Tolulope Ajifowobaje has faced a lot of challenges in her quest to be an Ohio attorney. Her most recent obstacle was the July bar exam.

Tolulope Ajifowobaje has faced a lot of challenges in her quest to be an Ohio attorney. Her most recent obstacle was the July bar exam.

Becoming an attorney requires focus and perseverance. There are numerous obstacles a person must clear from before law school to the bar exam. Tolulope Ajifowobaje knows that difficult reality.

“There are so many times I thought I wasn’t going to make it. I was lucky to have people encouraging me along the way,” said Ajifowoboje, who sat for the July Ohio bar examination.

When the Nigerian immigrant and her family moved to the U.S. in 2019, she had already been a practicing attorney in her native country for a decade. She and her husband, Abiodun, emigrated so their two young children could have more educational and career opportunities. On the flight to the U.S., Abiodun became seriously ill. He was rushed to the hospital where he was diagnosed with cancer. Two weeks later, he passed away.

“It was devastating. The struggle was even more emotional because of how quickly our plan fell apart. My husband was supposed to work as an engineer in Maryland while I went to law school there and took care of the children,” said Ajifowobaje.

Instead, she went to Cleveland to stay with a relative, allowing her to mourn and figure out a new plan. Ajifowobaje’s goal was to complete law school as soon as possible. Nearby, the University of Akron School of Law offered an accelerated two-year program for international students and lawyers with a foreign law degree. After a lengthy process of getting settled on her own, from housing to enrolling her children in school, she started school full-time in the fall of 2021.

As Ajifowobaje assimilated to a foreign culture while being solely responsible for two children, she also needed to adapt to a legal system different than the one she studied and practiced in for 15 years.

“I would go to my civil procedure class and not know what they're talking about, even though I was a civil litigation attorney. It didn’t help that I had so much going that I didn't have enough time to keep up with everything. I was operating on three to four hours of sleep a night,” said Ajifowobaje.

The most humbling aspect for her was when it came to legal writing. Her Nigerian law degree had a focus in legislative drafting. At the Akron School of Law, there were times her assignments had the lowest score in her class.

“One of my professors reviewed my work with me. She understood the points I was trying to make, but she said I was presenting it wrong. She told me I was writing like I’m teaching. I had to simplify some of my writing and present my arguments like a student who was learning,” said Ajifowobaje.

After that, she found her footing. She utilized resources for academic and emotional support at the university, landing a summer internship at Sherwin Williams where she worked in different areas, from contracts and internal policy reviews, to employment, litigation, and immigration. She carried that momentum into her final semester when her family suffered another health scare.

In January 2023, she detected a mass on her oldest son’s thigh. It was the beginning of an agonizing three months that included biopsies, surgeries, and nearly a week in the intensive care unit.

“I was a wreck. The cancer diagnoses were negative, but there were complications with the first two surgeries,” said Ajifowobaje. “I was weeks behind in my projects and assignments when he finally started to get better about two weeks before the final exams. But somehow, I made it.”

With all the obstacles, she graduated summa cum laude in May. After receiving her degree, she went back to Nigeria for a couple weeks. The opportunity to relax came with longstanding responsibilities. On top of managing law school and her family in the U.S., she has been handling cases for the Nigerian law firm that she started 10 years ago.

Rejuvenated after spending time with family and friends during that trip, she returned to Ohio to clear that last hurdle to becoming a licensed attorney in the U.S. by taking the bar exam. She and the nearly 1,000 other applicants who took the July bar exam will find out the results in October. Before then, she starts a legal fellowship with Goodyear that will allow her to explore more opportunities to consider as an attorney in the U.S.

Ajifowobaje still can’t believe all she overcame since arriving in the U.S. four years ago. During her most difficult times, she would ask her professors and support system how they could have so much faith in her when she couldn’t sense it herself.

“They would always tell me, ‘We know what you’ve been through, and we know what you can do,” she said.