Toyosi Onikosi - The Standard Bank Chairman’s Scholarship at Oxford University
In Her Opportunity Story, Toyosi shares her insights and experiences as a Standard Bank Chairman’s Scholar at Oxford University. Applications for postgraduate studies at Oxford University are currently open. Learn more here.
Toyosi Onikosi
Anuoluwatoyosi Onikosi graduated with an LL.B from the University of Lagos in 2017, where she won several academic prizes and meritorious awards. She was also a recipient of the 2017/ 2018 Lagos State Government Undergraduate Scholarship. Upon qualifying to practice law, she articled as a budding energy and project finance lawyer at Banwo & Ighodalo - a leading commercial law firm in Nigeria, advising on market-defining transactions for about five years before deciding to pursue her postgraduate studies at Oxford. She is one of three recipients selected by the University of Oxford for the fully funded Standard Bank Africa Chairman’s Scholarship and is also the 2023 recipient of the Wadham College – University of Oxford Eprime Eshag Senior Scholarship. She has also completed several highly-rated finance courses from institutions such as the World Bank, Yale University, and Universita Bocconi.
Beyond her academic pursuit, Toyosi is passionate about leadership and community service. She runs an afterschool program for underprivileged children in Lagos, Nigeria where before her program in Oxford, she taught the vulnerable community children’s modules in arts, math, and spelling exercises. She also built a library for the children in the community, partly funded with the proceeds from her best-selling children's book "When You See The Red Sea " purposed to inspire faith and courage in the kids.
At its inception stage, the project aimed at helping kids without access to books and libraries, emerged as a finalist for the Harvard National Model United Nations Social Venture Challenge and has been featured on several media outlets in Nigeria. The kids, in March 2022, were also featured on the Ellen DeGeneres Show after receiving books for the library and showcasing demonstrable academic potential. Toyosi is also an entrepreneur, an aspiring chef running an Instagram food blog, and an unrelenting bibliophile.
Before the Scholarship
What motivated you to pursue a graduate degree at Oxford University as well as the Standard Bank Chairman’s Scholarship?
I did not start out wanting to apply to Oxford University. I wanted to go to another top school in America and I applied to just that school around December of last year. By January of this year, I was speaking to my sister and she brought up Oxford. She informed me that the MLF which is the Master’s in Law and Finance programme was still open and that I should apply. I did some research on it and found out that the program was well-tailored to what I was already doing career-wise. Also, I had this aspiration that if I ever was going to go to grad school, I wanted to go to one of the best schools in the world. Like I said, I did not plan on applying to Oxford because I had convinced myself that it was too hard to get in – harder than the American school I applied to. Also, Oxford only took 45 students into the program and it did not seem likely that I would be among the 45. So it took a lot of time before I made up my mind to apply and then, there were difficulties along the way which made it even harder.
One was the fact that they needed my official transcripts from my university which I knew would take a while, and the letter of confirmation from my university that I had studied in English. The stress involved in getting these documents also discouraged me from wanting to apply. More so, I did not know anybody who had gotten a scholarship for that course. I knew a copy couple of people who had taken the course in previous years and all of them self-funded. I had been informed that people who take the MLF do not typically get scholarships, so there was also a question of where the money for my tuition would come from. This was another discouraging factor.
Thankfully, I got some help and I was able to get my transcripts and letter on the exact day the application was closing. I had started working on the other application documents such as the personal statement and the essay so when I got my transcript and English confirmation letter, I just sent in my application and paid. Unfortunately, the payments did not go through because of some Nigerian banking issues and I missed the application deadline. I ended up having to pay later but my application still went through.
How did you tailor your application to the Standard Bank Chairman’s Scholarship to reflect your passion, ideas, and potential to be a future leader in Africa, as the scholarship seeks in its scholars?
I didn't know about the Standard Bank Chairman’s Scholarship at the time I applied to Oxford. I heard about it in passing much later because someone mentioned it to me. I however did not pay much attention to it because my course was not part of the selected courses the scholarship targeted according to the Standard Bank Website.
When I got my admission, I got an e-mail from the school saying I was eligible to apply for scholarship support through the Africa Oxford Initiative (AfOx). The Africa Oxford initiative is the organization that administers scholarships to African Students. They sent me a questionnaire that had questions surrounding my ambition, goals, and the reason for same.
I got called for the interview a while later and was assessed on my academic merit and potential, leadership experience and capacity development, alignment with AfOx values and themes and commitment to Africa’s development. About a week later, I got an e-mail saying I had been awarded the Standard Bank Chairman Scholarship. The Standard Bank Chairman’s Scholarship turned out to be one of the many scholarships administered by Afox.
Can you share any specific steps you took in preparing a competitive application for Oxford, considering the intense competition for these applications?
I can honestly say that the specific steps that I took were praying and asking for help. As I had mentioned, I did not plan to apply to Oxford and I did my application in a rush, so I can't truthfully say that there were specific steps that I took to prepare because I did not plan to. I sincerely believe that my getting into Oxford was more of divine providence than anything that I did. I however tried to proofread my application documents i.e. my essay and my personal statement and I asked my partner to help me fix my references, check for plagiarism, and generally review my essay. He was the only person who reviewed my essay before I submitted same. I should note that I worked on that topic for my application to the American school so I kind of had an idea of what I was writing on already. I built on that already existing essay because the requirement for the Oxford essay was far more extensive.
For the scholarship, when I got the e-mail asking me to appear for the interview, I reached out to a friend, who was just about to complete the MLF programme and she connected me to another friend, a Ghanaian by the name of Matilda who had won a MasterCard Scholarship also administered by AfOx the previous year. Matilda prepared me well for the interview. She explained well to me, what I needed to highlight and emphasize and some areas I needed to pay attention to. We spent a lot of time on the phone practising how to properly tailor my responses in line with the selection criteria. After all of this, I prayed a lot. I prayed with my friends, I prayed on my own and I just asked God for favour in my interview. I knew there were lots of brilliant people who had already been called for the interview and Matilda was trying to help all of us prepare. I knew some of these people personally and all of them had better portfolios than I did, so prayer was my best bet after having prepared.
Can you share your experience with the scholarship application process, including any specific challenges you encountered and how you successfully navigated them?
I did not really have any challenges with the scholarship application because I didn't think I was going to get it. So, I applied just so that it would not be said that I didn't try. As I already said, I filled out the initial form and got called for an interview and that was it. I would say that the only challenge I may have encountered happened five (5) minutes into my interview when I was in the Zoom waiting room and power i.e. electricity went off. I was in darkness and I couldn't leave the waiting room, so I got very nervous because I had my entire interview in darkness. I found myself constantly apologizing to my interviewers that I did not plan for this and the power situation in Nigeria is not just the best. Thankfully, they were very understanding.
During the Scholarship
Transitioning to an internationally renowned institution like Oxford can be daunting. How did you prepare yourself academically, culturally, and socially for your studies at Oxford?
I did not plan that I was going to go to Oxford and so, I cannot say that I took any conscious steps towards my studies at Oxford. However, the culture of excellence is something that always mattered to me. The culture of excellence is something that one derives through deliberate actions and consistent behaviour to achieve excellence i.e. be outstanding. Wherever I found myself, I just wanted to be excellent – I worked hard, I read a lot of books, made friends with wise and ambitious people, and was never afraid to ask questions or ask for help and speak up. Thankfully, most people noticed.
The people who wrote my references for my Oxford application were people who had either taught me or mentored me in one way or another and knew that I had a very good work ethic and had cultivated that culture of excellence. I just try to do the best that I can at every point that I find myself whether it's in school or at work, at home or in church. I believe that what is worth doing at all, is worth doing well.
Many young Nigerians grapple with imposter syndrome, feeling they don’t belong in elite institutions. What advice would you give to future scholars who may face similar doubts about their abilities and qualifications when applying and entering Oxford?
Permit me to be biblical here, and quote Romans 9:16 which says ‘It is not of him that willeth nor of him that runneth but of God who shows mercy’. I came to a better understanding of this verse when I got my admission and scholarship. I believe very strongly that as much as we must work hard, there is a place for the divine. It is good to have good qualifications and abilities and we must work hard and prepare for those opportunities. But I think imposter syndrome comes mainly from over-dependence on our abilities and qualifications. When you depend solely on your qualifications, it makes sense to have impostor syndrome because you always think ‘Oh I have not done enough!’ or ‘I'm not good enough’ and that mindset comes from the undervaluation of your skills or qualifications. You don't feel like it's enough or that you deserve the thing you are vying for.
I would say that for all the times that I've encountered imposter syndrome and doubted myself, I remind myself that I have put in the work and I've now left the rest for God. For me, it is a combination of my hard work and the divine so there should be no place for imposter syndrome. For those who do not really believe in God, a more rational approach would be that, even if you think that you are not good enough, it will not hurt to still apply and put your best foot forward. The best case scenario is that you get it and the worst case scenario is that you won’t, but not getting it will not kill you.
What are you most excited about, as you begin your studies at Oxford University as a Standard Bank Chairman’s Scholar?
I'm most excited about the opportunity to share my story and my testimony. It's been a long way coming and it has not been an easy route to get here. I'm grateful to be in Oxford without having to spend my parents’ money or break the bank and the opportunity also to learn and to encounter some of the most brilliant people in the world.
After the Scholarship
Upon completion of your studies, how do you plan to apply your academic knowledge and experiences to create a meaningful impact on Africa’s development, and what advice would you offer to future scholars regarding their post-Oxford career paths?
I hope to be a thought leader and policy influencer who can contribute to well-researched and well-informed policies geared towards the sustainability of Finance for development, particularly for energy infrastructure in Africa.
How has being awarded the Standard Bank Africa Chairman’s Scholarship and beginning your studies at Oxford University shaped your personal and professional life, and how do you envision this experience influencing your future endeavours?
Being in Oxford has exposed me to the most brilliant, creative, diverse and insightful set of people I have ever encountered. My classmates are a wonderful mix of people of different nationalities and are all incredibly smart. On the aspect of my personal and professional life, I can honestly say I’m making friends and my network is being expanded very considerably. Oxford lives up to the hype so it is almost difficult to not feel overwhelmed or intimidated. Also, the new and what I may call ‘fancy’ experiences such as High Table Dinners and other very special ceremonies have a way of elevating one’s spirit.
Being in Oxford itself has that effect on you because it is such a small, yet beautiful city. There is also the aspect of career growth. My course is an intersection between the Faculty of Law and the Saïd Business School and they are both so intentional about us. There are so many career fairs and mentorship opportunities to guide us and prepare us for life after Oxford. I’ve been assigned several remarkable persons in different capacities to help ease the stress and anxiety of my very demanding course and to guide me through excelling in Oxford. This, I find to be super amazing.
My scholarship has also afforded me the opportunity to meet with many important and inspiring people. I’ve been privy to a lot of events that inspire me to choose a career that can build others up, inspire young Africans and secure the future of our continent.
What advice would you give to future applicants about preparing a strong application for both Oxford University and the Standard Bank Africa Chairman’s Scholarship, particularly regarding the selection criteria and essential documents?
I would say pray and be sure that it's what God wants for you and then ask Him for ease. I think that was the best thing that I did before I started my application, I told God that I wanted ease.
Also, do not wait till the last minute like me, prepare ahead, ask for help and guidance – don’t fall for that African secrecy trap. In your application, be very clear and sincere about what you want to do - don't be too basic with your vocabulary, particularly in your essay. Make sure to inform your referees on time, save up for your application fees and IELTS, and have more than one international payment option on standby for your payments. Find out if there are any deposit fees required for your course and save up or raise the same ahead. This is because, without the deposit fees, which are usually thousands of pounds, you can’t accept your admission and you may not get a place for the scholarships if you do not pay the deposit.
And even if you don’t get it, do not be afraid to restrategize and try again.
Resources
Could you share the key resources and strategies you found most valuable in your journey to becoming a Standard Bank Chairman’s Scholar at Oxford?
Do your research by starting with the websites - Oxford University, AfOx and the Oxford Colleges. There are also numerous resources on Instagram, YouTube, and perhaps Facebook that guide prospective students on how to put in a good application and they are not hard to find.
Further Insights
A true relationship with God will always help you and set you apart.
Given my experience here, it is important to remember that you may need to have some finance experience to be considered for the program because it is extremely competitive. It’s a small class, so they are very careful about the candidates they pick. Also, if one is very maths-averse, the MLF may be a very nerve-racking experience. This is because about 80% of the course is math, finance and economics, and only about 20% is law. Alternatively, and for a more streamlined law graduate degree experience, one can apply for the Oxford BCL, which admits more people (over 100) and is more diverse and law-focused - it has a lot more exciting law elective options to choose from too.
There is also a requirement to pay a deposit which is typically about £6,800 (might be more or less) - and this must be paid to accept your place in the program and is before any scholarship application. So one needs to plan for this ahead. I had no clue that I needed to pay a deposit until I got my letter - and but for the grace of God - through friends and savings, I may not have been able to accept my admission.
For IELTS, if you have graduated less than 2 years from the date of your acceptance, then you can apply for the waiver - which is still subject to their discretion.
Her Opportunity Story spotlights Nigerian women who have landed transformative opportunities and provides detailed insights for other Nigerian women who would be applying for those opportunities.
Previous Edition of Her Opportunity Story: Read Zainab Damola Aderinale’s journey to becoming an intern at the United Nations Population Fund here. Applications close on December 31, 2023.
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