Becoming a Force for Change: The Cowrywise Ambassadors Community.

The first time I heard of Cowrywise was on my birthday, 24th of March, 2020. Two years down the line, I am a Cowrywise Campus Ambassador.  My name is Angel Alphonsus. I am a student of the University of Lagos, allow me walk you through my journey. 🥳

How it started.

On my birthday, I received a lot of monetary gifts from family and friends. My elder sister told me about Cowrywise and mentioned that I could use the app to save and invest my birthday money. Prior to that time, I had never really been a ‘savings’ person – I just didn’t see the need, but then I downloaded the app and saved because my sister suggested the app. Soon, the baby step I took that day became a habit.

This was when I realised saving a percentage of my money gave me a sense of maturity and responsibility which I wholeheartedly embraced. I loved the feeling of having a plan B when life hits hard. I did not even know when I started telling the few people in my circle about Cowrywise.

A Rainbow of Emotions. 💙

More than a year later, on the 4th of November, 2021, a broadcast message about applying for the Cowrywise Campus Ambassadors program was sent to my school’s WhatsApp departmental group. This sparked a rainbow of emotions in me because the fact that an ambassadors program existed was really exciting. However, I didn’t really understand its full concept so I asked around and realised that my friend’s elder sister was and still is a Cowrywise Campus Ambassador. Fortunately, a good number of the questions in my head were answered and then I applied.

Remember the ‘rainbow of emotions’ thing? Well, I actually never recovered from that. Trust me, unrequited love affair is not for the weak. 😩 I thought of Cowrywise everyday, no jokes. I checked my mail more than once everyday for about 30 days, hoping I’d get a “Congratulations Angel, I’ve been thinking about you too. Welcome to the ambassadors program” mail from my beloved maybe-not-so-aware partner – Cowrywise. Oh I prayed too, occasionally double checked to be sure I filled the correct details in my application. I mean who wouldn’t? It is a big deal to be a campus ambassador for the best FinTech company in Nigeria.

The Long Awaited Response. 😱

On the 4th of December, 2021 I received my “Congratulations Angel, I’ve been thinking about you too. Welcome to the ambassadors’ program. Join us on Slack”. I was overjoyed. 

Joining the Slack Community was an entirely different ball game. I had very little knowledge on how to navigate the app, but kudos to Michael from Cowrywise. The tutorial videos and regular reminders he sent on “how to and how not to” became a part of me in no time.

Networking with other ambassadors. 👥

I joined the Lagos State community on Slack, a separate channel designed for all the student ambassadors in Lagos. I also joined my university channel, University of Lagos, where I met my team lead, his deputy, the other executives and my fellow UNILAG Ambassadors. Things got pretty exciting when we had our first physical meeting/hangout. I met the rest of the family, got to hear the real deal about our role as ambassadors and our plan as UNILAG ambassadors. We shared ideas, brainstormed together, took pictures and got to work.

One of the things I’ve learned from the Cowrywise Ambassador Program is Teamwork. Not a lot of people have it in them to identify a problem and proffer solutions, give feedback, share ideas and make it a responsibility to be active and responsive, but thankfully, being a part of this community has made it my culture.

Meetings after meetings, there was a call to join a couple of teams in the community and I applied for one of them. Fortunately, it was another “congratulations” for me, I was selected. We had an introductory meeting and training session specially designed for our newly assigned positions. Questions were asked, answers were given, notes were written and there it began. 🤝

Ambassadors spotlight. 💡

I genuinely love how learning never stops in the campus ambassadors community. February was a month of Branding for the Cowrywise campus ambassadors. We had a couple of online sessions on branding and were given lessons by a knowledgeable ambassadors who volunteered to educate the community. I was one of the facilitators which unexpectedly resulted in Cowrywise Ambassadors of the week spotlight alongside Tolulope Oyejinmi. I didn’t see that coming and I was delighted, to say the least. It felt good to be a part of something bigger than me, to be a force for change.

Putting faces to the names. 👨‍🏫

After this, we had a physical hangout at the Cowrywise HQ to round up the month of February. It was a wonderful experience. I was able to put faces to the names I had been interacting with on Slack for such a long time. We played games, networked with one another and also learnt more on the topic of the month. I wrote all about it here. 

This is March: I’ve been a Cowrywise Campus Ambassador for just 3 months and I’ve acquired so much knowledge; knowledge that’s valuable in the real world, educationally, personally and financially. I’m looking forward to a whole lot more from this community, and a whole lot more I shall get. 

And how did all this start? It all started with the simple advice from my sister to download the Cowrywise app. What are you waiting for? 🤷🏽‍♀️

To become a Cowrywise campus ambassador and join the community of moneywise students across the nation, click here.

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