Welcome to the Mental Note podcast. I’m Dr. Durar Pulley and we’re here to bring you practical tips for mental well being. The goal of the Mental Note is to put something on your mind to give you something to think about, something to pull apart and something to bring back together to provide with you for you holistically healthy, balanced and well rounded lives.

That’s the goal, that we live those holistically healthy, balanced and well rounded lives. So in this podcast we bring together psychology and theology, we bring together mental health and well being as well as ministry so we can be concerned about the whole person, spirit, soul and body. And so I’m starting a brand new series.

I am live in Benin City, Nigeria and I’m starting a brand new series called Living your dream. That I believe that each of us has a dream inside of us that God has placed inside of us. And so in order to get that dream that is inside of us, outside of us, God blesses us with various people, places and things resources to cause that dream to happen.

The Bible talks about Joseph and Joseph having a dream and he shared that dream with his brothers and he shared that dream with his parents. And his dream over time eventually came to pass and I had a dream to be a minister. Since I was 7 years old, it was my dream to preach, to be a full time minister.

I’ve been preaching since I was seven years old and that’s been a long time. I’m 55 years old now, in July 14, I’ll be 55. And so I’ve been preaching for a very long time.

For over 47 years I’ve been preaching, I’ve been pastoring for over 35 years and I’ve been a bishop for 20 years. And so I’m living my dream. But for a long time I was bivocational, I was assistant principal of a high school and I was doing ministry.

And so my time was divided, my mind was divided, but my prayer was always for my dream to come true, to do ministry full time. And about 10 years ago that dream actually came true. I left Baltimore, Maryland in the United States of America and moved to Tampa, Florida, Tampa Bay area.

And that’s when my dream started coming true. I was no longer splitting my time and attention between ministry and secular job, but I was fully focused on the ministry. And so since that time that my dream has come true, I’ve been so fulfilled, I’ve been so satisfied, so content, so filled up because I’m actually living my dream.

So this podcast series I’m interviewing other people to see how their dream has come true and what their dream is and where they are in the dream process. So I have a very special guest with us today from the University of Benin and I’m calling him already. Dr. Emmanuel.

Yes, we have Dr. Emmanuel. So glad to be with you today. I’m very glad to be here, sir.

My name is Emmanuel Owe. I’m the final year medical student of the University of Benin and I’m also a tutor and also I’m also a metal. I met all some young maids of the University of Beni.

Wow. And some students of secondary schools in Benin City. And also I’m also a an SDG champion.

SDG 3 and SDG 4. What is that? What kind of TBing? SDG? Sustainable Development Goals. Okay, I’ll defend 300 SDG 4 that talks about health and education so well.

Thank you for having me here, sir. I am so glad that you are here and I’m so glad that you’re one of those dream people. So what was your dream? What is your dream? Okay.

When questions like this. When I’m asked questions like this, I’m excited because this is something that I want to talk about. I love talking about it because I’ve always wanted to become a doctor though I’m a doctor in training.

I’m not a doctor yet. Like I said, I’m a prophesy. You are a doctor.

It is. So. So let it be.

Yeah. So being a doctor or. I always wanted to be a doctor since I was seven, eight years.

That was in primary five. I’ve always wanted to be a doctor though. But before primary five, I said I was going to be an aeronautic engineer.

But I discovered that they don’t do that in Nigeria. So yeah, we don’t do that in India. So I’ve only wanted to become a medical doctor.

The division came as a result of what happened to my nephew when I was seven, eight years. That was in family five, My nephew, he had. I don’t know the name of the sickness, but I should do my research.

And I think I come up with it then. I was still very young. He was sick and he was rushed to an hospital.

But he died in the hospital. So the information I got from my mom was that he died as a result of medical negligence. That means the doctors were not able to like treat him accordingly.

So he died. I was pain in my spirit because the boy is somebody that I love so much. So I had to like do research.

I asked questions. Doctors who take care of young children. Who are they? Doctors who take care of children.

And I discovered that they are called pediatrician. So from that very day I told myself that I’m going to become a doctor. What I can reach out to people and ensure that medical malpractice and medical negligence is completely wiped out from the face of it.

So that’s a big thing to just totally wipe out medical malpractice and to wipe out medical negligence from the earth. That’s a big, big, big dream. That’s a big dream.

You know they say your dream doesn’t scare you. It’s not big enough. So you should have dreams that are scary so that you can actually achieve them.

Okay. So since then I said I’m going to become a doctor. No, to be a doctor you have to go through primary school, secondary school and through university and get the MBBS degree.

That’s what we have in Nigeria. MBBS degree. So primary school.

Well the thing is that at that time I didn’t know like the dream was not that big for me. It was not something that I took seriously. I was just reading my book to pass my exams.

Primary school I passed my exams and moved to secondary school. Junior secondary school with the system that we run in Nigeria is C334. I sit here in primary school, three years in junior secondary school, three years in senior secondary school.

So junior secondary school. I knew that I was going to become doctor, but I was just reading my book to pass the exam. Though the dream was not really something that I was fighting for.

But when I enter, when I got to Senior Secondary School 1 because it’s a three year program. Senior secondary school When I got to Senior Secondary School 1, I discovered that medicine is no joke. Getting permission to study medicine, it’s something that is quite challenging because a good number of persons would want to study medicine.

The year I applied to study medicine towards about 12,000 patients applied that very year. Wow. Yeah.

And they only accept 100 person. So you can see about 11,900 won’t gain admission. Study medicine.

So it not dawned on me that oh, this course that I’m going for, a good number of persons are applying for this course. So I had to be very serious. So there’s, there’s need for me to be serious with my academics.

So I started taking my academics very seriously because then I was just passing. I was just reading to pass my exam. But now that I know what’s before me was in front of me, I had to like read more than usual so that I can ace my exams.

So when I got to Sinner Secondary School 3 I wrote my SSC exam and there’s an exam in medical school in Nigeria called jam Joint admission Magician Board. That’s the exam that you write before you can gain admission to study a course in the university in Nigeria. It’s like MCAT in Ganja and the US okay so and there’s a.

The required score that you have to get in the exam before you can get an admission. So I wrote the exam. I wrote it with first time I couldn’t get in.

So I was given the course, another course, but I applied for medicine. I was given a course but because I knew, I know that, okay, I want to become a doctor. I’ve always had that dream of becoming a doctor.

I didn’t accept the course. I had to stay at home for another year. So I wrote the jam again.

And he is a jam exam. I wrote it again. I couldn’t get him.

Wow. Second time. Most of my friends because they applied for engineering, most of my friends apply for engineering, pharmacy, they all gain admission to study engineering and pharmacy.

So I was at 2 because I didn’t take any course that I was given because I couldn’t meet up to the court of mark for medicine. But what was the score that was needed? Oh well, the way we do it in Nigeria, you write jam exam, you divide your score by 8. There’s another exam called prosthetme.

You write prostituteme. They divide your score by two. They add the score that you got from JAM after it has been divided by eight and add it to your postitme score after that then divided by 8.

2. When they added together you are supposed to have a minimum of 77. I was getting 72, 73.

Quite. Wow. Wow.

So close but yet so, but yet not enough to be able to get in. So when you got that close 72, 73 and you weren’t getting in, you didn’t get in the first time, didn’t get in the second time. What motivated you to do it a third time? Why not just give up and say oh this is not for me.

Maybe I need to try engineering or pharmacy like some of your colleagues. Well, like I said, I’ve. I came from a Christian school and when I was reading my Bible I discovered that scripture says see the vision, write it down, do it with tarry to definitely come to pass.

I’ll be running with that scripture. It didn’t take me. I don’t, I don’t, I don’t mind.

I don’t care how long it’s going to take me to keep on writing down, I shall know that this is God’s plan for me. God has plans for me in medical field. There’s a lot that God has installed for me to do in medicine.

That’s the major reason why as at that time I was given another course, I rejected it because I know this is God’s plan for me. What made you know, like if you. If the hardcore data and evidence is showing that you’re not passing, not just once, twice, what made you still know that this was God’s plan for you even though you weren’t passing the exam? Okay, okay, this one is quite facing but I’m going to share it.

When my mom asked me what I was going to study in university that was in secondary school, I told her that I’m going to study medicine. I told her I was going to study medicine and she actually cried. I was not asking why are you crying? She said, the day that they gave birth to me, they brought me from the hospital to the house.

My aunt, because she was staying with my mom, she said the evening of that very day she slept and she had a dream that some men wearing white coats came into the house. She had a dream because in her dream some men came into the house. I was very small, like in units, and they came and they carried me out.

They were wearing a war coat and stethoscope and they carried me out. So she woke up and she told my mom, it seems this child is going to come and talk to me. So yeah, when I told her that okay, I want to study medicine, she told me this why she was crying because she said it’s as if the vision and the dream that my aunt had a long time ago is going to come to pass.

Wow. That actually motivated me to know that okay, this is God’s plan for me. Despite the fact that I’m not getting it, this is God’s plan for me.

So it seems like in order for a dream to come to pass that there are going to be challenges, but you keep moving forward with the dream. That that going to obstacles, but you keep moving forward with the dream. And did your mom ever share with you the dream that your aunt had about you becoming a doctor? No, she never did.

She never told you? She never told me until I told her that I want to study meds. And how old were you then? I should be around 13, 12 years old. 12 or 13.

She told you the dream. So you know somebody else’s dream Your aunt’s dream became your dream, but you didn’t know that your aunt had had the dream. And so this was a confirmation to you and a motivation to keep moving forward.

Because so many people get so close to their dreams and they give up. They don’t go to that third time to take the test. Well, we’re going to take a break and hear from our sponsors.

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Thank you so much for continuing with us on the Mental Know podcast. Let us pick up our discussion. So Finnish tells the story.

So the third time, what happened when you went back the third time right there. The thing is that one thing about writing JAM anyway, you feel since you’ve written the exam before, a lot of persons get too scared that they don’t want to write it again. But the truth is that the knowledge that you acquired while preparing for it initially the first time, you still have that knowledge and as you keep on reading you are adding to it.

So the third time I wrote the exam I got a very high jump score of about 319 and scoring 300 in jam show that you are doing well. So I got 200 in the exam post UTME I got 80 in proceeding. So after adding everything together I got about 78.

So 78 point something which is way above the quarter. Wow, I got you. Wow.

Congratulations that you got in. You got in. So that’s confirm for you.

And so I’m inviting somebody not to give up on your dream, not to give up on what you feel you were created to do. Because many times people get a job, you know, and a job is to make money. That’s a job.

Then some people get a career where they invest in the education and they put time and energy and effort and they choose a career that is going to bring them money but that they’re also good at and they got the education and the experience to have a career. But then there’s A such thing as called vocation, which means that this is God’s purpose for your life. This is your destiny.

That time and purpose come together to bring about your destiny. So it seems like medicine for you is not just something to get a job and make money. It’s not just because of your experience and your education, but that this is actually a calling.

That you feel like this is your purpose. This is why you were born. This is why your mom met your dad and the sperm hit the egg that and created you.

That it seems like it’s bigger than just a job or a career, that it seems like it’s a vocation for you. Yeah, well, medicine is actually a calling. Is a calling, though a lot of persons trivialize it, and they do medicine for business.

Yeah, it is. You can actually make money from your quality. You can be working for God and changing lives, influencing people, and also making money from it, too.

But for me, to me, medicine is a calling. Yeah. Since I had that dream and my mom told me what my aunt dreamed when I was young, it’s like in confirmation for.

Well, I also do other stuff. So I do other stuff. I am into photography and I’m a tutu.

You said you’re into also photography and what’s the other one? I teach. You also teach. All right.

And this podcast is all about living your dreams. Well. Well, I won’t say I’m leaving the dream because I’m here to have the degree, but I shall know that I am not where I used to be.

I’m getting to that place that God has installed for me. I’m still moving. I’m a work in progress.

And also due to the fact that I am aware that this picture that God has shown me a very big picture. And I don’t want to be limited by my environment. That’s one major reason I have mentors, people that have gone ahead of me.

Because one thing about mentorship, it shows you that place or a mentor is someone who has gotten to that place that you so desire to be. So they say experience is the best teacher, but for me, I don’t think experience is the best teacher because you don’t have to experience bad things to actually understand it better. You can actually read about it or you can have a detail.

You ain’t got to touch the fire to know that the fire is hot. You can read it back to. Yeah.

And you can also, like, ask people that have been there before. Yes. To talk to you about it.

And I drew inspiration from the gifted hands, Ben Carson. Percussion is a renowned surgeon that separated the Siamist and screen apagos. I’m familiar.

Yes. So while I was going up, I think it also strengthened my conviction and also motivated me because the cursing is a black doctor. As at that time in his community then black doctors there is not much they were not respected there.

And he. He always wanted to become doctor and he had issues with academic. He was not really that good.

But along the line he kept pushing and kept pushing and he became a doctor. Even despite the fact that he came from a very poor background. He became a doctor and he did wonderful stuff, easier thing.

So one of the main things that you have to do in order to have your dream come to pass is that you have to have mentors. That’s what I hear you saying. You have to have people who are doing what it is that you desire to do.

You have to have people who have already accomplished it so you can be encouraged and motivated by their experiences, by their expertise, and that they are gracious enough to share it with you. Whether they put it in a book, whether you read it in a. In an article, whether you see it on.

In a TV program or documentary, or people actually put their hands on you and touch you and share with you their stories. That. That’s one of the things that helps us keep moving forward with our dreams.

So you’re giving us a lot of good nuggets, things that we can use. So far, you’ve let us know that the dream can be confirmed. You know, like it wasn’t just your dream, but your aunt also had the dream and your mom shared it with you.

You also shared with us that it may not happen immediately, that you need confirmation that you got from your aunt. You also need patience because it may not happen just like that. It may take more than one chance, more than one try in order to accomplish your dream.

You also told us about how your faith, your belief in God, your belief in the scriptures have been a foundation for you and living your dream. And then you’ve also shared with us mentors that it’s important to have a mentor, someone who has blazed the trail, someone who has gone ahead of you in order to be able to accomplish your dream. So those are very.

Four very powerful practical tips that we can use to keep us motivated and stimulated towards our dream. Yeah. And lastly, if you.

Once you go far, you have to surround yourself with people that think like you. Then when I was still preparing for this exam after writing for the first time, second time, I didn’t get in. I Had to look for people that are.

That are writing down for the same course. Surrounded myself with them to see if they were giving me positive energy. Because you cannot be going to Abuja.

For example, you are going to Abuja and you board the bus that is going to Lagos. You won’t get to Abuja. You end up going to Lagos.

I had to surround myself with people that are going the same direction as me so that at the end of the day, we can share ideas. Because they say, show me your friends and I’ll tell you who you are, as an adage. So I had to surround myself, the people that have the same vision as me so that we can move together and accomplish success together.

Wow. So that fifth practical tip that you’re giving us is to surround yourself with positive people, people who are moving in the same direction and have the same mind, the same goal, the same dream. That the dream fulfillment is not just singular, but other people had that same dream.

And to support yourself with other people who are dreaming the same dream. Thank you so much for those practical tips that you have. And you say you’re not living your dream, and I’m going to beg to differ.

That you are living your dream, that you’re not waiting for. You graduate from medical school to live the dream. You’re not waiting until you actually have on the white coat and the.

That’s a scope and your name is Play. You’re not waiting for that. But every day you’re living this dream step by step.

You’re not waiting for the destination. Living is even a continuous. It is a continuous pattern.

And so you are living the dream, and you’re going through various steps and stages and facets of it. But right now, today, you are living your dream. And I’m encouraging somebody today that no matter where you are and the process, no matter where you are in the developmental stage, of your dream, to live it.

To live your dream today, to do everything you possibly can do today, to bring your vision, to bring your dream, to bring your aspirations and your goals into fruition. So we know that you’re in medical school. What year are you? I’m in my sixth year.

Final year. You’re in your final year. All right.

So what is it going to take to get you from where you are to where you need to be for that dream to actually come true? Tell us what it’s going to take, because we got a lot of dreamers out there, and we got people that support people’s dreams. So tell us, what is it going to take to, for your dream to come into full manifestation. Yeah, thank you very much.

You know, the medical journey is, is actually a very long one. So while I was studying medicine, I’m still studying medicine in my second year, I discovered that the dream I have is one that is very big. And because I have to touch lives and I have to touch life, I have to touch life accidentally because anything worth doing is worth doing.

In Nigeria, we have, we have good medical schools, but this is a developing country. We have a lot, we still have a lot to learn. So I’ve always told myself that when I’ve done medical school in Nigeria, I’m going to travel to the us Complete my medical education.

Because when you’re done with medical school, you get a bachelor degree, but you have to like do residency program so that you can be a specialist. Okay. So when I’m doing medical school next year, I’m going to write the United States Medical Licensing Examination.

Hopefully I pass the exam. I’m definitely going to pass the exam. Because our right order it is speak it, speak it.

I mean, they’re going to pass the exam. Hopefully so that I can get a residency placement in the United States of America, though. Well, I just have to trust God, because when God told Moses to set the hijra nets free, he didn’t tell him that he’s going to have to pass the Red Sea.

He didn’t tell him that he’s going to bring plague to the Egyptians. So I know that me writing this exam, a lot of challenges might come because one of the major challenges in writing this exam is the funding. It’s quite expensive because writing USMLE is in three steps.

Step one, step two, and step three. But you just have to write step one and step two. To get residency placement in the United States of America and in Nigeria currency, you need about 10 to 11 million.

And that’s a lot like Naira. So that’s. And the United of America has one of the best medical schools, medical hospitals that can offer quality residency program.

The dream is to have the best and quality medical education so that I can give back to my people in Nigeria and also the citizens of America. Because I know that I have great potential inside of me. So when I’m done with my medical education, the world is going to fuel me.

Yes, yes, yes, I hear it. I love that you just took us full circle, gave us the whole dream. The big picture was where you are now and where it is that you desire to go.

And we’re supporting you in consciousness and we’re going to do whatever we can to help make your dream come true. Because what you make happen for others, God will make happen for you. Thank you so much Dr. Emanuel for being with us today.

And I’m going to keep calling you doctor and keep speaking those things that be not as though they were until they are again. This has been the Mental Note Podcast with your host Dr. Durar Pulley where we giving you practical tips to be able to live holistically healthy, balanced and well rounded lives. Stay tuned for the next episode of Living the Dream, a special segment of the Mental Note where we’re going to talk to other people about their dreams and where they are today with Living that
Dream.

You can always find out more about us on our YouTube channel. That’s Dr. Pulley, which is our YouTube channel, our website Dr. Pulley written all the Way out D O C T O R P U L L E To get more information about the Mental Note Podcast, share this podcast with other people and help inspire other people to live their dreams. Sam.