Temie Alehegn’s small stature doesn’t speak about his intellectual worth for he looks pretty ordinary but his simplicity and down-to-earth characteristics set him apart from the rest. And presently, he is the toast of all for his outstanding feat of clocking perfect 4 CGPA in 33rd Graduation that has proved his mettle.

I am the youngest son of a farmer, Mr Alehegn Mengistie, my mother Atalay Mitiku, is a housewife; of 6 siblings, 5 are into farming at Guay village in Amhara region. My parents were expecting me to be a doctor, but my 12 Grade’s insufficient percentile couldn’t let me in and I had to be content with Agricultural Economics, he said.

On his expectation, he said, I have put my efforts and continued my studies in the given timeframe and could get 37 A+ and 4 A in respective subjects. Actually, after this, I want to be a lecturer in university and simultaneously like to pursue master studies that would enable me to help my farming community to adopt innovative technologies that in turn will enhance their annual crop yield and improve their finances.

How could he made it, he replied, having reached university in the month of November 2020, we had very little time to prepare but prior reaching here, I had done lot of preparation that helped me to catch up with my studies. He adds, economics is the important part of agriculture that fascinated me and I paid full attention to it. Every day, I used to invest 6 to 8 hours in my studies and also worked on my research with under continual guidance of my teachers.

Of 41 subjects, Agricultural Economics is of great importance because Ethiopia is fledgling economy and I wanted to get acquainted with its nuances so that in future, I would try my best to contribute in my own capacity for its progress, he added.

Conducting his research under the topic - ‘Household food security and its coping strategies,’ at village Shara in Arba Minch Zuria Woreda, he interviewed 130 households and found 60 had food security while remaining found to be struggling to eke out daily bread as they had no access to credit, their land size and cattle they own were insignificant. He recommended if credit, bigger land size and significant number of cattle made available to them, it will change their financial status.

Lauding his teachers, he said, many of them were always encouraging me to work hard and helped to have deep insight about the subjects I was studying and I was appropriately advised for research, apart from this, well-equipped library and laboratories were of immense help, he stressed.

The pandemic-caused challenges were traumatic and he doesn’t want them to haunt again; he said, it had kept us away from our teaching environment and we didn’t know what will happen next; we were simply worried about the prevailing uncertainty but finally that phase is over and we are back to business.

Being gregarious, he loves to rub shoulders with others, play games and read curriculum texts that get him recharged. He was the member of Charity Club and Students Parliament but he will always strike a balance between social commitment and self-studies. Teamwork is his strength for he isn’t autocratic!

Giving his piece of mind to future graduates, he said, you must manage your time diligently, have a clear roadmap, strong self-belief that ‘you can make it up’ will help you achieve what you want to be. Believe me, my accomplishment is satisfying and I am so overwhelmed that I don’t have words to express it. And I attribute the credit of my success to my parents, beloved teachers and good friends, he said.

(Communication AffairsDirectorate)