Ilu Abba Bor Zone Communication OfficeI found it hard enough to sit an exam after a bad night’s sleep, but one woman proved her commitment and determination to education when she completed her exams just 30 minutes after giving birth.
Anyone else probably would have claimed extenuating circumstances but not Almaz Derese.
The 21-year-old, from Metu in western Ethiopia, hoped to sit her exams the day before bringing her child into the world but the secondary school tests were postponed because of Ramadan.
GettyAlthough she could have put her graduation off until the following year, Almaz explained studying while pregnant wasn’t a problem, BBC News reports.
In Ethiopia it is common for girls to drop out of secondary school and return later on to complete their studies.
Almaz went into labour on Monday (June 10) shortly before her first exam was due to start but she wasn’t about to let all the time she’d spent revising go to waste.
Ilu Abba Bor Zone Communication OfficeHer husband Tadese Tulu managed to persuade the school to let the mother-to-be take her exams at the hospital and so incredibly, just 30 minutes after pushing a tiny human out of her body, the impressive woman worked her way through the questions.
Having never given birth I don’t really know much about the process but from what I’ve seen on TV and heard in various horrific-sounding stories from mothers, it’s not a pleasant experience.
It’s often long and usually extremely tiring, so I imagine having to kick your brain into action so soon after going through labour is the last thing a new mother would want.
PixabayHowever Almaz’s determination to take the test actually helped her get through the process, as she explained:
Because I was rushing to sit the exam, my labour wasn’t difficult at all.
As if completing one exam wouldn’t have been achievement enough, the 21-year-old actually made her way through three tests; English, Amharic and Maths.
Ilu Abba Bor Zone Communication OfficeIn between adjusting to life as a new mother, Almaz will also sit her remaining tests at the exam centre over the next two days.
She is pleased with how her first three exams went and has said her baby son is doing well. After graduating secondary school, the new mother is hoping to take a two-year course which will prepare her for university.
Hopefully her son will quickly take to sleeping through the night so his hard-working mum can be well rested for her upcoming exams, though they’ll probably be a walk in the park in comparison to her first post-labour ones!
Incredible.
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Emily Brown first began delivering important news stories aged just 13, when she launched her career with a paper round. She graduated with a BA Hons in English Language in the Media from Lancaster University, and went on to become a freelance writer and blogger. Emily contributed to The Sunday Times Travel Magazine and Student Problems before becoming a journalist at UNILAD, where she works on breaking news as well as longer form features.