My amazing journey with the Award started when I was a student in my local public secondary school. Participating in the Award taught me so many things but most importantly was self-confidence and self-belief in my talents, skills and abilities.
Prior to the Award, I never had an idea of my ability, talent and was always shy and introverted which was a common trend for most students in public schools.
Through participating in the Award, I had to come out of my comfort zone and gained the motivation to discover and develop my potentials and abilities. My favorite section was the physical section where I chose karate as my activity. Through the Award, I was able to develop my physical fitness, the perseverance to never give up on myself. I could recall during the early days of my training, I had to take up a ‘karateka’ match against a female opponent from a senior category which I lost but despite this, I never gave up on my training and when the opportunity came for a rematch, I won without her scoring a point.
Today, I am grateful for the opportunities that participating in the Award has afforded me, the many places I have had the opportunity to visit, the competitions I have been able to participate in and the many medals I won as a karateka.
The Award indeed has tremendous benefits for every young person who chooses to participate. It’s really inspiring and going to unleash the innate and latent potentials they possess which will in the long run be of mutual benefit to the society.
I am currently working towards achieving my Gold Award and I am very pleased to announce that I will be representing my University, Federal University of Agriculture Abeokuta (FUNAAB) at the Nigerian University Games (NUGA) this year for taekwondo.
Abdulsalam Toheeb Olabisi,
Bronze and Silver Award Holder