No matter how much academic life stressed you, the issues of life will even stress you more!
Well, let me share with you these few lessons I wish I had known back in the day. It may still be useful to someone out here.
ON CAMPUS RELATIONSHIPS
Dating on campus was really a thing people would do anything for. Some didn’t even care if their grades somersaulted just to be a pair.
However, I wish I knew that the batteries of most Chinese phones lasted longer than most of these campus romances. The reality of national service hardship sets in and you’re forgotten. Call it selective amnesia! Haha.
PREMATURE WIFEHOOD
I used to observe some young women busily “wifing” when their supposed spouses were busily studying or doing something profitable to add value to their lives. We walk down the aisle. We don’t run down it!
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If I were a lady, I wish I would have paid more attention to my books than playing the role of a “premature wife” to another student who has no idea of what dowry even is! Time spent in washing his clothes could have been used in learning a skill or two. Someone needs to be reminded a girlfriend was not a wife!
VOLUNTEERISM OVER SERIES
I wish I had spent my vacation doing more voluntary work than just staying home idle watching soaps and series. I wish I had spent more time gaining experience rendering a service, even if I wouldn’t be paid, than doling out all my time following trends and arguments on social media.
I had not the slightest idea that volunteerism was another name given to skill development! If you want to earn another skill and upgrade those you already have for free, be ready to give yours too freely.
BRIGHT SKILL NOT BRIGHT SKIN
A skilled skin is an investment. A bright skin yet so unskilled is what a package of liability looks like. As a woman, I would have invested more into my skills than my skin. If your skin is all you have to offer, all you may get may be just “one-night” offers. A bright skin doesn’t necessarily mean a bright future.
NO HEADLINE READING
I wish I had read more books and not just their titles or covers. I wish I had read more newspapers and not just their headlines. The best travel experience is to read.
MIND POWER
As a young man, I wish I had developed my mind power… not just manpower. I wish I had invested more into my mind than into my muscles. I wish someone had hinted me than mind power always ruled over manpower!
ON CVs
If I could drive into my past, I would have made a conscious effort to write and update my CV/resume even better. CV writing is not rocket science but to many graduates that’s just what it is! A graduate who can’t write a CV? Did you graduate from a university in Pluto!?
PASSION FIRST
I wish I found my passion and pursued it with all my heart. Passion is about following your heart… not stomach. I wish I had not given excuses as to why I could not chase some dreams. Life is never going to get any less busier; the earlier… the better.
NETWORKING
I wish I knew that my roommates then were going to be the “big shots” of today. I should not have quarreled with them over gari. We shouldn’t have been at loggerheads because of kenkey, for instance. I could have treated them better! Indeed, if we knew the future of others better, we would have treated their present with more respect.
LIFE’S EXAMS
And… I wish I knew that not everything that was taught in the lecture hall was meant to be applied in real life. I should have paid as much attention to passing school exams to passing life’s exams.
Congratulations graduates!!!
The writer is a playwright and Chief Scribe of Scribe Communications (www.scribecommltd.com), a writing company based in Accra. His upcoming play is TRIBELESS. Get interactive with him on his Facebook page, Kobina Ansah.
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