By Ousmane Coulibaly, Operations Coordinator
When a person sets a goal in life for his future and sticks with it, he can achieve it. Because when one is courageous and motivated, nothing could be impossible. This was true for Adama Bagayoko, a Mali Rising graduate.
Adama knew right away what he wanted to become after his studies. In fact, he had been thinking about his future career since he was at Mali Rising’s Jade and Gabe Mellor Middle School of Seguessona. While he was at the school, Adama loved English classes because he was inspired by their English teacher. Adama chose his career based on that inspiring English teacher — he became an English teacher himself.
During my interview with him, Adama said: "When I got my DEF [graduated from Mali Rising’s middle school] in 2014 at Jade and Gabe Mellor Middle School of Seguessona, I decided to go to the public high school of Ouelessebougou. There I got my baccalaureate in 2017 in the Language and Literature department. That same year, I took the entrance exam successfully and went to the Teacher Training Institute (Institut de Formation de Maîtres (IFM) and specialized in English.
When I completed those studies, I decided to come back to my native village which is Seguessona, and I worked for 6 months as an English Teacher Trainee. After my internships, I was recruited by the Private School El Hadji Sidiki Soumaoro of Ouelessebougou as an English teacher, where I am still working. I like this job because, I always dreamed of becoming a teacher…I thought that in life if one has a vision for his future, he can achieve the goal that he is looking for”.
According to Adama, as there were too few teachers in Seguessona middle school when he studied there and that made him decide to study hard in order to become a teacher. He felt this would allow him to one day help his community.
He added that, despite the lack of teachers in that time in Seguessona, the few teachers who were teaching in the school were working very hard to meet the students' expectations. He says that even though sometimes they were very tired, they worked hard to help the students — especially his English teacher. Adama admired this and now strives to approach teaching with the same dedication as he earlier teachers.
Adama's story can be told to the students of Mali Rising middle schools as an example of success in making a good career in life and becoming helpful for their respective communities.
