Name: Fwangmun Gwana (Class of 2010)

Fwangmun had the opportunity to study in Stella Maris Schools for over a decade from primary one in the year 1999 up till the completion of his secondary school in 2010. During his stay he was a dining prefect and captain of the football team, he was taught to be disciplined, self-determined and motivated in the quest for knowledge. Most importantly, the great teachers tailored him to be an outstanding student in regards to academia. In the same period he developed a rare skill of making excellent grades and maintaining an active social life simultaneously which in turn triggered the discovery of his passion for music.

One year after graduating from college, he was awarded on merit a full scholarship by the federal government of Nigeria through the ministry of education to study in the field of exploitation and development of oil and gas wells in Russia. Fwangmun is now a Petroleum Engineer and currently a post-graduate student of Accounting, Controlling Management and Analysis at Oil and Gas Enterprises in Ufa State Petroleum Technological University, where he obtained a bachelors degree in Petroleum Engineering approximately a year ago. Despite numerous challenges faced initially on arrival with the primary being Russian as the language of instruction in his selected course of study, he was able to scale through in flying colors academically and otherwise because of his strong foundation laid at Stella Maris. He has moved on to have some of his works published in professional journals as well.

Fwangmun hopes to be a key player in the energy sector one day, something that is motivating him to embark on a PhD program in the nearest future so that he can enhance his knowledge of this specialization and add value to his profession.

In Fwangmun’s words “I remember vividly when we freshly moved to Abuja from Plateau State and decided to pay a family visit to my cousins, my father went through their books and was highly impressed with the quality of everything being taught to pupils at that young age. Above all, he was surprised by the ’’key words’’ in their English grammar lessons because he came across most of the words at a later stage in his education. In a nutshell this was how every child in my family ended up in Stella Maris beginning with myself. In Stella Maris we were all treated fairly and given equal opportunities regardless of parental status or class in the society, this really helped most of us who didn’t come from much to have a sense of belonging and also know that we too could achieve anything with hard work and dedication.