MY YAPPI STORY - "From Grass To Grace"

Hi, my name is Rosemary Effiom Edem, I am a YAPPIAN and this is my YAPPI story:

Before learning about animation, I worked as a cleaner and sales girl for a supermarket. This occurred in April 2023. I recall sitting in the corner of the store, exhausted and upset with myself, and I started writing things down; it's a practice I do to relieve tension.

Somehow the word "ANIMATIONS" floated in, and I was stunned. I never considered it, perhaps in my early childhood memories, but I never thought of producing animations. 

Then fear came in; I was scared. I had failed a lot—my business, school, life, etc. I seriously doubted that I would make anything out of animation. At that time, I had a broken phone; the screen was so bad that I had to use a rubber band to bind it. Funny, right? I told people around me, anyone interested in listening to my dream to go into animation, and how much information I needed, but very few knew what animation was. I researched, browsed, and asked questions, and with this knowledge, I was lucky to be registered for one animation class. It wasn't the best, but it gave me the information. I made sure to post about my dream on every social media I could come across; people started sending links, and close to 5 people sent the YAPPI  link to me through Instagram. When I clicked on the registration link, with an outburst of excitement, I realized I needed a laptop to practice the skills. I froze; "Where was I going to get a laptop from?".  I was startled. Somehow, I still summoned the courage to complete the registration stage. "If I perish, I perish”, I said to myself. Then I told my boss that I would love to go into animation, and I understood the "No phones allowed" policy for staff, but I promised not to be distracted. Long story short, he fired me.

At that point, I broke down completely as I had no money, and the job was my escape place. I later applied for the cleaning job; it was so new to me that I had never done it before. The news that kept me up and happy was when I got an email that I had been shortlisted and enrolled in YAPPI.

"Clear Road!". I danced and screamed, bought a note and pen, started attending classes, bought data, and made YouTube my best friend. One month passed, and my job started taking a toll on me; I resigned. I started going to people's houses to ask if I could use their laptops; obviously, the answer was "NO!” It did not stop me; I went straight into Twitter and made sure to post every day about how I needed a laptop, even if it was a 3rd hand laptop. I repeated the same thing on Facebook and WhatsApp. Someone outside the country, "MR JOHN," noticed my daily request, picked interest, and created a GoFundMe account for me. I was thrilled. Into the 2nd month in Yappi, someone in a WhatsApp tech group, "MR PATRICK," kept making sure people were sending money into his account for my laptop.

Everything was happening too fast, and I loved it. Then I finally got my laptop. The excitement made me sleepless for a week; I was careful no scratch came to it. I took it everywhere I went, and we had light issues; I stayed in bet shops, barbing salons, back of churches, people's kitchens, and eateries to charge and attend the YAPPI online tutorials. At some point, data became a problem, but I didn't have shame; I begged, borrowed, and bought. I tried all possible means to ensure I attended the online classes and the Mentorship Live Sessions.

Life wasn't easy for me, I won't lie; I was staying in a toxic area, and I was always scared. At some point, I went quiet in the Yappi forum on Telegram, and my mates noticed it. Well, it was easy to notice as I made sure to give everybody a little gbas-gbos to ginger everyone. They started asking about me; during this time, I was thrown out of the house, so I started squatting with some friends, and my laptop was always with me, I didn't want anything to hinder my growth.

And talking about my growth, Ah! My first animation was a Doughnut; I love food. Everything I did wasn't perfect, but it didn't stop me; I made sure to post every day on Twitter, Facebook, TikTok, IG, and WhatsApp. To the outside world, it would look like I had everything going smoothly for me, but honestly, I was broken inside. It's not easy living with people and having nothing on you; I went from one house to the other but NEVER GAVE UP ON MY DREAMS!

Thankfully I reconnected with a very old friend who noticed me and the bruises I sustained during the eviction from my previous location, and he made sure I left the toxic environment. Finally, I left and am currently in Port Harcourt.

It's been amazing so far, being able to create and model my imagination into life without the fear of being yelled at or walking on eggshells. YAPPIi has been a blessing to me; YAPPI transformed me. I never thought I could do what I am currently doing, connecting with people of like minds, my coursemates in YAPPI COMMUNITY 4, I love those guys; they're funny and amazing, and God knows I was blessed the day I was moved from my previous telegram community to Community 4.

I am a youth and I am thankful to Yappi for my growth, I am thankful to YAPPI for giving me this opportunity, and I am appreciative to YAPPI for giving me the courage to hold on to my dreams, for giving my aspirations a voice, and for defining my future. I am grateful to Del-York Creative Academy for the amazing opportunities thus far; I love you all so much. My success story is incomplete without YAPPI in it.

And guess who became one of the Star lead Ambassadors for Community 4 is; Me! I am grateful for our community Manager Miss Chloe; she's been a source of inspiration. I am not perfect; I do have my flaws, but I am ready for this growth.

It does get better from here. I am a YAPPIAN!

To my friends and well-wishers, Stay YAPPI always!!

Rosemary Effiom Edem

(Miss Unstoppable)

YAPPI Star Lead Ambassador.

Powered by Froala Editor