SURVIVING AGAINST THE TIDE
Have you ever stopped to ponder why all the hard years spent in the University usually seems to be a waste of time and resources in the end? The other day, I was going through my phone when I stumbled upon a post made by a friend of mine named Alexander who happens to be a tailor. He wrote, ‘I went from “I want to be a Lawyer to buy your fabrics and sew with Lexhansfineries”’. Yes, he spent 5 years in the University studying Law; this is excluding the 1-year compulsory Law School. Another friend of mine, Michael, a graduate of Banking and Finance who is currently looking for a job applies for every single job role he discovers irrespective of the academic field required. When asked why, he said, ‘It doesn’t really matter, I’ll definitely learn on the job’
Undeniably, this is exactly where we find ourselves in Nigeria today. After four to five solid years in the university and one year of ‘service to our fatherland’ termed National Youth Service, the professional compass is reset with one question weighing in our minds – what next? In the end many will regret the years spent in school, not because they never attended lectures or they didn’t do well in their exams, but simply because their thoughts were confined around classroom knowledge. Our educational system today indirectly discourages knowledge outside the school curriculum, a system where your gifts and talent remain dormant for the period spent in school. A system where your intelligence is rated by the number of As you make, and yet the real world says otherwise.
My candid advice to all, including those gifted with As and those blessed with Fs, is to be deliberate and start thinking outside the box of a classroom. Be practical about life, be creative, be innovative, read articles and books, form a dance/music crew, engage in politics, start a forum. You may not have been the best student, but you can change all that. Even when you land yourself a job, continue to work on yourself. The company you work for is not your inheritance and you might one day go to work only to find that your appointment has been terminated. This, unfortunately, was experienced by many during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dare life, question systems, observe your answer, work on it. You do not have to nod to everything. Argue, try new things. That way you either gain a new knowledge or part with a lesson. It’s alright to try and fail, as long as you learn from your mistakes and make it better. The potential to be great is not restricted to a few. Just like everyone, it’s in you!
16 Responses
Fortunately, i was never confined to the four walls of the classroom. Even before i got admitted into the university, i had been versatile and always thought outside the box. Alot of scholars need more of this during orientation most especially from parents.
May God help us all.
That is great to hear Chuks. All the best
Surely…. only a working compass can drive one home even when the four cardinal points meet on his head. That it is though for anyone falls back to executed plans… actualized dreams… realized imagination and cordinated fantasy….it takes more than a wish to succeed and more than news of failure to actually fail.
I just laughed wen I read this …. Itz really funny and messed up our educational system is itz a pity but wat can me do 😩 May God help us in this country
The prayer we have in mind whenever we go to bed – “May God help us in this country.”
😂
All I could do was laugh and agree.
Lol Darkseid. We’re glad you did so.
Amazing! It cannot be over emphasized.
Thank you Maama
Couldn’t agree more
The problem with our education system is that:
1. We chose the traditionalist mode of education, still parading the colonialist method of placing subject into the objects (student) head.
1. We were not really taught how to profit with our course of study which usually is an underlying thought of everyone who’s instinct reads “survival first”
Can’t agree less Adesina
Awesome. That’s the truth.
This post and the thoughts it conveys is very relevant….
It appears that our eyes are opened to this reality after we’re done with school and all such things that kept us ‘busy’ in our blooming years.
When we realize that the educational system we have now doesn’t even have a lock it fits talk more of being the key to any door.
We cram, cram, cram, then get As, looking down on the others who don’t as dummies. These ones kwanu ‘waste’ time and talents trying to meet up to expectaions when they could be using these years to develop that which they actually have.
My suggestion, a movement for a reform of the educational system. This by force cramming should stop and it behoves also on the youths who would have kids tomorrow to greatly encourage and if possible reward them as they explore the real world as much as they want to the educational world.
We’ll be glad we did.
You have concluded it all. Thank you Korie.
Thank you Maryrose