“My name is Benjamin Onyebuchi, I am a 24 years old freelancer born into a family of three.
Life for me in Africa is mostly limiting because I believe my skills have more thriving and earning power in other parts of the world but are super unappreciated in my homeland. The hurdles of improving yourself could not be more herculean with different challenges like power, finance, internet, and many basic amenities. My financial challenges were mostly borne out of the current recession in Nigeria and the hardship ushered in by the pandemic, which made me feel withdrawn and without zeal to move forward. A lot of the challenges I was facing were financially driven.I tried pulling funds together through donations from friends to take courses but this failed, as the quality courses were too expensive.
I had nearly given up on when I found out about the I4G StudentBuilds Studygroup on Linkedin. I participated in the program to acquire skills as a UI/UX Designer. The program successfully provided me with a scholarship to study courses that aided the improvement of my skills. The program challenged me and gave me an avenue to practice what I was learning with my peers. I felt very empowered and self-motivated through this process.
The program helped me view life from a more technically advanced and informed point of view.
My take home from this experience can be likened to a popular saying by Steve Jobs “Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.” I feel like a new person and I am a more improved Designer. My Capstone project was about an e-Dairy website design that created a unique, easy and concise payment method and user experience for dairy products like; milk, cheese, yoghurt, butter, etc. I aced it and I am super proud of myself. I feel very empowered to move forward
The I4G experience is a once in a lifetime opportunity to acquire tech skills at no cost and I am glad I took a leap of faith. The experience really paid off. Thank you I4G.”