Respected public-spirited lawyer Ernestina Obboh Botchwey (Lawyer Tina) has revealed how she overcame a major setback in her quest to become a lawyer, failing the entrance examination to the Ghana School of Law.
Ms Botchwey, who made history in 2013 as the first student to score an A in all eight subjects in the West Africa Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) in Sekondi College, despite her unmistakable brilliance, failed to pass the entrance examination the first time she took it.
She revealed how she became depressed and traumatised following the failure and remained resilient in preparation to take the examination again.
She noted: “When I failed my entrance exams to Ghana School of Law, Makola, I saw the list of those who passed on a WhatsApp group. I knew I didn’t see my index number but I still went to Makola campus to check that evening.
I used odeeshie to go through the list over and over again but stilllllll girl didn’t make it.
Herrrr the trauma erh, the tears I held back in the trotro drive back home erh hmmmm.
I cried all night but I woke up, dressed up, and continued with my national service the next day. No break to even cry. “
Ms Botchwey, who now works as a Public Defender at the Legal Aid Commission in order to represent the poor who cannot afford lawyers, overcame the setback by relying on God’s grace, a spirit of not giving up and the genuine friendship of her friend. She intimated that failure is everyone’s lot and we must endeavour to come to terms with it.
“I used lots of strength and grace from God, a daily cup of odeeshie and an overflow of love from my best friend who passed her exams to get through that phase of my life.
We have all failed in something before.
This is me now.
I wrote the next year and the exam was cancelled because of a leakage I was not privy to. We were called to rewrite the exam. Miraculously, I passed.
Let’s just agree that God is good always but life is not good always. May the good Lord see us through our individual battles,” he concluded.
Through her YouTube Channel Ghana Law and More, Ms Botchwey has been offering free legal education on very important matters in both Twi and English.
