Life on A Trajectory; Passing through school got me this far.

I know from experience that whenever there is a conversation about school experience, it's either going to be some fond schooling memories or some memories we wouldn't want to experience again. In today's discussion, we will be edging towards the fairly inspiring side of the duo.

Is there something you enjoyed as a Student? It has to be something you wouldn't have gotten if you weren't a student.

That's what we have to talk about and I see this as a very easy ask. I had a similar discussion with someone a few days ago and the major talking point that led us to the discussion is the current overused statement; "School Is Scam". Tell me this isn't your first time hearing that.

In all honesty, it isn't hard to see why something like this would be up for discussion. The reasons are very clear and one of the obvious ones in my part of the world is the fact that many graduates are said to be 'unemployable' by employers. Only goodness knows what they mean by that. Meanwhile, those who tick the box and are capable of getting employed end up being underemployed or unemployed in most cases.

I won't dwell too much on this, but I'm sure there are so many things that make school unenticing to folks. Some even see it as a waste of time, money and other resources. However, in the midst of all these, I'm glad I went through school and I'm glad I have a Bachelor of Science certificate although I'm not using that Cert for anything.

Now, this begs the question;

What's the thing I got as a student which I wouldn't have learned if I didn't go to school?

• The ability to Read.

• The ability to Write.

• A Good knowledge of English Language.

Nigeria is quite sophisticated to the point that all academic activities we do in school, starting from kindergarten level to the highest academic status you can think of, are done in a foreign language. I started learning the English alphabet on my first day as a student and it somehow became something I saw as a trivial exercise after spending almost 20 years of my life as a student in the academic setting.

I know how to speak good English. I can articulate my thoughts and pen them down in English and I can comprehend texts written in English. I assumed this was something everyone was capable of doing. So, I never saw it as a valuable skill until I started travelling all over the country. During each of my travel experiences, I met so many people whose native languages are incomprehensible to me.

English was the only common conversational ground that could exist with such people and a lot of them found it hard to hold conversations in English. The language barrier had a huge impact when I worked in the marketing unit of a Commercial Bank in the northern part of the Country. You can only imagine how relieved I felt whenever I had to deal with a customer who knew how to hold conversations in English language.

The best part of my knowledge of the English language is visible in my day-to-day activity as a Content Creator. I wouldn't have even considered getting into this space if I didn't have a fairly decent knowledge of the usage of English. Now, I can earn by writing, reading and interacting with folks in English.

Would I have been able to learn these if I didn't go through school?

Nah! I grew up in Anambra State where almost everyone speaks Igbo, the native language of Anambrarians. All the friends I had while growing up spoke our native language and the same was applicable in my home. We speak our native language at home and there are so many benefits to that.

This means that the only time I ever got to speak English was in school environment. Even in school environment, many of us had to be fined for speaking Igbo before we decided to start making attempts to speak English. Up to this very moment, whenever I travel to the East, I usually bid farewell to English because most of my conversations there are in my native language.

So, I'm very sure that if I didn't pass through school, it would have been really hard for me to be living the life I'm living now which involves a great understanding of English language. I mean, look at the conversation we all have when interacting here. We certainly do what we do without being worried of language barrier because we have a fairly decent understanding of English Language.

Thanks For Not Missing Any Full-stop Or Comma.
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