Some day, everyone will reach the point where they wish they knew then, what they know now.
There is always a time for naivety. No one can get ahead without taking action.
There is grace. There is fate.
But they all follow the action.
There was a guy back in school, he was admitted to read Medicine and Surgery in the University. He aced Joint Matriculation Board Examination(Jamb) and Post Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination(Post UTME).
He struggled through his first year in school
In his second year, he was mostly seen around the football pitch, carrying side flags. He never played, he loved watching and cheering.
People said he was going insane because in his third year he had added many carryovers(negative courses) to his name.
That year he dropped out but still hung around the school. He had become the centre referee for every football competition on campus.
He was nicknamed Howard Webb.
One day the Chapter Chairman of the Referee Association came to do a kick-off for a particular match which the guy officiated.
He took interest in the near-professional style of officiating displayed by him.
At this point his supposed lack of headway had caused his parents to worry less about him. His stipends had reduced drastically and became less frequent.
He struggled with the little he got from officiating matches, but he never stopped practice at the pitch.
The man got to sponsor him for professional training in one of the Cities.
When he got back, he got employed to officiate in local leagues, and then he took another course, applied to practise in London, and off he went.
He had taken action, he had understood that he may have failed to study medicine, he still had the chance to change his story by staying consistent at what he does best and loves.
I write this for those who go into school with the sole aim of only focusing on their courses of study; and banking on it for the future, while ignoring other endeavours that could shoot them into the skies.
There is schooling and there is education.
Don't leave school after being schooled with only the terms, definitions and ideologies they pass down from Socrates, Shakespeare, Karl Marx, and Engels.
Some of these terms, considering our current state of affairs may not suffice for some people.
We are all built differently.
While in school, get engaged in activities that will build you, you may not see the usefulness until later, build relationships, and build beneficial ones.
Attend Educational Conferences.
Gain Soft skills.
Join politics if you can, contribute your quota by upholding the rule of law and proffering solutions to existing practices.
If you do sports, join the school team, you learn patriotism from there.
Join a Literary or Social club.
The Rotary Club and Red cross are there.
Join volunteer groups, there is no shortage of them.
Acquire and practise emotional intelligence.
In these things, you will find life more meaningful.
You can never tell what you will gain from these explorations.
Join a reading group or a tutorial group.
Volunteer to help junior colleagues.
Have a sense of community.
Don't just be the one to lie in your home or anywhere, whining about how bad the government is and how a lecturer failed you.
The world had long moved from the theory and analogue way of doing things if you didn't notice.
That guy didn't slip into depression, he didn't mind what people said, today he earns more than medicine would have paid him.
Attach value to your education, don't waste away while trying to find your way around life.
Think of yourself as a gun, you are the bullet, the barrel is your schooling, while your education is the trigger.
You can be schooled but not educated.
The Almighty has put everything you need in you, all you need is to take action.
In all the things you do, no matter how hard, be consistent, it gets tasking here too, but we push still.
Find something you have passion for and get engaged with it and watch how you will excel in life.
Meanwhile, take a look at the picture, are you ready to take action?
Consistency is a life-changing word, handle with care.
