At 36, I Am Going Back to School — And This Time, I Know Why❤️

Today is September 1st.

Next week, I will walk into a university classroom again.

I am going back to school to begin my Master’s in Public Management at Babcock University.

And every time I say that, I find myself smiling.

I am 36 years old.

And if I am being completely honest, saying my age out loud in connection with this milestone makes me a little nervous.

There is something vulnerable about telling people, “I am 36 and going back to school,” especially when society has already created timelines for when certain things are supposed to happen.

But alongside that vulnerability is joy.

Because I know why I am going.

My journey to this point has not been a straight line.

I studied Mathematics and Statistics for my first degree, graduated, worked, volunteered, supported different grassroot organisations and eventually found myself deeply drawn to community development and nonprofit work.

Over the years, I have worked with young people, spoken to girls in schools, supported women, founded GreatGold Impact Foundation and learned what it means to try to build something meaningful with limited resources.

I have learned by doing and still learning.

But somewhere along the way, the work began giving me questions.

How do we build organisations that can actually function well?

How do we design programmes that create measurable impact?

How do public policies translate into real change in communities?

How do we build systems that allow good work to continue beyond the person who started it?

And perhaps the biggest question, How can I serve better?

I realised I did not just want to keep doing the work I cared about. I wanted to understand it more deeply. I want to work with International Organizations as i keep building mine.

That is one of the reasons I am going back to school.

I am not starting from zero.

I am taking the road I have already travelled into a new classroom.

But I did not get here alone.

One of the most beautiful parts of this journey began right here on World Pulse.

I am grateful to @Jensine Larsen for creating a platform where women can share their stories, connect across borders and discover opportunities and relationships they may never have found otherwise.

Through World Pulse, I met people who would become important parts of my journey.

At one point, @Kirthi , who was then the World Pulse Community Manager, came across one of my initiatives and encouraged me to reach out to Akshata to explore a possible collaboration.

I reached out.

That connection became much more than a conversation about an initiative.

Akshata became my mentor, and eventually, loved and encouraged me to go abck to school offering to sponsor my Master's degree.

I still think about that.

A woman who discovered my work through a global community decided that my education was worth investing in.

A connection that began with an initiative eventually opened the door to a new chapter of my life.

I was never afraid to share my struggle, pain and wins.

This is one of the reasons I believe so deeply in women connecting with women.

Sometimes, one woman does not have the resource you need, but she knows the woman who does.

Sometimes, a woman simply needs to say, “You should speak to her.”

@Kirthi did that for me.

And today, I am ready for school again because of what followed that connection.

At 36, I understand something I did not understand when I was younger.

Life does not always follow the timeline we imagined.

There is so much pressure around when we are supposed to graduate, establish our careers, get married, start families and achieve certain milestones.

But life has taught me that a different timeline does not automatically mean a wrong timeline.

At 36, I am walking into this classroom with something I could not have carried with me years ago: experience.

I know what it feels like to start something without having all the answers.

I know that passion alone is not enough to build sustainable organisations.

I know what it means to serve, stumble, learn, start again and keep going.

And I believe all of that will make my learning different.

So, to the woman reading this who thinks she is too old to start again, I hope my story reminds you that you are not necessarily late.

Maybe you are arriving with more wisdom.

Maybe the years you thought were taking you away from your destination were actually preparing you for it.

Maybe your previous chapters were not wasted time.

Maybe they were preparation.

Next week, I will walk into Babcock University with my notebook, my questions, my experiences, my dreams and the prayers of the people who believe in me.

I am going back to school because I want to become a better leader.

I want to understand public systems better.

I want to build stronger organisations.

I want to create programmes that are not only driven by passion but supported by knowledge, structure and evidence.

And most importantly, I want to serve better.

I am grateful to every woman who has read my stories, encouraged me, challenged me, celebrated me or simply stayed connected.

At 36, I am going back to school.

Not because I am behind.

Not because I am starting over.

But because I am still becoming.

And this time, I know exactly why I am going.

The work continues. The learning begins. ❤️

PS: I still have two other degree after this

WELCOME TO SEPTEMBER❤️❤️❤️

Your sister GreatGold