The Little Girl with Big Dreams -
Jennifer Mercy Musah’s Story
Raised as an only child by a single mum, I always wanted a good life. I questioned anything that didn’t make sense to me, hence I was seen as strong-willed even though I was just curious and ambitious.
I first started thinking about tech when I was 15. I stumbled upon an article about how humans would be replaced by robots in the near future. Call it fear, but I wanted to live a good life and the possibility of being replaced didn’t promise that. That day, I made up my mind to study a course that gave me the skills to either build or operate those robots.
Though raised by a single mum, I had a mentor who played a father figure in my life and was also aware of the big dreams I had. So when I took on a role as a sales girl at a boutique after secondary school, it wasn’t a surprise when he asked me to resign after a week and come volunteer at his NGO focused on empowering kids from the streets with leadership skills.
While volunteering, I still nursed the dream of building robots, though that meant I had to study outside Nigeria and my mum couldn’t afford that. The alternative was to attend a tech school. In one of the meetings I attended for the NGO, I was introduced to someone in the tech space who told me about Semicolon Africa. I applied that night and made a physical visit the following morning.
Getting admitted into Semicolon was exciting; I was finally getting closer to my dream. The news was however met with mixed reactions from my mum and aunty, whom I lived with at the time. They had questions about its legitimacy, the fees, taking a loan and the risks associated. Their first response was ‘NO’. Determined to go through with this, I spoke to my mum’s friend who had exposure to tech and begged her to help me convince her. She offered to give me the initial deposit and convinced my mother, who agreed partially.
My first week at Semicolon was the design thinking class. My mind began to open up and I was so excited about the possibilities the future held. By Friday, I was so excited to go home and tell them about my first week, but I had no idea I was in for bigger drama. Apparently, my mum’s partial yes was back to an emphatic ‘NO,’ with the support of my aunt and cousins. Their next best option for me was to begin an apprenticeship with a tailor close to where we lived.
I understood why my family was scared. They had little exposure to tech or Semicolon. They wanted the best for me, but knowing that nothing good comes easy, I knew I had to fight for what I believed was best for me. To reassure them, I explained what attending the program meant for me and showed them Semicolon’s website, the address, and everything they needed to know. The goal was to get them to allow me to return to school by Monday. That however didn’t work. With my 18th birthday a week away, I took a bold and daring decision. I left for school the next day and made up my mind not to go back until I was done with the program.
This decision didn’t come without consequences. I became very distracted and scared because I feared that my family would come to yank me away from class or create a scene. Luckily, a few weeks into the program, my mum reached out and said she wanted to come have a tour of Semicolon and speak to some people there. The visit gave her comfort and she finally gave me her full blessings.
Another interesting fact was that I was the youngest in my cohort, but I didn’t let that intimidate me. I put in extra effort when it seemed I wasn’t getting a concept, and I would sleep over in school to study. I always looked forward to classes and I especially enjoyed the classes most people thought were difficult. It’s safe to say that I experienced all-round growth through the Semicolon community. The industrial design, design thinking and other classes gave me a mindset shift.
Today, I am confident of my skill as a software engineer and my fears of being replaced by a robot have been replaced with the confidence to build solutions using technology. I am also the youngest-ever facilitator at Semicolon Africa. People now listen to me irrespective of how old I am for the knowledge and skills I have.
