The adage that perseverance is the key to turning dreams into reality seems to be the case with Winifred Sherman, an incoming student of the University of Liberia, who, after several failed attempts to enroll at the prestigious state-owned university, has finally realized her dreams as she profoundly boasts of her new status as a student of Liberia’s foremost institution of higher learning.
“It is a dream come true for me because it’s been a long time since I graduated from high school, and I’ve been trying to enter the University of Liberia, but it has been very difficult for me”, says Winifred as she joyfully narrates her transition from high school to what is considered “Stardom.”
Wini, as she is affectionately called, has always dreamt of becoming a professional journalist, hoping she can use her voice to advocate for a better and more inclusive society and also to help break the gender divide in mainstream journalism in Liberia. In addition, Wini plans to use her profession and knowledge to advocate for women’s and children’s rights. This dream of hers is also powered by her childhood curiosity to see and/understand the magic behind people speaking through cassette made radios. Funny huh!
“When I was coming up, where we only had the cassette, I would use my small finger to remove the thread from the cassette, and then my mom would like say, Wini, you like playing with cassettes; I think you will be a journalist when you grow up”, she stated.
Even though Wini’s dream of becoming a professional journalist remained unwavering, her dream was almost shattered by the unbearable woes of not gaining admission to her dream university, the University of Liberia, despite three attempts.
Wini remained undeterred by the repeated unsuccess: she finally passed the 2022 entrance of the university to be enrolled in the Department of Communications and Media Studies—a dream finally come true because of her persistence. She was among some of the new batch of incoming students, including Martin Fagans II, who were welcomed and led on an exciting interactive tour of the communications department as part of preparation for the commencement of what is anticipated to be another exhilarating academic semester, starting November 18, 2024.
Like Winifred, Martin sees the University of Liberia’s Department of Communications and Media studies as the ideal place to make his academic dream a reality. He has worked in the mainstream media for over ten-years, covering political, health, environmental and human-interest stories, yet the urge for pursuing a university degree in journalism remained on his mind as he went along.
“I have the passion for journalism, and for me, I want to make a difference; I want to be an investigative journalist. I don’t see journalism as a place to make money, but with passion, you can make a breakthrough. It has happened for me”, Martins Fagans adds.
As Martin, Winifred, and other incoming students prepare to begin their academic sojourn in communications, the department has recommitted itself to creating the space and requisite learning resources to make the students’ career dreams a reality.
“With our team of dedicated and highly qualified faculty and staff, we accept the challenge of professionally guiding and creating the space to make their (students) academic and career dreams a reality”, stated Mr. Euriahs Togar, Chairperson of the UL Communications and Media Studies department, following a one-day department tour with some of the incoming students.
