She wrote most of her examinations on the hospital bed, yet she came out as one of the brightest graduates the University of Lagos has produced.
Anisa Oluwatobi Ishqa-Balogun is one of the fourteen First Class graduates of the Cell Biology and Genetics Department, University of Lagos (UNILAG) for the 2023/2024 academic session.
Balogun, a Lagos State indigene and sickle cell warrior, graduated with a CGPA of 4.82.
NewsNGR reports that the Department of Cell Biology and Genetics, University of Lagos, achieved an unprecedented feat in the history of the university by producing 14 first-class graduates, with two of them having a perfect CGPA of 5.0.
This was revealed during the award of first-degree honours at the university’s 55th convocation ceremony, which commenced on January 14.
Balogun spoke with NewsNGR after leaving the hospital. Speaking about her academic excellence despite her health challenges, she said she is lucky to have a supportive family around her.
“There are times I will feel like I can’t do it anymore; my family are the ones that are always there, encouraging me and cheering me,” she said, adding that she is blessed with a strong mother who constantly pushes her to achieve success.
“My mum will always tell me that ‘it is sickle cell disease, it’s just a disorder, not a death sentence,” she stated, stressing that her mother changed her perception of the sickle cell disease.
The 22-year-old graduate said living with sickle cell is challenging, noting that there could be triggers that make life unpredictable. She stated further that the stress of university life, especially for students who want to excel, could trigger complications that lead to the hospital.
“Occasions when it is closer to exams, the stress becomes more intense because for every student, whether you are battling with any disease or not, you have to do the normal, regular thing.
“So, reduced sleep, increased activity, and reading stress trigger my crisis. Most times, with the stress of other activities that I do, my crisis will be triggered and I would have to land in the hospital and write my exams there,” she explained.
Balogun also recalled one of the last painful crises that landed her in the ICU of a hospital.
“I had a chronic haemolysis and a clothing issue, which cost us about two million Naira. My parents had to source funds just to ensure that I was able to get a blood transfusion, which was very expensive.
“For that, I am always grateful to people around me who see me beyond my disease and do not define me by my disease.”
She said her mother energised her to pursue her dreams and achieve academic excellence.
“I told myself to break that stereotype; whether I have sickle cell disease or not, I am going to push ahead and ensure that I am one of the best, and as God will have it, here we are today,” she said, with a smile.
Apart from her parents and other family members, Balogun also attributes her academic success to her course advisor, Dr Onyekachi Iroanya and her Haematologist, Dr. Oluwole Banjoko, among others.
Speaking on her course advisor, she said, “Dr. Iroanyan played a very significant role towards my achievement as an undergraduate. I cannot thank her enough. She is the very softest and motherly figure you would always wish and pray to have. As an undergraduate at UNILAG, she is the best course advisor that you can ever wish for.”
Giving a tip on how to achieve academic excellence, she said her study techniques include studying ahead of the lectures with relevant materials, sharing ideas with colleagues and learning from them too.
While in school, she also engaged in some extracurricular activities, especially related to advocacy about sickle cell. She is the founder of the Anisa Sickle Cell Foundation (ASCF), which she and others use to champion sickle cell awareness and support for those living with sickle cell disease.
She was also vice president of her departmental association (CBGSA), where she demonstrated her leadership skills and commitment to fostering academic excellence among her colleagues.
“Beyond academics and advocacy, I also have my creative site, where I am the creative director of DELUX BEAD, a brand that is into exclusive and luxurious beaded bags,” she told NewsNGR.
Balogun is a fan of Malala Yousafzai, the young Pakistani education activist who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014 at the age of 17.
She said she was inspired by Yousafzai’s words that “the greatest challenge is not the problem but how we respond to it; we can choose to be victims of circumstance or we can choose to be our destiny.”
She revealed that she became resilient because she did not want her life to be defined by sickle cell disease.
“I would say that my resilience so far has been the one behind my success, alongside the family support, God’s mercy, friends, lecturer, and every other person that contributed to this achievement. I have looked at it and I don’t want to be defined by sickle cell disease; I want it to be a part of my journey and not the overall factor,” she stated.
Speaking further, Balogun revealed her plans to do a doctorate in cell biology and genetics outside the country.
“I have the opportunity to widen my net to other things aside from just having sickle cell disease. I aspire to be a clinical researcher in the field of molecular genetics because living with the genetic condition has spurred me to pursue something in molecular genetics, even though sickle cell disease was the first molecular condition to give us an understanding of how diseases occur at the molecular level.”
Asked to advise young people who are still in school, she said they should be bold, self-reliant, innovative, and experts at what they do.
“Don’t wait till you get to the future; nobody has a clear picture of how the future is, but the little effort you commit into doing something differently now will shape your experiences for those bigger dreams you have,” she advised.