I got a call from my friend who’s in a direct entry programme into the university a few weeks ago. She was troubled about what decision to make concerning her career. She got admission into the direct entry program to study English Education but she said she really wanted to study Law. I didn’t think there was a problem with this and I told her that though English Education was not a bad course, there was no problem switching to Law as far as she had the needed points for it.
That was when she said that it was more difficult than that. Her passion was Law but her Mom and Uncle forbade her to go for Law as a career. According to them, Law in Nigeria is a terrible course and she’d be jobless once she graduated. By the way, said Uncle has his son currently studying Law. Anyway, we are not going into that.
After listening to everything she said, I told her that while it was important as per African culture to get your parents’ blessings when you’re going to do something, she would also suffer a lot if she studied a course she had zero passion for her. I heard someone say something like you won’t ever find your job stressful or exhausting if you loved it. Even if you get tired, it’s the happy kind of tired where while you recharge, you’re already planning on how you'll go about it the next day.
I didn’t want to condemn her guardians for forcing her into a course she hated, so I advised her to study for her final direct entry exams like she was vying for an admission into Law and try to make her mother see reason if she could. I made her see that she could be whatever she wanted to be as far as she poured her heart into it and she promised to do just that. We talked some more and then ended the conversation.
The truth is that and I said same in one of my recent #threads just how I felt about my course of study. Currently, in my country, the number of people that are working in the field they studied in the University is so few. We have those who spent nearly ten years in Medical school become disc jockeys and resort to all sorts of jobs to make a livelihood. I keep this in mind even as I study that there are chances that even though this has always been my passion, that may not be where I make money from.
But I’ll do it anyway. I’ve always wanted to have that degree and it would give me joy to see that dream come to fruition at the end of the day. But what everyone is advised to do, especially in this period of national confusion, is to acquire skills while you work on your career path because you don’t know which of them will become your breadmaker.
Because I’ve been set on this course since I was little, I’ve not looked at any other career path even though I know ones that would make me more money. But that doesn’t stop me from getting skills that are also in line with the other things I enjoy. My Mom loves sewing. She has her other profession but she decided to learn this one so she’d be able to make clothes for her daughters. And she keeps encouraging us to learn too.
My elder sister and one of my younger sisters are keen on it but I tried once and knew that it wasn’t for me. I felt no spark. Skills like writing, trading and the like got to me instead. And while I’ve not perfected any of these skills, I love them so I’m working to be better at them. That’s how I feel careers should be. Because a career is whatever you make it to be. Whatever you build and can earn from becomes your career, no matter what you studied.
What do you feel about your career situation? Are you where you want to be? Do you have any skill you’re working towards? I’d love to know all about it.
Jhymi🖤
An entry to today’s prompt on Career Choices courtesy of #inleo.
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