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What you studied in the University doesn't matter. What matters is the question, "why?"

Posted by: Benjamin Onuorah

I went to the University to read Igbo. My "why" was because that's my passion and I have been writing Igbo stories since primary school. Igbo studies align with my goals that's why I didn't listen to family or friends who tried to discourage me back then. I even went ahead to train myself in school so that nobody would have certain power over me in terms of career goals. I knew what I wanted. I followed passion and not money.
The question of "why" should come before you begin your application.

Why should I study this course? How does it align with my goals? What plans do I have for myself? What do I have interest in? How can this course help bring out my interest and nurture it?
If you apply for course A and JAMB gives you course B, I don't advise you to go ahead. Don't just go to school for going sake, that's where some people begin to have problem. Studying what they don't like, grudgingly because they don't want to stay at home. You are wasting your time. Use that opportunity to learn skills that align with your passion. Then, apply again until you get what you want. Don't waste your time studying what you don't like.
Also, if your reason for studying any course is because you know some people are making money after studying it, I see that as a weak why.

It should be: what do I want?
This is why I laugh at those who mock people for studying certain courses they assume are poor.
The truth is, everyone must not be an engineer, doctor, lawyer, nurse, scientist and so on. Those courses you look down on are created for a reason and those who find purpose in them are happy and fulfilled.

Folks are making it big in other areas people look down because they understood the theory of why.
It's because of "why" that some people prefer technical school than normal school. It's because of "why" that some prefer apprenticeship system and learning skills. While their counterparts are looking for job after school, they are already employed because they have technical skills, solving immediate problems.

Carpenters, truck drivers, plumbers, car mechanics, farmers, barbers, hair stylists are killing it abroad. It's only in Bongo we look down on skills and jobs. These people make more than many people in offices. And they don't even need to have all the university education for it.

This is why I argue that school doesn't give money. While some courses could give you employment opportunities and high income, I agree, but you still have to prove your capability. So, it's still not about the course but you.
If money is your only reason for acquiring education, then you need to revisit your why.

Of course, education opens an opportunity. But no matter what you study in school, you still need to prove yourself through the skills you have. That's why there are interviews and hiring processes.

If it's by money, there are men who import and export containers of goods. They learned the trade through apprenticeship and not university. They control billions of naira and employ graduates. Such money making technique was learned through practice and experience and not any school.
What am I saying?

The course you study should be more in alignment with the skills or goals you already have or your dream and not because someone else was successful with it. That's the easiest way to have a burnout.

A man came to the U.S and began to study nursing because he heard nurses are making it. But what he never asked himself was whether his head could carry it. A few moments into his study, he dropped out. He couldn't continue. You wonder why some doctors in Bongo would forget items in someone's belly after surgery. Some sorted their ways up. Why? They want to do what they aren't passionate about.

I still believe in passion. Align with your passion first. Establish with it. Other things could be added unto it.
Finding your own life's purpose is more important and rewarding than trying to do what others are doing.

Before I forget, school can never be a scam. You had a wrong understanding of what education means. You see education as money making venture. Unfortunately, whether you make money or not depends on you, and not education itself. Some go to school for a wrong reason.

One of our problems as a people is survival mentality. Sometimes, it's a blessing, and sometimes, a curse. The reason some even see the money and realize they are empty. Their souls are empty. The feeling of unseen. Unachieved. Unfulfilled.

I Paused!

By: Maazi Ogbonnaya Okoro II

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