LOL. I remember when I was 16 and all I wanted in life was to be a Rapper. I thought I’d be a multi-millionaire before I turned 25 too. I had my life all planned out: send a demo to Kennis Music, get signed to the number one Record Label in Nigeria before I turned 18, become the next Lil Bow Wow, rule Africa like 50cent was ruling the US, and grow to be the most successful rapper from this side of the world.

LOL. Childish dreams. Real life had something else in mind though. Something else.

Anyways, my first reality check came when I scored 193 in JAMB. I was so disappointed in myself I almost lost my mind. Imagine having the overall best WAEC result in your school (8 distinctions and one credit) and then scoring 193 out of 400. I shut myself out and became a recluse. I continued writing songs, but that dream too took a big hit the day I went to a studio in my area and the Producer told me how much a studio session cost. Cutting the long story short, I could not afford it. Coupled with depression and all, I didn’t prepare for the next JAMB I wrote. I scored 183.

That was when my uncle (God will bless him forever) decided I had to leave Lagos. I moved to his house in PH and while preparing for my next JAMB, I wrote my first full story, titled “Undertakers”. No, I have refused to publish it because my writing style wasn’t so great. And because it is the very first novel I ever wrote, I am afraid to change it…sentiments and sturvs. Anyways, I decided I wanted to be a writer. I started “I do Not” and penned synopsis of many other stories. I started seeking publishers, and that was when I experienced reality check 2: finding a publisher in Nigeria was impossible, especially when your book is not educational. Writing became just a hobby.

I finally got into school after my 4th JAMB – UNIPORT Mechanical Engineering. (No I passed the 3rd one, but UNN Post UME said no no no). I was going to be a bad ass Mechanical Engineer. Despite the fact that I had spent 4 years at home, I was determined. I studied hard and when my first semester results came out, the first 3 results I saw were ‘A’s. Man, I was going to graduate with a First Class. Then get a job in Shell. Then become rich. Then marry one of Femi Otedola’s daughters. Then live happily ever after. Then…I saw my fourth result. It was an E. The fifth was a B. The next a C. The next two were Ds and the last was an E.

Okay, maybe I wasn’t going to get a first class, but a second-class upper was achievable.

But I received my 3rd reality check after my year 2 results were released. I had horrible grades including 2 Fs and my CGPA dropped to 2.9. I started praying to God to let me just graduate in 5 years. I hated Engineering and regretted choosing it. I started writing songs again; because it was obvious a career in Engineering wasn’t my calling. But then something happened...

Read the rest here - http://chydee.com/chidi-okereke-27-years-of-grace/