{"id":32258,"date":"2023-03-24T17:58:13","date_gmt":"2023-03-24T17:58:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/?p=32258"},"modified":"2023-03-24T17:44:25","modified_gmt":"2023-03-24T17:44:25","slug":"poet-champion-cham-shares-story-in-wake-of-his-graduation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/poet-champion-cham-shares-story-in-wake-of-his-graduation","title":{"rendered":"Poet Champion, Cham, Shares Story In Wake Of His Graduation"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Gambia. <\/strong><\/span>One of the country\u2019s prolific youth leaders and outspoken poet, Omar \u2018Champion\u2019 Cham, has shared his emotional story on the sidelines of his graduation from the University of The Gambia with a bachelor\u2019s degree in law.<\/b><\/p>\n

The UTG convocation ceremony, where Omar and his compatriots had their degrees in various fields of study officially conferred on them, was held on Saturday at the QCity arena in Bijilo.<\/p>\n

The event was graced by President Adama Barrow, top government functionaries, scholars and academics, among a host of other dignitaries.<\/p>\n

Omar\u2019s story is just one of many testimonies of hardships and ordeals shared by the new UTG graduands.<\/p>\n

Sharing his story on his social media handles, the Champion Poet explained: \u201cI lost my dad few days to the start of my university journey. This meant I had to inherit the role of family head as I got into the toughest university experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was two years after I got my first UTG admission, and starting was a utopian dream because I had no one to help.\u201d<\/p>\n

Omar recounts his ordeal in the journey of acquiring higher education: \u201cI needed to be rescued with payment of tuition fee just few weeks to the first semester exams hence I did not even know how I did the exams.<\/p>\n

\u201cHowever I paid late for another semester and had to negotiate to be allowed into the exams hall. For two consecutive papers, I missed over 20 minutes of the time, and also sitting to these exams I was wondering if my grades would, in fact, be entered into the portal despite my efforts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Omar recalled that he had written several letters to the admin to allow him attend classes because he could not pay his tuition fees on time. He said he could not even remember how many classes he missed in the course of balancing his academic dreams with family needs.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have done assignments whilst in a car going on trek or during sessions in the communities. I did assignments an hour to submission because the two weeks given were spent on ensuring there was no hunger at home,\u201d he narrated, saying: \u201cThere were times I attended class just for the sake of attending. These challenges were never enough to stop me from pursuing my dream. It was a resilient fight, a giant stride and a commitment to defy all odds.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was during this trying times that I was still able to serve diligently the TRRC, the NYP, the National Poetry Slam, the Kids Podium and other organizations leading development endeavours, whilst carrying the future of GamPoetry on my head.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe combination of these is what makes me a CHAMPION. It was all about meeting your dreams while serving the family, the communities, the country and the world at large, the doctrine of leading while bleeding.\u201d<\/p>\n

The overjoyed poet says further: \u201cLove for service cuts across these tenets. Above all, HONOURS on my degree was unbelievable. To me, it was all about making it through the four years.\u201d<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Gambia<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Gambia. One of the country\u2019s prolific youth leaders and outspoken poet, Omar \u2018Champion\u2019 Cham, has shared his emotional story on the sidelines of his graduation from the University of The Gambia with a bachelor\u2019s degree in law. The UTG convocation ceremony, where Omar and his compatriots had their degrees in various fields of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":32257,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,4],"tags":[2355,2361,260],"class_list":["post-32258","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-culture-and-art","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-gambia","tag-gambia"],"yoast_head":"\nPoet Champion, Cham, Shares Story In Wake Of His Graduation - Gambia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"One of the country\u2019s prolific youth leaders and outspoken poet, Omar \u2018Champion\u2019 Cham, has shared his emotional story ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/poet-champion-cham-shares-story-in-wake-of-his-graduation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Poet Champion, Cham, Shares Story In Wake Of His Graduation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"One of the country\u2019s prolific youth leaders and outspoken poet, Omar \u2018Champion\u2019 Cham, has shared his emotional story ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/poet-champion-cham-shares-story-in-wake-of-his-graduation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Gambia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-03-24T17:58:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2023\/03\/postQueueImg_1679662139.04.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1064\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"593\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/poet-champion-cham-shares-story-in-wake-of-his-graduation#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/poet-champion-cham-shares-story-in-wake-of-his-graduation\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Poet Champion, Cham, Shares Story In Wake Of His Graduation\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-03-24T17:58:13+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/poet-champion-cham-shares-story-in-wake-of-his-graduation\"},\"wordCount\":528,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/poet-champion-cham-shares-story-in-wake-of-his-graduation#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2023\/03\/postQueueImg_1679662139.04.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Gambia\",\"Gambia\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"culture and art\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/poet-champion-cham-shares-story-in-wake-of-his-graduation#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/poet-champion-cham-shares-story-in-wake-of-his-graduation\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/poet-champion-cham-shares-story-in-wake-of-his-graduation\",\"name\":\"Poet Champion, Cham, Shares Story In Wake Of His Graduation - Gambia\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/poet-champion-cham-shares-story-in-wake-of-his-graduation#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/poet-champion-cham-shares-story-in-wake-of-his-graduation#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2023\/03\/postQueueImg_1679662139.04.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-03-24T17:58:13+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"description\":\"One of the country\u2019s prolific youth leaders and outspoken poet, Omar \u2018Champion\u2019 Cham, has shared his emotional story ...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/poet-champion-cham-shares-story-in-wake-of-his-graduation#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/poet-champion-cham-shares-story-in-wake-of-his-graduation\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/poet-champion-cham-shares-story-in-wake-of-his-graduation#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2023\/03\/postQueueImg_1679662139.04.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2023\/03\/postQueueImg_1679662139.04.jpg\",\"width\":1064,\"height\":593,\"caption\":\"Poet Champion, Cham, Shares Story In Wake Of His Graduation\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/poet-champion-cham-shares-story-in-wake-of-his-graduation#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Poet Champion, Cham, Shares Story In Wake Of His Graduation\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/\",\"name\":\"Gambia\",\"description\":\"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\",\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"cfeditoren\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Poet Champion, Cham, Shares Story In Wake Of His Graduation - Gambia","description":"One of the country\u2019s prolific youth leaders and outspoken poet, Omar \u2018Champion\u2019 Cham, has shared his emotional story ...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/poet-champion-cham-shares-story-in-wake-of-his-graduation","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Poet Champion, Cham, Shares Story In Wake Of His Graduation","og_description":"One of the country\u2019s prolific youth leaders and outspoken poet, Omar \u2018Champion\u2019 Cham, has shared his emotional story ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/poet-champion-cham-shares-story-in-wake-of-his-graduation","og_site_name":"Gambia","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa","article_published_time":"2023-03-24T17:58:13+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1064,"height":593,"url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2023\/03\/postQueueImg_1679662139.04.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"cfeditoren","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"cfeditoren","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/poet-champion-cham-shares-story-in-wake-of-his-graduation#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/poet-champion-cham-shares-story-in-wake-of-his-graduation"},"author":{"name":"cfeditoren","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"headline":"Poet Champion, Cham, Shares Story In Wake Of His Graduation","datePublished":"2023-03-24T17:58:13+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/poet-champion-cham-shares-story-in-wake-of-his-graduation"},"wordCount":528,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/poet-champion-cham-shares-story-in-wake-of-his-graduation#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2023\/03\/postQueueImg_1679662139.04.jpg","keywords":["Africa Press","Africa Press-Gambia","Gambia"],"articleSection":["all news","culture and art"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/poet-champion-cham-shares-story-in-wake-of-his-graduation#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/poet-champion-cham-shares-story-in-wake-of-his-graduation","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/poet-champion-cham-shares-story-in-wake-of-his-graduation","name":"Poet Champion, Cham, Shares Story In Wake Of His Graduation - Gambia","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/poet-champion-cham-shares-story-in-wake-of-his-graduation#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/poet-champion-cham-shares-story-in-wake-of-his-graduation#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2023\/03\/postQueueImg_1679662139.04.jpg","datePublished":"2023-03-24T17:58:13+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"description":"One of the country\u2019s prolific youth leaders and outspoken poet, Omar \u2018Champion\u2019 Cham, has shared his emotional story ...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/poet-champion-cham-shares-story-in-wake-of-his-graduation#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/poet-champion-cham-shares-story-in-wake-of-his-graduation"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/poet-champion-cham-shares-story-in-wake-of-his-graduation#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2023\/03\/postQueueImg_1679662139.04.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2023\/03\/postQueueImg_1679662139.04.jpg","width":1064,"height":593,"caption":"Poet Champion, Cham, Shares Story In Wake Of His Graduation"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/poet-champion-cham-shares-story-in-wake-of-his-graduation#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Poet Champion, Cham, Shares Story In Wake Of His Graduation"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/","name":"Gambia","description":"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb","name":"cfeditoren","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"cfeditoren"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32258","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32258"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32258\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32257"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32258"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32258"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32258"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}