“Life is less trouble if you spent it lifting people up, not putting people down”, these inspiring and philosophically famous words of my late dad continue to ring soberly challenging bell in my ears. He also reminded me that “the harder I work, the greater my chances; and again, told me to keep in mind that this world is a stage; we are all actors and actresses; we have our own entrances and exits of time; but some played many parts on the stage.
Therefore, I’ve always challenged myself to work harder while, helping to lift people up and strengthening through sharing to help others to learn and develop when they can.
It’s never too late to do something if you are really committed to it, but make the effort to do it well, not putting people down since we are called to be captain of our fate and master of our own destiny.
Life may call us to rise up to an occasion, or wake us up to what is really important. But I have since realized how precious each second is on this earth, therefore, I made a vow to use my hard-earned praiseworthy education to help develop human minds, build others’ capacities, contribute positively to Liberia’s advancement and help empower my compatriots.
It must be incumbent upon all Liberians to be torchbearers in the quest and challenges of nation-building no matter where, place and capacity the people may be found in the true spirit of nationalism.
In our educational sector, intellectual capital is manifested by excellent academic results, which are in turn a product of the work done by the teaching and learning professionals.
It is in this vein that we graciously and wholeheartedly accepted Paris Graduate School’s invitation to journey to the world’s fashion capital. Paris, in fostering a profound and strong relationship, partnership and cooperation with sisterly academic institutions of higher learning on behalf of Liberia College of Social Sciences and Humanities, with the approval of the President of the University of Liberia, Prof., Dr. Julius Julukon Sarwolo Nelson, is most welcoming.
Being very cognizant of the vibrant reality that one of Africa’s renowned fountains of vast knowledge provider was never alone on an isolated island, took a closer walk outside the box on the famous soil of Paris to exchange notes and hold details discussion of mutual interest including partnership with Dr. Souha Akiki, President of Paris Graduate School and Innovative Knowledge Institute located at 21 Boulevard Haussmann, Paris. Dr. Akiki is one of five renowned professors who served as academic jury during the famous defense of my dissertation in 2019.
The visit at Paris Graduate School on Wednesday at 4PM elevates the University of Liberia, particularly Liberia College on a new academic trajectory imbued with huge benefits- faculty’s capacity development and scholarships.
Based on the early request of the Dean of Liberia College, Associate Professor, Dr. Josephus M. Gray for oversea education for faculty with Bachelor degree, the President of Paris Graduate School, Dr. Souha Akiki has awarded 11 scholarships (one master scholarship with 100% tuition and fees waived. The master’s degree fully funded scholarship is awarded to a teaching assistant that will win the outstanding faculty aware for the academic year 2020-2021.
According to her, the scholarship takes immediate effect and requested for the selected faculty member to immediate apply and submit the necessary academic credentials via the school website which contains all the details including academic programs.
Furthermore, Dr. Akiki awards 10 additional master’s degree scholarships with 50% waived to faculty of Liberia College. Other benefits include provision of modern instructional and learning materials, short and long terms training especially pedagogy. Interestingly, the faculty members of Liberia College will be the most cardinal beneficiaries from the Paris’ academic generosity in the areas of quality education and academic excellence.
During the meeting, Dr. Akiki expressed her willingness for her and two other faculty members to contribute to teaching and learning at Liberia College via online teaching. She also encouraged Dr. Gray that as soon as he returns to Liberia, he should organize training session about pedagogy so her institution can meaningfully contribute to the exercise.
Dr. Akiki also informed Dr. Gray that the school’s administration has given him all the rights and privileges to access the school’s website and take advantage of instructional materials and programs without any payment to contribute towards learning and teaching at the institution.
Dr. Gray was told that besides the task to organize, should equally manage and coordinate the program from an academic point of view, to provide the necessary contents for the good functioning of the program and to provide faculty with the necessary computer support during the classes.
Dr. Gray then conveyed on behalf of UL President, Dr. Nelson, greetings of warmth facilitation and best wishes. He used the occasion to express UL administration appreciation to Dr. Akiki and faculty. “I will ask the UL administration to extend an invitation to you to visit out great campuses and interact with our faculty members”, Dr. Gray said. He used the occasion to extend his gratitude to Dr. Akiki for the invitation and informed her that he is so grateful to be issued a Schengen visa with multiple entries in France including the 26 European countries.
During the meeting, Dr. Akiki and Dr. Gray held technical discussion in areas of mutual interest to both Liberia College and Paris Graduate School to pave the way for the official signing of MoU between the two institutions by UL President, Dr. Nelson and Dr. Akiki.
In reciprocation of the 11 scholarships, Dr. Gray donated copy of his new book titled: “The Effect of Diplomacy, with the subtitle “Liberia, U.S., China’s Triangular Relations, and copy of the college inaugural Newsletter. The book has been peer reviewed and uniquely passed the United States National Copyright Office quality test with an official certificate registration signed by the Director of the Library of Congress, Madam Perlmutter. The registration number: TX-9-003-959, international Standard Number ISBN 9781665522557 and applicant’s tracking number 828851are assigned to Dr. Gray’s new book.
Dr. Gray’s new book details include 580 pages with ISBN-10: 1665522550, ISBN-13: 978-1665522557 and weight: 2.36 pounds with the dimensions of 5.98 x 1.44 x 9.02 inches. The publication contains 580-page, 3,123 paragraphs, 202,916 words and 2,470,268 characters both single and double spacing. The book further contains 9,750 punctuation marks, 855 in-text citations, and 16,265 lines and 590 references.
The book, published by American Tech Giant-Amazon is widely on sale in 161 countries in bookstores and online by booksellers and publishing entities. Interestingly, the book has not gone unnoticed by international publishing entities and booksellers around the world including Amazon, Author House, Ebay, Blackwells UK, Powells. Water stones, FNAC, Noble’s online bookstore, Biblio, Library books.google, eCampus, Booktopia, Vital Source and Dymocks.
Liberia College is the oldest College in the country, established in 1862 has emerged as a center of instruction for undergraduate students in humanities and social sciences education. The College seeks to achieve excellence levels of distinction in teaching, learning and research by transmitting knowledge and understanding that are needed to transform the Liberian society and in the service of the world.
The College made up of a vibrant Faculty that is well-trained and which operates with tangible achievements. It has six academic departments and several units headed by chairs and coordinators. The College is the foundation of the University of Liberia and higher education in the country.
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