Here's why you shouldn't drop out of school.
For a while now, I've been a source of counsel to girls younger than me. I don't think I'm the best person to give anyone advice and I try my best to never seem like a saint. As a matter of fact, it's for the fact that I'm not a saint that I think they listen to me and it gets scary.
I've made a lot of bad decisions in my young life. I think about all the wrong moves I made last year and even the few I've made this year and I know I'm the last person anyone should listen to but it just is what it is.
I find myself in the midst of these girls and they make statements, and look up to me for my approval of their statements. Recently, the questions they've had have been about the relevance of an education due to the horrible situation in our country.
To be honest, the answer to this question varies based on where you find yourself. Nigeria isn't the place to chase random dreams because you will starve. If your dreams don't align with what currently works, you may never make it.
It's for this reason that kids force themselves into courses that they have no passion for. The medical field, engineering, law and recently computer science. There's no opportunity for anything else and even the opportunities for some of these fields are abused and non-existent.
Do what works, not what you want
Recently, one of these girls who has been trying got get into the university for almost 3 years told me she wanted to learn a skill. I asked her what and she said hairdressing. I thought it was a great skill. She's good at it but she's smart and being smart in this county is rare, so she can do better than that.
She's here on Hive, struggling, but she's here. So, I advised her to learn a computer skill instead. She understands the basics of using a computer so with some relevant training, she can become better and that would be a much better start for her.
I explained to her how the world works right now and how sad it is that she has been trying for so long to get into the university and eventually when she does and she graduates, she has nothing to look forward to.
She's not the typical girl, so she understood this. She wasn't going to question my logic because I know, like me, she doesn't want to live the kind of life our society subjects us to.
The best option available for people like us is a job in the civil service that would just end up being a waste of our talents. She agreed to take the computer course until she gets into a university, whenever universities call off their strike.
Here's why university education is relevant
The relevance of a university has more to do with the university itself than the education. A few days ago, a former coursemate made a statement and asked me if I remembered what course we learnt that and I couldn't remember shit.
However, what I do remember is the day I wrote a test with a hangover and scored a 17 over 20. I remember walking on a lonely road at 2 am with my friends because we decided to leave the club early and other similar events.
Yeah, not everyone has the casual wild side I have but those, to me, are what make a university relevant. Living life on the edge and understanding irresponsibility so you can know when to adult up and be responsible.
The other relevance of university education is immigration. If you keep your head straight, bribe the lecturers that need to be bribed, and graduate with really good grades, you stand the chance of applying and gaining one of these scholarships that get you out of the country.
That's one of the only reasons there is to take school seriously in my opinion. Asides from those, you can live a good healthy life with the right skills that have absolutely nothing to do with your field of study.
Some of the wealthiest people I know right now studied the dumbest of courses but they got into tech early enough and now they're richer than the people I know who graduated with the best grades.
It's all about money
Let's be honest, here in Nigeria, it's either you have money or you suffer. It's all about money and has very little to do with self-fulfilment. People who decided to become doctors did it because that was known as the best course that could lead you to wealth in Nigeria.
Our health sector is shit and recently, the medical profession isn't worth shit anymore too. Doctors are paid peanuts and forced to work in abysmal situations; jeopardizing their health and the health of every person who comes to receive care.
If you're told any other story, you were lied to. It's all about money so do what brings money as long as your head can carry the information and handle your passion when you're financially free or at least when you get to properly immigrate. We don't have the luxury of passion and dreams anymore, especially not in these parts.
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