Why I Lost My Zeal for Straight As

I went from zero to hero in my academics between secondary school and university. From bagging six F9s to being a regularly sound engineering student, I had to do a lot of work for that transformation. At some point, however, I suddenly began to see things a little differently, and, for the first time, my grades were not higher than the previous year in the final semester.

I finally got the hang of studying and getting good grades. I understood just how to study efficiently in a way that worked for me. Many times, I had done it myself and memorised a lot of text, understood formulae deeply, and gained mastery of certain topics. When it hit me that I wasn't going to hit my goal at the end of the programme, no matter the straight As I got older, I began to question why I was even working so hard.

Studying with passion then started becoming harder and less effortless for me. I was losing zeal by the day, but I couldn't let all that I had been building crumble just like that, so I managed to maintain. In the last semester, however, I just couldn't go as strong as I once used to. The nine-month break opened my eyes to the reality of things outside of school.

The first semester was over, but just about when we were supposed to resume for the last semester, the school went on strike. I wasn't happy about it. I was going to finally graduate after being in school for nine semesters for about seven years for a 5-year engineering course. I just wanted to leave at that point, and the strike was the opposite of what I wanted.

During the strike, things plummeted for me. Finances went down the drain, and I thought about surviving daily. I began to realise by the day that that could very well be what I would graduate from the university to deal with. And I had heard that being in school and studying everything you're taught there alone doesn't exactly do so much for you in the real world.

From the mouths of many, "Education is a scam."

I never let that sink into my head. "Surely, all that I have learned so far cannot be for nothing in the real world," I always thought to myself.

What I learned in those nine months before my final semester was that what's really being traded and paid for is value. It's how valuable you can be to someone or a business that would enable you to earn over what you can offer. And just having knowledge and not being able to be practical about it is just as good as not even having it at all.

I stuck with Hive a lot during those nine months; being on Hive opened a completely new window for me to see things through and explore. I understood more about the essence of value. And slowly, I grew uninterested in just memorising, taking school examinations, and repeating the cycle.

When I resumed, I was totally disenchanted by school things. I was the class governor, but I struggled to be fully present with my responsibilities, my final year project, studies, and maintaining my solid results. It was obvious that Olujay wasn't as zealous as he used to be.

So many would wonder how I am not as keen on taking education further as I am now. In all honesty, I love having good grades. I used to thrive on them, but what return would they bring to me if I didn't seek out ways to add value and monetize that in the end? I most certainly do not want to stay in education. I want to create, innovate, and develop.

I am thankful for all the years in school and all the work I put in. They pay off every single day as I somehow manage to solve my own problems and sometimes other people's problems. What I am looking for these days, however, is beyond what's between pages of books...