Fatima Al-Hassan

Fatima is the eldest of seven children. Her father is a tailor; her mother manages the household. In Kano, the expectation was clear: finish school, find work, help the family. A private university was not part of the plan.

She scored 263 on JAMB and spent three months watching the result sit on her phone, unused. A cousin in Lagos sent her the Decagon link with a single message: just apply.

She applied on a cracked phone screen, in the room she shares with two younger sisters, at half past midnight.

At the American University of Nigeria, she enrolled in Business Administration. In her first semester, she started a small student enterprise selling handmade goods on campus. By the end of the year, she had made enough to send money home twice.

She is now in her second year. She still shares a room with her sisters when she goes home for holidays. She says it keeps her grounded.