand as a teacher in his school which he started some few years back. Mr Felix loved teaching, you could boldly say it was his passion, so hearing he had started a school didn’t come as a surprise to me. Here I was, still trying to heal from the wounds of my numerous rejections and here this offer was.

My response to him was, “I was going to think about it” being me, such a response almost always meant a “no”. I tried dismissing the idea but for some reasons still yet to be known, it persisted. Now I can clearly understand that this was just the month of February poking me to receive my gift, my therapy. The preceding Monday morning I called him up and told him that I was up for it. He thanked me for it, even though looking back now, I feel the ‘Thank you’ should have come from me.

Resuming work at his school, Manuel-Land Group of Schools, while still having my internship saga hanging in the balance felt a bit misplaced. A part of me felt like I was giving up, while the other made me feel like this might be what I needed at this crossroads of mine. Three terms down the line at this school, and I am starting to realize that it was indeed what I needed. It’s the therapy I have come to cherish, a therapy that brings the balance.

Working with Mr Felix, his lovely wife, the teachers and students has certainly been a gift. I guess being part of something bigger than you, even from the most unlikely of situations and sources leaves the most lasting impact. And as I continue waiting for that internship win, I am quite certain that giving my bit daily to this new found course counts as winning too.

A WORK IN PROGRESS

The month of March 2025, made it two years post induction with multiple interviews. Streams of exams had passed and yet I still haven’t gotten placement for my internship. That one good news still eludes me. And as I keep trying to hit that target, I am well aware that I too I’m still a work in progress.

Seeing my family cheer, me on from the back seat of my pre-internship ride, makes the journey a whole lot better. Series of interviews would be attended too again in a couple of months; some have been done and expectations are on the rise once again. In all of these, I still will hold on to hope, family and everything else that would want to journey with me, with the belief that I am still a work in progress and soon enough, it would be worth it.

Adejumo Odiname Ade is a young dynamic professional with a strong foundation in Medical Laboratory Science. He possesess a thirst for knowledge, evident in my passion for learning, which fuels his pursuit of excellence in my field. His interest in health shows his committment to improving the human well being. He also shares an inclination towards philosophy, suggestive of his curiosity about life’s meaning, ethics and the human condition. This blend of scientific rigor, and philosophical inquiry fosters his nuanced understanding of the complex interplay between healthcare, technology and human experiences making him a thoughtful and empathic professional.