Ghanaian-UK entrepreneur and host of Konnected Minds, Derrick Abaitey, has revealed that he once came close to being expelled from pharmacy school during one of the most difficult phases of his academic journey.
Speaking on The Career Trail on Joy Learning TV and Joy News, Abaitey disclosed that he nearly lost his place in the programme after struggling with a key course that put his progression at risk.
“I almost got kicked out of pharmacy school,” he said.
“There was a time in my third year where things got really tough. I’m terrible at maths, and I had a final chance to pass. If I didn’t, I was gone. I was studying, but I wasn’t really understanding it,” he continued.
During this period, a friend introduced him to Gifted Hands by Dr. Ben Carson, a book that he says changed his mindset.
“I dropped everything I was doing and read it very quickly,” he recounted.
At first, Abaitey said he doubted the story, but it eventually inspired him to believe in his own ability to succeed.
“That’s when my mindset switched. I started believing I could pass too,” he shared.
He subsequently refocused his preparation and went on to sit for the exam that determined his progression in the programme.
“The day I went to the exam room, it was full of year two students doing research. I was the only third-year student. They made me sit all the way at the back. So I went through the front and I was seeing all of them. And I went to the back, sat there, and in fact, in my first year, there were three of us. Two of them had to drop out because they didn’t make it,” he narrated.
Despite the difficulties, Abaitey passed the exam, narrowly avoiding expulsion and moving on to the next stage of his studies.
“I got just 40% to make it to the following year. It’s to tell you how much of a terrible university time I had as a student, somebody that wanted to do science,” he noted with excitement.
“In fact, I had made God a promise that if I pass this pharmacy course, wherever I’m driving, I’ll stop the car and I’ll prostrate myself on the road because I need this degree. And guess what? When I was doing my pre-registration exam, I was with my girlfriend, who’s my wife now, and she was checking the results, and I said, ‘Baby, you found my name?’ She found Derrick Abaitey, and I stopped the car in the middle of the road, and I went straight in front of the car, and I went down, and I thank God. I’m out of this,” added.
Looking back, he said the experience strengthened his resilience and reshaped his approach to challenges in both academics and life.
