Esther* (22) was once a struggling nursing student with limited career options. However, a rash decision to borrow money opened the door to a better life and a high-earning career as a writer.
In this story, we follow Esther’s tumultuous journey through nursing school, her struggles to secure a job, and how her decision to borrow money set her on the path to a more secure future. She also explains why, despite the national economic hardship, she believes anyone can earn well if they work hard enough.
This is Esther’s story, as told to Azara.
My story starts where most of ours do: in the trenches.
I was a 19-year-old final-year nursing student, crippled by a mounting pile of work, and living hand-to-mouth because my dad could no longer afford to care for me like he did in the past.
He used to have money, not nepotism-level money, but enough to fund all my needs and some of my wants. But in 2023, my grandpa got really sick.
His illness not only drained the life out of him, but also drained my dad’s funds. All of my dad’s money went into caring for him. Most of the time, there was nothing left over to care for me.
Yet, my dad tried his best. Every week, he sent me a small amount of money, but unfortunately, it never exceeded ₦5,000. I would stretch the money to afford food and sometimes school essentials, but there were no funds for anything else. I couldn’t get the clothes I wanted, do my hair the way I liked, or even buy mobile data regularly.
Still, I remained optimistic. I’ve always believed that things will work out if I give it my all. That’s why, when I saw an online creative writing program, I knew I had to do it.
I’ve always loved writing, and for three years, I’d been following this lady who taught people how to earn dollars through writing. I never had the money to enroll in her class, so I was waiting for the right time. But with my family’s dwindling funds, waiting no longer felt like an option.
The class cost ₦12k, money I didn’t have to spare, so I mustered up the courage to ask a friend for a loan.
It was such a painful thing to do. I hate burdening people, especially people I care about, and the fact that I had no idea when I’d pay him back also weighed on me. But he didn’t feel the same. “I can see your determination,” he said as he handed me the money. “I trust you.”
He was right about my determination.
I took those classes as seriously as I took nursing, and soon my schedule was overflowing: there were school classes I had to attend, work postings I had to go to, and fellowships I never ignored. That, mixed with the writing classes I’d started tackling, meant I was barely resting or seeing my friends.
Sometimes I would stay up until 4 a.m. working on my writing course and still wake up at 7 a.m. to attend my nursing class. When we went for work postings and there was nothing to do, my classmates would spend their time doomscrolling, but I’d learn a tip or two to help me improve my writing. Even when exam season began, everyone would spend their days studying, but I used the time to research my writing, only studying at the dead of night.
It was a lot, but I understood that, as someone who didn’t come from much, I couldn’t just rest and wait for life to happen to me.
My hard work paid off because at the end of 2023, I graduated from nursing school with a strong degree. I also finished my writing course, but I decided to set it aside and see what my nursing degree could get me in Nigeria.
₦50k/month jobs seemed to be the answer.
During the two months I job-searched, that was the best offer I saw. I’d understood that Nigerian nurses were underpaid, but ₦50k was not even the minimum wage. How much had been spent on my school fees? On my textbooks alone? It startled me, and after only eight weeks of toying with the idea of becoming a nurse, I abandoned it to focus on writing.
I eventually landed a remote writing role for a foreign company around the time I stopped looking for jobs. I was paid ₦50k/month to write 12 articles. It eventually increased to ₦70k/month, and I found it much better than being a nurse because at least I wasn’t wasting money on transport. With this money, I took another writing course.
I’d been posting snippets of my writing on Facebook. It was something we’d been taught to do during my first writing course, and I was inconsistent with it, but I never stopped doing it. I got a few low-paying jobs this way, no more than ₦10k-₦12k per task, but that, plus my current job, was enough for a while. I was easily earning about ₦100k per month.
About a year and a half passed, and at this point I wanted more.
I signed up for LinkedIn and started posting as I had on Facebook: motivational stories, short snippets of my writing, and so on. Those posts were poorly done, but I kept learning and tweaking until I did better.
And then, four months later, my life changed.
A man had been engaging with my LinkedIn posts for some time, so I slid into his DMs to thank him. Rather than just telling me he was welcome, he asked about my portfolio and how much I charged for writing.
After a little back-and-forth, he commissioned me to ghostwrite 200 pages of his book for ₦500k.
It was like a switch in my life flipped. Only a year ago, I was considering a ₦50k/month job, and now I was getting a ₦500k offer without even applying. I took the job without a second thought. But looking back, I wish I had charged a little more.
Two months later, I was reached out to again by another foreign client. He wanted me to write a 50-page book. This time, I charged over ₦1m, and he accepted without a fight.
It’s been over a year since I got that offer, and my earnings have been good ever since. I have several clients I write for, and I consistently earn between $600 and $800 a month (about ₦790k – ₦1m a month)
The changes in my lifestyle have been drastic. Last month, I moved into a new apartment that cost ₦800k (₦1m with agent fees), and I can easily afford the rent. I also furnished it without having to struggle and save up. I can also get any food I want now, even healthy food, which is always more expensive than the unhealthy options.
Some of my money goes into taking care of my parents. I send a little bit of money home every month, and I’m helping put my brother through school. I don’t mind spending on them, especially my dad, after everything he sacrificed for me.
I’m happy with my life, but there’s always space to grow, right? I want to be earning at least $2,000/month. Like I said, I’m optimistic, and I know it’s something I can achieve in the future. I also really want to teach others how to write the same way writing was taught to me. It hurts me that there are so many Nigerians walking around aimlessly, just like I once did, who have no idea they can earn big. But I believe anyone with enough dedication can make what I’m making and more. I’ve already trained over 1,000 people, and a few are earning in dollars as well.
But the future is still a distance away, and I don’t have to think about it right now. I’m still fairly new to making millions, and I think, for some time, I’m going to bask in my newfound success before jumping into the next thing.
One thing I know for certain is that, whatever my next goal is, I wouldn’t have to borrow to make it happen.
