Due to her aunt’s influence, Ghanaian personality Diana Hamilton has opened up about how her dream of becoming an architect unexpectedly turned into a nursing career.
The gospel musician revealed that growing up, she had a strong passion for creativity, which led her to believe she would become an architect.
“At a point in time, I thought I would be an architect because I was very good at technical drawing. I think that informed my creativity. Nursing was never part of the dream.”
Diana Hamilton
However, after completing her secondary education at Ghana National College, her plans took a surprising turn.
“I had finished Ghana National College and was deciding whether to go to KNUST. A lady walked up to my father and said, ‘Let Diana go and do nursing.’ My father agreed, and surprisingly, I didn’t object.”
Diana Hamilton
Reflecting further, Diana highlighted that the seed of nursing had unknowingly been planted much earlier, during her time in Junior Secondary School, when her mother’s sister, a nurse battling terminal breast cancer, came to live with their family.
“While I was in Junior Secondary School, my mother’s sister came to live with us. She was a nurse, and everything I admired. She was battling breast cancer and was dying, but she taught me how to care for her. She showed me how to give injections, dress her wounds, make her bed, she taught me everything about nursing, long before I ever considered it as a career.”
Diana Hamilton
This deeply personal experience became the foundation of her response during her nursing school interview at Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital.
“They asked me why I wanted to be a nurse. I said my aunt had just passed from breast cancer. She was a beautiful woman who loved fashion, but also knew how to switch roles and be a professional nurse. I wanted to be like her.”
Diana Hamilton
That pivotal moment marked the beginning of a journey that led her to become a registered nurse, eventually practicing in the United Kingdom.
When asked why she didn’t continue nursing in Ghana, Diana explained that the majority of her music opportunities were coming from the UK, making travel back and forth exhausting. “I did my rotation at Korle Bu for about 2 years. Within that time, I was in and out of London,” she noted.
Diana Hamilton Not Doing Music Professionally
The Ghanaian gospel musician shared a candid insight into her relationship with music, revealing why she does not consider herself a professional musician, despite her widespread success.
Mrs Hamilton explained that, unlike many artists who define their career solely by music, she views her musical path differently.
“I struggle to say I am doing music professionally because I am not. That is why I would always go back to nursing. I never said this is the right time. Anywhere I saw the microphone, and I was given a chance, I picked it.”
Diana Hamilton
Diana recalled how her passion for music began early in life.
“I remember in church, at 13, I took the microphone to sing because it was my birthday and my teacher had taught me a song, and I sang it. But even prior to that, whenever they gave me a long list to recite something, I would turn it into a song.”
Diana Hamilton
For Diana, music has been more of a calling and opportunity than a traditional career pursuit. Even as she rose to fame with hit songs and awards, nursing has remained a significant part of her identity.
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