In a journey marked by resilience and determination, Evelyn Uba, a Nigerian immigrant who moved to the United States in 1983, has realized her dream of becoming a lawyer after nearly a decade of relentless effort. Uba, who was 18 when she arrived in the U.S., initially came with aspirations of attending law school. However, those ambitions were sidelined when her father suffered a stroke, forcing her to pause her studies and start a family. Despite these setbacks, Uba never lost sight of her goal, resuming her legal education in 2005 at California Southern Law School, a decision shaped by the need to balance motherhood, work, and tuition costs.
Uba graduated in 2011, but the path to becoming a licensed attorney proved arduous as she faced the California bar exam more than ten times without success. Each attempt brought her closer to passing, yet she fell short, often enduring long nights of study and missed family events. Her unwavering commitment, however, was fortified by the encouragement of her daughter, Naeche, whose words became a driving force. “If you give up now, you can’t get your time back,” her daughter reminded her, a sentiment that fueled Uba’s determination to persist until she achieved her goal.
Finally, on January 8, 2021, Uba’s persistence paid off when she received the news she had long awaited: she had passed the bar exam. The emotional moment, captured in a viral video, resonated widely, underscoring the triumph of a woman who refused to give up. Now, as a licensed attorney, Uba intends to focus on criminal defense, particularly advocating for low-income individuals in marginalized communities. Her story serves as a powerful reminder of the importance of perseverance, encapsulated in her belief that “eventually it’s going to happen when God says it’ll happen.”
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