The Bronze Medal We Won from Our Bedrooms

In competitive robotics, 2025 was meant to be our year.

As part of Team Nigeria, my teammates and I spent months coding, building, failing, fixing, and trying again. All that hard work paid off when we won the Dr. Mae Jemison Award for International Unity at the FIRST Global Challenge, earning a Bronze Medal and ranking among teams from around the world.

On paper, it was a big win.

But we weren't there.

While students from over 190 countries gathered in Panama City, my teammates and I were still at home in Nigeria. Not because our robot failed. Not because we weren't good enough. But because of visa issues and financial challenges.

What It Felt Like to Be "Stuck"

Being a young Nigerian student comes with a lot of pressure.

You're expected to do well in school, build skills, dream big, and somehow not get tired. When something finally works out — and then gets taken away — it hurts more than people realize.

That moment made me think deeply.

If we — students who had just won an international award — felt frustrated and drained, what about other students who don't get recognition at all?

So many young people are stressed, overwhelmed, and silently struggling, especially students preparing for exams or trying to build something meaningful with very little support.

How Hamboi MindCare Started

That experience pushed me to act.

I decided that if I couldn't travel to Panama, I would still build something that matters.

That's how Hamboi MindCare was born.

I used what I learned from robotics — problem-solving and logic — and applied it to mental health awareness. Hamboi MindCare is a student-led platform created to support young people through articles, reflection tools, and shared experiences.

What Unity Means to Me Now

Our award was for International Unity.

I've learned that unity isn't about being in the same country. It's about understanding each other's struggles and choosing to support one another anyway.

We may have been grounded, but our ideas were not.

With Hamboi MindCare, I want to help prove that you don't need to leave your country to make an impact. Sometimes, change starts right where you are — at 15, with a laptop, a phone, and a strong reason to care.