Ten years of architecture.
Ten years of resilience.
Ten years of being a student at Makerere.
Ladies and gentlemen, meet Yunus Lubega — a true architectural masterpiece.
This week, Yunus finally graduated with a Bachelor of Architecture from Makerere University. For most students, the programme takes five years. For Yunus, it took ten.
Not because he lacked intelligence. Not because he lacked passion.
But because the journey tested him in ways many never see.
Architecture at Makerere is demanding, and one unit in particular became his greatest hurdle: the design portfolio. A tough prerequisite course that shapes the foundation of an architect’s training. Yunus failed it multiple times between Year One and Year Three. At one point, he even missed a crucial presentation.
Each failure meant a delay. Each retake meant watching classmates move ahead while he stayed behind.
That alone would have been enough to break many.
But 2022 brought another setback. Yunus was suspended for six months after being falsely accused in a campus fight he had actually tried to de-escalate. Instead of recognition for calming a situation, he found himself sidelined.
Another pause. Another delay. Another test of patience.
By then, ten years no longer sounded impossible. It sounded inevitable.
Yet he did not quit.
Through student loans and the steady support of his family, he kept going. He showed up again and again. He reworked portfolios. He prepared presentations. He endured the quiet embarrassment of explaining why he was still on campus years after his intake mates had left.
Resilience is not loud. Sometimes it looks like repeating a course for the fourth time. Sometimes it looks like returning after suspension. Sometimes it looks like walking into a lecture hall where everyone is younger than you and choosing to sit down anyway.
Yunus did exactly that.
And now, after a decade of drafts, sleepless nights, critiques, retakes, and setbacks, he walks away not just with a degree, but with a story that speaks to every student who has ever felt stuck.
The Students’ Guild summed it up best in their congratulatory message: thank you for not giving up.
Because this graduation is not just about architecture. It is about endurance. It is about refusing to let failure write the final chapter. It is about staying in the fight long enough to see the finish line.
Ten years later, Yunus Lubega stands as proof that timelines may stretch, but determination can outlast them.
The 10-year architectural masterpiece has finally graduated. And somehow, that makes the structure even stronger.
