Edialeda Jones started studying law in 2011, but many life challenges made it difficult for her to attain her aim until June 24, 2022, when she was called to the bar.
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"Delay isn't denial" - Woman starts studying law in 2011, finally makes it in 2022
The inspirational story of a Ghanaian woman who has finally been called to the bar after 11 years of failed attempts to become a lawyer has got many people reacting.
Edialeda Jones
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![Ana Estrada suffered from polymyositis, an incurable disease that weakens muscles [Elias Alfageme/GDA via AP]](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf8,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg'%20width%3D'100'%20height%3D'100'%20data-ring-placeholder%3D'1'%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E "Ana Estrada suffered from polymyositis, an incurable disease that weakens muscles [Elias Alfageme/GDA via AP]")
"If you think you've struggled too much, just hold on and don't give up. Delay is not denial," she wrote on Facebook to inspire others not to give up on their dreams, regardless of the circumstances.
A traumatic caesarian section which led to postpartum depression, unexpected divorce notice just a week before her exam, failure many times to pass her exams, among other circumstances, were the hurdles Edialeda had to cross within a period of over a decade to be able to accomplish her ambition to become a lawyer.
She hopes to write a book out of her story to inspire many others to never give up on their dreams no matter what blockades they meet in their journeys.
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Read her full narration below, as she posted on her Facebook page:
"IT HAS BEEN 11 YEARS SINCE I STARTED THIS JOURNEY
It is the story of how I started pursuing academic excellence and a career in Law. For 11 years, it felt like a dream that would never come to pass. It has been 6years of countless adrenaline rush and fear at the thought of a pending examination results.
-I started studying Law in 2011 and finished my first degree in 2015.
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-I failed my first attempt at the entrance exam to law school.
-I decided to go do my LLM in US. I applied and got all supporting documents. I went for the visa interview and got denied. 6 months later I tried again and still got denied visa.
- A day after the denial, I wrote the entrance exam again and got admission in 2016.
-I wrote my first Bar exam in 2017 and failed 4 papers which meant all the 6 I passed were wasted and I needed to repeat the course. I had now delivered my daughter through C.S and faced postpartum depression alone and secretly so I deferred the course in 2018.
- I was going through a painful separation but decided to try again. A week to the Bar exam, I received a petition for divorce which broke me all over again.
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- I knew I had to defer again to 2020 because I knew another failure would ruin me forever.
-I went back to law school again in 2020. I was bitter, sad and hurt but I still went anyway.
- I wrote my first 6 papers and failed 2.
-In 2021 I resat the 2 failed papers with the 4 I had to write that year. I failed 2 again out of the 6 papers.
-This year, March 2022, I resat the 2 papers I failed.
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-I passed and found my name in the enrollment list.
June 24, 2022 became the day I was called to the Bar. Until I was handed my certificate, I was still waiting and expecting probably to see my name no longer on the list.
Today is 25th and it still feels like a dream. I reached the point where I thought it was probably not meant for me but still knew until I am breathless, I couldn’t stop pursuing.
I just want to inspire you reading today. If you think you've struggled too much, just hold on and don't give up.
Delay is not denial.
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I will take any opportunity I ever get, on radio or Tv or any form of media to inspire others, especially women like me who have to pull themselves through the teeth each day.
This is only a short summary. I hope one day soon the book will come out."
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