Never give up!
One California woman has finally passed the bar exam to become a lawyer after ten years and twelve attempts, all while raising four kids and working full-time, proving that giving up simply isn’t in her vocabulary.
Evelyn Uba migrated to the United States from Nigeria in 1983 with the dream of becoming a lawyer, and almost 40 years later, that dream has come true. Thanks to a video that her daughter posted on Twitter, the special moment where Uba found out that she passed has been viewed over 400k times, and strangers everywhere are congratulating her for her hard work.
my mom finished law school in 2011 and has been studying for the california BAR exam while raising 4 kids & working full time for the past 10 years. today? SHE PASSED THE BAR!!!!! ????????????
THAT’S ESQUIRE NOW! pic.twitter.com/GHj8SiqkOP
— naeche (@srrytothisman) January 9, 2021
Uba left home in Igboland, Nigeria at the age of 18 to begin college in America, but soon after, her father suffered a stroke, and due to financial difficulties, her path to law school came to a halt. Two decades later, after getting married and starting a family, Uba finally resumed studying at California Southern Law School in 2005.
“I never stopped wanting to go to law school,” she told “Good Morning America.” “After my last child turned 2, I went to a school that I could afford that was conducive to being a mom, going to work and making payments.”
After graduating in 2011, Uba spent most of her time working and providing for her four children, so finding time to study for the bar exam became difficult.
“I took the exam more than ten times,” she said. “I stopped counting after a while but giving up certainly wasn’t in my dictionary.”
Finally, in early 2021, Uba got the result that she wanted, and the celebration that ensued was a tear-jerking moment for family and strangers who saw the video posted to Twitter.
“I started jumping up and down,” she said. “I had so many reasons to give up but I knew I just had to keep pushing. I felt so relieved.”
Now a licensed lawyer, Uba plans to work in criminal defense to help low-income individuals in marginalized communities, and encourages those who hear her story to never give up.
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