WHAT COURSE SHOULD I STUDY? (PART ONE)

Daddy wants me to be a doctor
Mummy wants me to be a priest
Uncle wants me to be an engineer
Aunty wants me to be a lawyer

I had always wanted to be a doctor, Daddy says
Now I can't achieve it, you have to do so
I need someone to treat your Mum and I anytime we're sick
I'm already bragging at the kindred meeting that I'll produce a doctor

I want to be respected among the women folk, Mummy says
I also want to be buried by the biggest bishops when I die
These cannot happen without you becoming a priest
Hmm! This is getting serious

I want you to work in the biggest engineering firms, says Uncle
You will gain money and respect
You will travel all over the world
You're going to make me proud

You know I'm always troublesome, Aunty starts
I have court cases here and there
I need someone who will fight my cases for me
You're just the right person for this task

Everybody has said what they want me to be
Nobody even asked me what I want to be.


In my final year in medical school, we decided to produce a Year Book. One of the questions each member of the class had to answer on his profile page dealt with the course we would love to study if given an opportunity to start school afresh. Interestingly, more than half of the class, including myself, did not consider Medicine as that course of study. Responses were as varied as they could be, with some veering off completely into the Arts. At final year, we'd "seen it all"; we already had a good idea of what life as medical doctors held for us, and so many were disappointed.
I guess it's also the same with the other "super courses", but to what extent I'm not sure.

The Holy Writ says "Train up a child in the way he should go..."(Proverbs 22:6). In the matter of career choice, there is a way every child should "go". This may not necessarily be the way the parents want it. Every child is unique and should be treated as such. What is good for Mr. Okeke's son may be toxic to Mr. Okafor's son.

In my secondary school days, it was the in thing to assume that the brilliant students in the science classes would end up as doctors and engineers, while the brilliant ones in the Arts classes would become the great lawyers and political scientists of our time. The ones not so much academically endowed would end up studying Education, Theatre Arts, Zoology and the likes. Many years down the line, my orientation has completely changed. I have come to realize that the guiding principles towards career choice should primarily be in line with the child's purpose, passions, talents, interests and skills, and less, if at all, with the "prestige" or "respect" associated with the profession or course of study.

I have heard stories of people who just quit medical school in the middle or towards the end of their training. I even witnessed one. Initially, I could not understand why someone would wake up one morning and just let go of a seemingly lucrative and respectable profession. Now I do. It's better to do something and be happy at it than to do what society thinks you should do but end up unhappy.

A short while ago, I began to think of people who are actively harnessing their talents. Don Moen readily came to my mind: a renowned Gospel musician, pianist and composer. His music is so inspiring and leaves you in no doubt that the songs came directly from heaven. Now, what many do not know is that Don Moen trained as a medical doctor. He, however, chose to follow his dreams. Bukola Saraki, the current Nigerian Senate President, qualified as a medical doctor too; today, he is living his political dreams. A doctor friend of mine Kelvin Alaneme​ had one of his works, Blood on the Soil, shortlisted for the 2015 Etisalat Prize for Literature. He's still in practice. Another friend, Precious Idienumah​ , a lawyer this time around, released an intriguing book just last year, titled "A Sketch of Murder". Dr. Sid Esiri is known as a singer-songwriter than as a medical doctor. The list is endless. These ones have discovered what makes them tick and have decided to work hard at it. Some have succeeded in integrating their passions with their regular career. Others have chosen to drop the course they read in school just to follow their passions, when the two don't seem to be compatible.

...to be continued

...

WHAT COURSE SHOULD I STUDY? (PART TWO)


Education serves to train the mind, I agree. However, I want to make this important point: You must not necessarily practice what you studied in school. I find it appalling, to say the least, when I see young Nigerians struggle to graduate with Second Class Upper degrees from school, only to spend months and years roaming around, looking for jobs. In many cases, when they finally get “jobs”, the monthly take home pay runs below the Federal NYSC “allowee”. Yet, these ones may be good at crafts, cooking, fabric designs, decorations, event planning, acting, public speaking, but fail to develop these areas of their lives. All they dream of is a job with guaranteed monthly salary. Methinks these ones have comfortably bought into a big lie.

We have to face this fact: No matter how we hard we pray or how much we wish, not everyone will work with KPMG. Not everyone will work with Pricewaterhouse Coopers. Not everyone will work with Halliburton. Not everyone will work with the banks. Not everyone will end up as a medical Consultant. Not everyone will work with NNPC, Chevron, Shell and those big multinationals. If the only reason why someone enlists to study a particular course is so that they will eventually work with Shell for instance, when they graduate, then the person is setting up a future filled with despair. Similarly, if the only reason an individual goes to study a particular course is because the parents want to produce an engineer, a lawyer, a nurse, doctor, pharmacist, and so forth, then the future is indeed bleak. There will always be that anger towards the parents, as that individual would feel ‘used’ or ‘coerced’ into something he originally did not want to do, just to massage his parents’ ego. Nowadays, when a teenager tells me the course he or she wants to study, one of the first questions I ask is’ “Do you really want to study this course”? This gives me a fair idea if such a person is being pushed against his will.


A second point I would like to make, which I consider more important than the first, is this: In the matter of career choice, a child should be guided to choose a career which would help him achieve his life’s purpose, passions, dreams and aspirations; a course which will place demands on his talents, potentials and natural abilities. A child, for instance, whose interest is primarily in acting, writing, drama, the movies, should not be made to study Engineering by the parents just so that they could have a son who works in an oil company. A child with little or no interest in caring for the sick, saving lives, who is not compassionate, patient, and is not even interested in Biology, should not be made to study Medicine or Nursing just so that the mother can answer "Mama Doctor” when she goes for the village August meeting. A child who is growing up, and is primarily interested in painting, drawing and so forth, should not be made to waste five years of his or her life studying Law in the university, unless, of course, the child has a flair for that too, is interested in justice and the rule of law, and can also develop his skills alongside.
I remember at least two of my colleagues that were wonderful pianists while still in school.They still are. They still practice Medicine today. They both played in their respective church choirs, services and other events while in school. One of them was so good that he received invitations to play in other churches and Cathedrals within and outside the state. Before graduating from school, he had already released an album; I still remember some of the tracks.

In my service year, I met a young man who would later become the State Drama Director for the Christian Corpers' Fellowship. He studied Theatre Arts in the university. It was under his watch as the Drama Director that I saw someone literally “catch fire” live on stage and not get burnt till he left the stage. This was not make-believe. It was carried out with precision and a touch of professionalism. Everything about drama was so natural to him.


Today, one of the reasons why there’s so much complaints about doctors, nurses, medical laboratory scientists and indeed everybody working in the hospitals is because many got into those fields because of the money and the prestige such occupations attract. Yes, I know there are many other problems bedeviling the health sector, but this is one of them. Some take delight in abusing patients and their relatives, even if the patients get things wrong. No form of empathy whatsoever; no passion for the sick. The patients suffer for it.

Today, why buildings collapse and illegal and substandard structures are allowed to thrive is because we have engineers who are not passionate about what they do; who are more interested in making quick money than in protecting the integrity of the profession.

Today, why there is so much rot in the judicial system, why lawyers and judges alike pervert justice is because many got into that place with little or no understanding of the concept of justice. The festering wounds of corruption are thus allowed to go unchecked.

The reason why many police officers are so good at extorting money from commercial drivers and very poor at defending the citizens in danger situations is because many entered the force with a wrong mentality. They thus end up giving the Nigerian police a bad name. The first thing that comes up in my mind on hearing the word “Nigerian Police” is a picture of a young to middle aged man, on black uniform, standing by the road with a patrol vehicle parked by the side, often causing traffic delays on narrow roads; flagging down vehicles and asking commercial drivers if they have anything for him. Unfortunately, that picture has been entrenched in my mind. Yes, I know there are exceptional police officers; I know there are the good ones; but many are giving the profession a bad name.


Let me emphasize once again: Every child should be guided, by his parents and teachers, to study a course that is directly related to his passions, talents, abilities and purpose in life. Even if not directly related, it should be a course that the child can easily pursue while at the same time happily developing his or her talents

...to be continued

cc: lalasticlala, seun