Girl Meets Biochemistry: Interview With Haleemah Hamzah (Part 1)

Would it interest you to know that Biochemistry does not mean the mundane mix of the theories of Biology and Chemistry?

How do I know?

I spoke with a prolific young woman in the world of Biochemistry.

This interview with Haleemah Hamzah thrusts us into the scientific world of Biochemistry.

Yet, beyond exploring the stated concept, we explore a highly intelligent young woman who at inception never thought she’d come face to face with Biochemistry.

Can you tell us a little about you?

I hail from Kwara State, Ilorin, West local government to be precise.

I am the first child of my family, luckily, it’s not something, I am sorry about, sometimes to tell people your age would feel awkward.

In some cases, you find it easy. Some people hear of your age sometimes, they would be marvelled and surprised, for this kind of age to achieve this academic feat.

I started elementary school and finished when I was 10 years old, I was so lucky.

So, my mother, my parents did not allow me to proceed to secondary school, so I had to attend primary 6 and I was 11 years old then.

I graduated in 2012, and I entered secondary school. Luckily, I went to a private school, from primary school to secondary school.

I enrolled in secondary school in September 2012 and I graduated from junior secondary school in 2015.

I sat for my junior waec exams and I had 7 A’s and 2 B’s, that was the best result in my set then.

I proceeded to SS1, and in my SS2 I did WAEC GCE and I failed some subjects. During my NECO GCE I did very well, I passed all subjects, although it was with B’s and C’s, no A’s.

I had my O-level results in SS2 but my parents made it compulsory for me to attend SS3, so that was what made me pass through SS3.

I finished in 2018, July. My WAEC result was the best in that school, even though I attended a private school, I registered for WAEC in a government secondary school ”Barakah” in my local government.

It had 2B’s, the rest were C’s.

So most of us could not make a whole result, we had to use two sittings; a situation whereby both WAEC and NECO would be combined.

I sat for JAMB and scored 284, so I thought I would study medicine and I have a passion for medicine.

As the first child of an elite family, my parents would think, “Wow”.

However, not just my parents but I too wanted to study medicine.

The University of Ilorin was very competitive, I did not think I would get medicine with that 284 so I opted for Usman Danfodiyo University, Sokoto( UDUS).

I was given Biochemistry, that was even the first time that I heard of the course.

What motivated you while studying biochemistry?

Initially, I read much about Biochemistry, I tried to understand Biochemistry, the hooks and crooks of Biochemistry, the elementary basis and what the prospects of Biochemistry are.

It was then that I thought to myself that, I would not go for medicine again. In my final year, I was selected for a mentorship program in school.

During the mentorship program, Doctor Kassim in the department of mathematics said “no” for medicine, you cannot go for that, you are doing very well in Biochemistry, you can make something out of it.

He asked why I wanted to study medicine, and I said: to help people, to make an impact in the private sector, to I want to own a private hospital, etcetera.

And then, he said,

Do you know that you can achieve all that in Biochemistry?

In Biochemistry, there are lots of things you could do. Do not always think of money, it goes beyond that.

Are you really impacting your community? Are you really making something out of this?

I had another mentor, he is a professor of neurogenesis, Doctor Mustapha Umar Imam, Director of CAMRET, a one-time medical doctor now a lecturer.

He came for a program in my school and I attended the program. So, I was like, “Sir, I am lucky to have you as my lecturer, you started as a medical doctor, why did you cross to research?

What I could deduce about what he said was something about passion.

He has been amongst the top 2 % of researchers in the whole world for 4 consecutive years.

How did you manage to excel academically?

While I was an undergraduate, my hostel was very far from school. It’s about a 15-20 minute walk.

While going in the morning, I would go by 8:00 A.M., be done with lectures by 6:00 P.M. and trek back to the hostel, so I would be tired.

So, I asked myself how many things can I cover before coming back to the hostel to prepare for the next day.

I asked myself what I could do.

I then began preparing my lunch in the morning and taking it to school while going because I find it hard to understand when hungry.

If I do not have food with me and if I do not have money, I would pack my bags and come back home to sleep.

One thing I know for sure is, that I try to leave early in the morning and pack what would sustain me in the afternoon and stay till night time.

Once lectures are over by 2 pm, I would head to the library or places to read. Even if I get through with lectures by 6 o’clock, I would still go to the library to read.

I did not think I could go to classes early morning, come back when hungry and then go back.

I had to find a solution, what would bring me back? It’s food. So, I sorted it out, sometimes it’s food, and other times it’s junk.

Every day, I ask myself have I read something? Have I covered something?

If a lecturer should come tomorrow and say there is a test, would I be able to write something?

That was just the aim, I just had to devote more time to it.

In my penultimate year, that’s level 3, there were lots of courses to cover and I thought I could not cope.

One thing that worked for me was that I go in the morning, take my lunch, attend all classes, rest and begin reading.

Some people find it easy to go and come back, they leave by 8 and come back by 10, and after coming back they would leave by 2.

But, that could not work for me, so I stuck to what worked for me.

What Advice Would You Give To Junior Ones Who Aim to Excel in the Biochemistry Field?

I would stress the last question I answered. My mantra while in school was, “prayer and hard work”.

While I was in the 100 level, there was this guy that read like mad, although, his results were woeful.

There was another one who was not reading but was always praying, he prayed, prayed and prayed, even though God answered prayers, he did not put in effort so he failed.

While I was in the 200 level, there was a day a guy, a senior colleague saw me at the library and said, “Haleemah, it is not only reading that would make you excel in Usman Danfodiyo, you would have to pray fervently”.

There was a slang we used to use at UDUS, “you pray like you did not read and read like you did not pray”.

And some lines go thus, “God I have done this, crown my efforts, bless me, do not let those who see me going to class from morning till night come to ask me what have I been doing?

There’s a Yoruba adage that says, “ ẹni ti kọ ṣe kó má je bi wá”.

Some students are very intelligent, they are brilliant, but you cannot imagine, when a lecturer fortunately or unfortunately, loses your exam paper, some people will read and go blank during the exam, there are lots of cases.

Even spilling over, first-class graduates do spill over, first-class students do fail.

You have to be consistent in your prayers and also work hard.

In my religion, Allah says, “Once you strive to work hard on your chosen path, God will continue to open your ways”.

The first is prayer.

The second is mindset.