Hear from Evelyn Falaye, Alumni of the Month (October 2022)

“My name is Evelyn Falaye, I am currently studying pharmacy at Olabisi Onabanjo University, Nigeria.

For a long time, I have wanted to be a designer. During my first year in the University,  I had a schoolmate who was a designer and I admired his designs so much that I was inspired to pursue a career in design.

Unfortunately, the ASUU strike happened and I had to be at home indefinitely. I wanted to make the best use of this time so I started working at a factory that had a farm! Yes, I was working on a farm. The job was so stressful, barely rewarding  and the environment was not conducive at all. 

My sister found out about the Ingressive for Good scholarship program with Geneza and shared the opportunity with me via whatsapp on International Women’s day this year. I applied the same day. I was so excited when I got the congratulatory email!  

I didn’t have a laptop when the training began so I had to start with my phone. Eventually, I started borrowing my neighbor’s laptop to continue learning. It wasn’t easy for me but I was willing to give my best. Now, I can confidently say it was worth it. The courses were structured well so it was easy to learn. I also loved that we had an exclusive telegram group where we could be accountable to each other and ask questions. Seeing other learners completing their tasks was encouraging. I sincerely love Bolanle Bawo, the Founder of Geneza Training, and I appreciate her work ethics. 

I eventually completed the training and I consider it a great achievement. I’ve always heard about people who leveraged opportunities online to upskill and earn an income. I am glad I am also experiencing it. 

I am happy I make money online and it is way more than I earned when I was working on the farm. I am glad I could do something productive despite the ASUU strike. 

Asides the 1000 Women In Design scholarship program, I have also benefited from the Ingressive for Good community. The book reviews and social media live training sessions have been really impactful. I love that there’s so much to gain beyond technical trainings. The content and live sessions have a positive effect on other aspects of my professional and personal development. I remember the Twitter space with Sean Burrowes, co-founder of Ingressive for Good. He spoke about how we can deal with imposter syndrome. This twitter space encouraged me to know I can overcome imposter syndrome and I learnt to believe in myself.  I’m enjoying being taught different things, and there are always opportunities with I4G.

Whenever I share opportunities from I4G with people, they always come back to thank me because they gain so much from the I4G community. 

I look forward to scaling up as a designer and to get more design gigs than I currently have so I can improve my skills and become a successful designer. 

I hope my story encourages other young people to believe in themselves and leverage the opportunities provided by Ingressive For Good.”