Buloere Ekeu-wei and her young family left Nigeria to study for her MSc in Preston
A mum-of-two who swapped Nigeria for Preston has celebrated her graduation from the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan).
Buloere Florence Ekeu-wei took to the stage in front of her very proud husband, Iguniwari, and two young children, Amadiowei aged four and Oyinkare aged two, to receive her MSc Maintenance Engineering degree.
The 35-year-old, who graduated with a distinction, said: “I feel so excited about graduating and I thank God for making this possible.
“Being a mother-of-two young kids, it was initially challenging to juggle my studies and family, however the flexibility of the programme, understanding and guidance of my course leader helped me immensely.
“Moving here to study was a huge change for the whole family but UCLan and Preston are very receptive to international students, respecting cultures, and boundaries. Preston being a family friendly city also helped, as my kids were able to find a good day-care and pre-nursery school, and there were many community playground areas that they really enjoyed.”
"Being a mother-of-two young kids, it was initially challenging to juggle my studies and family, however the flexibility of the programme, understanding and guidance of my course leader helped me immensely"
— New MSc Maintenance Engineering graduate Buloere Ekeu-wei
Buloere, who attended Niger Delta University, said: “When I started this course, it was very challenging, as I had been out of school for more than eight years. I had to re-familiarise myself with the academic system and took advantage of the services and support provided by UCLan to help me adapt. This included joining the academic literacy class, which was organised for international students, that really helped me improve my academic writing skills.”
She was working as a mechanical engineering lecturer at Nigeria Maritime University when she decided she wanted to pursue further study to develop her career.
“I chose to study this course to achieve my childhood dream of becoming a renowned female maintenance engineer,” she commented. “It is an Institution of Engineering and Technology accredited course, that provides strong practical knowledge and skills development.
“I really enjoyed the mode of the course delivery, the technical hands-on experience during the practical sessions of Sensors, Instrumentation, and controls inspired me to undertake my dissertation using the skills from the course to help tackle the problem of oil spillage in Nigeria. I love how the course has helped built my self-learning, research development and presentation skills.”
Her next step is building on her dissertation to gain a PhD and knows there are plenty of career options.
She added: “Becoming a maintenance engineer offers me diverse career opportunities, such as maintenance engineer, reliability engineer, maintenance planner, asset manager; and I can also pursue a career in maintenance consultancy.”
