University na high jump
Why you should leave uni with more than a B.sc
Written by Oluwagbemisola Ogunleye
There are two types of freshers who enter higher institutions: the ones who are tired of the degree before they even resume and the ones who believe that they are a chosen a‘if nobody makes that first-class, me I will’.
Did that resurrect old memories? Aspiring scholar, what is your CGPA now? Or are you still a chosen as you read this? This thing is not fight, we're getting somewhere. While we admire your courage to dream big and we can't deny that a first-class is a good thing (who no like better thing?), at the back of your mind, you know that this is Nigeria and ‘only one student will have an A in this course’ lecturers are waiting for you at every turn. First class might as well be the lost city of Atlantis.
The average student spends at least four years in university. If you are in a government-owned university, your four can readily turn to six.
*laughs in ASUU strike
We've not factored in the O.Gs doing five—or six-year courses, the medical students, or those pursuing their second degree. Good grades are good, but are you going to spend a quarter of your life chasing grades in a system that can't guarantee you results proportional to the amount of effort you put in?
If you give birth to a child now, by the time you finish your degree, the child will be in nursery two. The economy these days is making ‘Alhaji's small wife with a six-year-old toddler’ look more lucrative than ‘B.sc native medicine’.
The downside to staying in school too long is that too many people will have graduated before you, not enough people will have retired and by the time you enter the unstable labor market, there's a high probability that your degree is no longer in demand.
Before you know it, you're 24, no girlfriend, no skills aside from professional garri soaking and no friends but that one friend you managed to make because he was sleeping in the bunk above yours. In the end, you now realize that the only thing you have to show for the six years you spent in the trenches is ‘B.sc something-something’
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Here are three things you can do to ensure that you do not leave school with only a B.sc to your name;
Upskill!: Have you ever considered that maybe your generational wealth is not in environmental science? Have you tried tech or fixing lashes? The smartest thing you can do for yourself as a student is to recognise in-demand skills and acquire them as e dey hot. Take online courses when you can; a Coursera diploma and a decent portfolio will take you a long way. Small data science here, small product design there – before you know it, you're earning enough to feed a small family on a monthly basis. No knowledge gained is lost.
Extra-curriculars: You never know that you're good at a thing if you've never tried to do it before. Whether or not it relates to your chosen field of study, do extracurriculars as much as you can; educational hobbies, sports, taking administrative positions or simply just volunteering. Attend seminars and workshops when you can. Every Olympic gold medalist was once fighting for their life in an empty swimming pool, somewhere. You never know if your money is in swimming if you've not tried drowning first.
Meet people: That one finalist who answered ‘my friends’ to the question ‘What was the most valuable thing school gave you’ was onto something. In every city, a tertiary institution is the one place to go if you're looking for a hub for young adults. Especially those that are ‘young and gettin’ it’. Most people make friends that go on to become their friends for life when they are in university. Your friends right now become your children's connections in future. Expand your network of valuable people as much as you can.
Keep an open mind: Be willing to explore and to find new things to try out. Opportunities only come to those who are willing to use them.
With these few points of ours, we hope we have been able to confuse and not convince you that you should allow yourself to be ‘a chosen’ outside your chosen field of study. Don't be a hoarder, like, share, print flyers and share the gospel or buy a ‘university na high jump’ shirt so that everybody will ask you what you mean and then you can send them this newsletter.
As always, TFS dey for you. 🧡
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This is huge