School Leaver, Congratulations: What Next?

I was in church on Sunday when my pastors decided to pray for the children who were being promoted to the next class and for the secondary school students who had completed their SSCE and were moving on to tertiary institutions. As he prayed for them, he advised them to behave well because, as we all know, it’s the time they would raise their shoulders high and think they have arrived, but the journey continues. Learning never stops.

There was a day I saw some secondary school graduates who celebrated by putting on white tops, and other students were signing them out. I looked at them, but I didn’t see anything right about such things because I suppose it’s only until they graduate from the university, but it has become a common thing even in some secondary schools today.

These ones would, no doubt, further their studies into higher institutions, while some might even pause furthering for now to look for jobs to help themselves due to the circumstances surrounding it. Life doesn't end there until the peak of it.

I remember when I was studying my NCE at a college of education years ago, there was this woman whose shop was close to my hostel, and every time she would be working on her beads, and many times she would call me to come and learn, but I would refuse. Only if I were told that life wouldn’t be the same as it was many years ago, when we were promised instant jobs immediately after we were done with school. I had thought that once I was done, it would be easier for me to get a job and so I don’t need a skill. I was deceiving myself.

After many years, I still regret not learning that skill because I have imagined how such would have helped me even here on Hive. There are times when I read posts of people making beads, I envy them and wish I had taken it seriously then.

What is my advice to those leaving school? Learn a skill! Seriously, with the way things are going, certificates alone cannot help us survive, but with skills learned, one can survive. Time waits for no one, and it keeps ticking, and before we know it, time has gone. If only I had taken out time then to sit with her, even when she was offering to teach me for free, it could have helped me today, but I only depended on my certificate.

Having a skill or as many as you can will help an individual sail through. Thank God I have something better helping me today, which is writing and teaching. Don’t try relying on your certificate or even think you have a relative somewhere who’d help you secure a good job - sometimes, it doesn’t always work that way because, as we all know, humans change minds, and if you can’t prove yourself with the skill you have, you might lose out on opportunities.

Life is all about being prepared ahead of whatever will come next. Have we heard of the quote that when preparation meets opportunity, luck happens? In another sense, not only luck but by God’s grace and in most cases, when the grace of God comes and you aren’t prepared or know a particular thing, you miss such an opportunity until another comes next time. This means what you fail to learn when there was time would be something you’d struggle with later, but this time in a harder way.

It’s always good when an opportunity meets you in readiness, and by this, you won’t have to wait for another time to get it, but it will be yours instantly. Learning a skill now comes in handy with our certificate, and don’t forget the most important thing: pray. Prayer is the key, and answers are gotten in the place of prayer. Without the wisdom of God, you cannot achieve anything.

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