LETTER TO UNDERGRADUATES

Dear Undergraduate.

It delights me to address you through this medium. I have an idea of how crowded your schedule is. Thank you very much for your time. I understand what you have to evade to read this. Probably there's a 7am GES class today or an assignment, term paper that is due for submission this morning. Thank you very much for finding this worthy of your readership. .

Let me quickly state that the undergraduate life is a very spectacular period. If not for any other thing, for the fact that it's about the first time most of you get to live life solely on your own actions and reactions. Mummy and daddy can no longer detect the itinerary for the day. The best they can do is check on you through calls. There's likely to be no visiting day, no imposed activities. Just you, your actions and inactions. As you take responsibility for your life remember that life is all a journey of cause and effect. Everything that happens to you is an effect of a cause that was instigated by you, knowingly or unknowingly.

Basically, the import of this letter is to bring to your notice few important issues and aspects of life you may wish to pay critical attention to. I have been there and back so I'm in a position to advise. I need you to do better. My desire is that you leverage on my experiences, ordeals and circumstances and give your days in college a leap. There's is room for more.

One major area of life that you must take charge of immediately is career mapping. It is no longer news that most of you were admitted into disciplines that you never choose. Some of you got to study courses chosen for you by JAMB, your parents, peers and other external regulations. Whatever is the case you've gone far in the course now, so no need to worry unnecessarily. No need to consider a return to JAMB exams or a transfer to another department especially where that will give you avoidable issues. The thing to do is to do a personal asset analyses. Do a skills audit of yourself. You can call it a personal SWOT. It is easier to navigate to any career path. Take some time out and draw up a five, ten years career development goal showing how you will navigate from where you are to where you ought to be. Don't wait for graduation to do this. Graduation comes with pressure and pseudo frustrations. In other words, all I'm saying is that you should take out some time and discover your true self and purpose if you're yet to do so. That way you can thoroughly align your purpose to your career and then you can step into the real game. Self discovery supperceds any other idea you're chasing. Don't postpone it and don't think anybody will do it for you. It's already up to you. Take some time out and ask yourself very salient and personal questions as who am I? What is my purpose on earth? How do I align my purpose to my career. Do it today.

You see this issue of whether or not you intend to graduate with a first-class? It starts from year one. It starts by knowing the rules. Do you know the academic policy of your department? Do you know exactly what you would need to do to secure your desired degree? Get close to your course adviser. Ask questions. Study the academic policy. Don't be that student who will wake up to the realities of low grade point in the penultimate year. Set a goal. Commit some time daily for your studies not just because exams is by the corner but because you need to unearth certain mysteries hidden in books. Understand the standard in your industry. For instance there are jobs and scholarships that will not even allow you to write interviews if you did not make a First Class. If that is what you desire then work hard to meet the prerequisite. By the way, set a target to read at least one personal development book a month. Read about sales, public speaking, forex, evolution, astrology, philosophy, politics, government bonds, company shares, religion, slave trade among others. Don't be that student who will be completely disconnected from reality when sociology students are discussing just because you're in engineering. That's not it at all.

That said. It is important that you start early enough to prepare for the job market. You see this issue of 2 years experience that we keep saying where do they want fresh graduates to get it from? Employers already know that such is possible that's why they have decided to make it so. The answer is in internships. Both virtual and real time. Never sit at home during any holiday, look out for firms and start-ups and intern there. Even if it two weeks. Join a volunteer team. That is how you consciously build the two years experience the employer needs. Even as a student, you can intern during weekends. Before graduation you would have had up to two years experience. I never even knew this. Now you do, actually fast.

Another important area you must attend to is in your professional development. This has to start from school. Join a professional body that is associated with your career. Most of them have student bodies. Do what you can to get their certifications. There are other certifications you can get even for free online. Udemy, Edx, Coursera, slatecube among others are all websites offering exciting courses online. Some are free and some others can offer you a certificate from Harvard, MIT and other ivory league colleges for as low as 10,000NGN. There are several general courses you could take there and several industry specific courses as well. Take advantage of training programmes that come with discount for students because it might just be the only privilege you have to learn it at such rate.

Let's talk about soft skills. Leadership being the super structure. Basically when people mention social etiquettes, emotional intelligence, cultural intelligence, inter personal skills, excellent communication skills, what they really mean is leadership. A leader should posses all these skills. The aim of being a student should be to become a leader in your industry. There are several skills you will need as a leader and being an undergraduate offers you one of the best platforms to hone these skills. Check out AIESEC, ENACTUS, JCI, Rotaract and other international NGOs often found in student communities. Join at least one of them, be active and take a leadership position. Take a look at what YALI is doing. Take the courses. Apply for the opportunities available in those places.

Another aspect of your education you have to pay attention to is the effects of technology on your career. If there's no technological advances in your career, then it's an opportunity for you to create one. If you don't, you will be blown away by the coming revolution. Do all you can to align your education with evolving tech. Can I remind you about your social media presence and it effect on your personality? I hope you have a LinkedIn account. Set up a professional profile there and look out for available opportunities. Your LinkedIn account is your virtual CV. Facebook, instagram and twitter is no place for gibberish. What you might not know is that the people who are actually observing you are not necessarily the ones liking and commenting. Stay professional. Move away from discussions and posts that are offensive.

Let's talk about your finance. On an average you spend 270 days in school in a year of 365 days. If you spend 400NGN on an average day on feeding, transportation and others, that means a whooping 108k is being consumed by you every year on feeding and logistics alone. School fees and accommodation not included. And you say you are not rich. For a four years course, the spending is equal to 432k and 540k for those of you doing engineering for 5 years. This is me being very modest because in reality you actually spend more than that. But here is the point! Do you know that if you commit to saving just 100NGN daily for a year, you'll have 27k as savings for the days you're in school, holidays not included. That does not look like big money though. But remember that in five years it becomes 27k * 5 which gives you 135k. And that's just for only savers. How about if you had invested your 27k in an instrument that gives you at least 10% returns per six month on a compounding base. No work is required to make this happen. Think about money in the long term. Savings and investment might not mean much to you now until you graduate and cannot afford to load mobile data anymore. Unless you have parents who literally enjoy spoon feeding you till thy kingdom come, it is critical that you begin to set aside a portion of all monies accrued to you. That's how the journey to financial independence begins. By the way, if you have issues believing how much you have at your disposal, simply keep a comprehensive record of your daily income and expenditure for just a month. This was an eye opener for me when I started it in my 200L. Enough said!

There are students who know nothing else about the school except the ones happening in their departments. I can only imagine what kind of students those ones are. Some of you never ever visit the school website til it's time to pay the another school fees. That way you miss out of exciting events happening in school. Don't be naive. Attend social events, music concerts, talk shows, convocation lectures, dinner and award night. How can you be in school for four years and all you do is church and class. This might make you look like a great student while it last but trust me you're shortchanging yourself. There's so much more to learn out there. For goodness sake, it is called a university. The idea is to make you a universal brand after four years. Someone who can be of value anywhere in the universe. How then do you stay in school for four years and the only places you know are your classrooms and fellowship centre. Please join useful students groups. Be active in the union if you have the capacity. Don't be an armchair critic who knows everything wrong with the system but will never be an active player in the system. You cannot effect any change by merely complaining. Act! Be an influencer from your own little corner.

The statement, "there are no jobs" is not really as true as it is propagated. The truth is that there are jobs, but those jobs are role specific. So it is important that you are in touch with current trends and paradigms in your industry. Jobs are secured these days through effective networking than just sitting back and shooting CVs to various emails. Attend networking and industry events as a student. Walk up to people with confidence and introduce yourself and what you do. Keep valuable relationships. Improve your communication skills, people skills and learn about workplace etiquettes. One fad that you must jettison is that which tends to think of everybody as having not to work for anybody just to proof they are entrepreneurs. That's not true. You can be an employee and still be an entrepreneur just like you can be an employer and still be an entrepreneur. Your entrepreneurial journey might just start up as a result of a loophole you've noticed while working for another person.

If you can start a business. Facebook, dell, Microsoft, snap chat, wordpress, yahoo all started in campuses. The university provides a ready market and a good platform to testrun your seemingly crude idea. Imagine that out of twenty thousand students in your school, you have a product that sells to just 10% of them on a daily bases. The explosion will be ridiculously unimaginable. Sound you have a great idea. Get some like-minded folks to grind with you then start.

Probably getting a mentor is about the most important help you can give to yourself. You are not a pacesetter in that career. You are not the first undergraduate. There are people who have gone there and back. Go and learn from them. Mentors help give more clarity to your purpose and provide some springboards for you to jump-start your career. Leverage on the experiences of these people and give whatever you're doing an advantage. There's no need for avoidable struggles. Identify people who have gone through all the ordeals of life and have fallible proofs. Go and learn from them. Maintain a good relationship with them. Respect their time and the value they offer to you.

My dear friends. Make google your best friend! I wish I could repeat that a million times. Activate your spirit of curiosity to the point that you are swift to google just anything you have no understanding of. Have the patience to search out truths, demystify myths and misconceptions. Keep an open mind. Be objective. Explore knowledge.

Above all stay flexible. Adaptability is key. Charles Darwin's advice is what I always recommend. He said: "It is not the strongest of species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is most adaptable to change."

I have a lot to say to you but time and chance may not allow that. I would love to tell you about all my mistakes, regrets and travails, but let me hope that I have captured them above. Stay true to your values. Be a role model worthy of emulation. Be the kind of undergraduate that will make every secondary school student in your community look forward to a time in the University. Be of help to others by bringing opportunities to them. Don't envy the best student in your class, learn from him instead. Keep a good relationship with your lecturers. Respect them. Send them good emails and sms on world teachers day. Thank them for teaching you, suppervisng your projects and practicals. Dress for success. Live your dreams. Be ruthless and bold. Be known for something unique. Make your absence create a vacuum. This can only happen when you have a value. I desire to see you become the best.
I love you.

Your Friend
James Udom
11:01:18
Tweet at @iamjamesudom

Nice write up

I read every word up there..
but
Why do you have to end it with telling us to be "Ruthless and Bold"? It is okay to be "Bold" but why "Ruthless"?

Very insightful , you made very good points here. God bless.

nice write up for we the upcoming ....have learnt a lot

Tank you. I have learnt a lot.. .

Arijosh:
LETTER TO UNDERGRADUATES

Dear Undergraduate.

It delights me to address you through this medium. I have an idea of how crowded your schedule is. Thank you very much for your time. I understand what you have to evade to read this. Probably there's a 7am GES class today or an assignment, term paper that is due for submission this morning. Thank you very much for finding this worthy of your readership. .

Let me quickly state that the undergraduate life is a very spectacular period. If not for any other thing, for the fact that it's about the first time most of you get to live life solely on your own actions and reactions. Mummy and daddy can no longer detect the itinerary for the day. The best they can do is check on you through calls. There's likely to be no visiting day, no imposed activities. Just you, your actions and inactions. As you take responsibility for your life remember that life is all a journey of cause and effect. Everything that happens to you is an effect of a cause that was instigated by you, knowingly or unknowingly.

Basically, the import of this letter is to bring to your notice few important issues and aspects of life you may wish to pay critical attention to. I have been there and back so I'm in a position to advise. I need you to do better. My desire is that you leverage on my experiences, ordeals and circumstances and give your days in college a leap. There's is room for more.

One major area of life that you must take charge of immediately is career mapping. It is no longer news that most of you were admitted into disciplines that you never choose. Some of you got to study courses chosen for you by JAMB, your parents, peers and other external regulations. Whatever is the case you've gone far in the course now, so no need to worry unnecessarily. No need to consider a return to JAMB exams or a transfer to another department especially where that will give you avoidable issues. The thing to do is to do a personal asset analyses. Do a skills audit of yourself. You can call it a personal SWOT. It is easier to navigate to any career path. Take some time out and draw up a five, ten years career development goal showing how you will navigate from where you are to where you ought to be. Don't wait for graduation to do this. Graduation comes with pressure and pseudo frustrations. In other words, all I'm saying is that you should take out some time and discover your true self and purpose if you're yet to do so. That way you can thoroughly align your purpose to your career and then you can step into the real game. Self discovery supperceds any other idea you're chasing. Don't postpone it and don't think anybody will do it for you. It's already up to you. Take some time out and ask yourself very salient and personal questions as who am I? What is my purpose on earth? How do I align my purpose to my career. Do it today.

You see this issue of whether or not you intend to graduate with a first-class? It starts from year one. It starts by knowing the rules. Do you know the academic policy of your department? Do you know exactly what you would need to do to secure your desired degree? Get close to your course adviser. Ask questions. Study the academic policy. Don't be that student who will wake up to the realities of low grade point in the penultimate year. Set a goal. Commit some time daily for your studies not just because exams is by the corner but because you need to unearth certain mysteries hidden in books. Understand the standard in your industry. For instance there are jobs and scholarships that will not even allow you to write interviews if you did not make a First Class. If that is what you desire then work hard to meet the prerequisite. By the way, set a target to read at least one personal development book a month. Read about sales, public speaking, forex, evolution, astrology, philosophy, politics, government bonds, company shares, religion, slave trade among others. Don't be that student who will be completely disconnected from reality when sociology students are discussing just because you're in engineering. That's not it at all.

That said. It is important that you start early enough to prepare for the job market. You see this issue of 2 years experience that we keep saying where do they want fresh graduates to get it from? Employers already know that such is possible that's why they have decided to make it so. The answer is in internships. Both virtual and real time. Never sit at home during any holiday, look out for firms and start-ups and intern there. Even if it two weeks. Join a volunteer team. That is how you consciously build the two years experience the employer needs. Even as a student, you can intern during weekends. Before graduation you would have had up to two years experience. I never even knew this. Now you do, actually fast.

Another important area you must attend to is in your professional development. This has to start from school. Join a professional body that is associated with your career. Most of them have student bodies. Do what you can to get their certifications. There are other certifications you can get even for free online. Udemy, Edx, Coursera, slatecube among others are all websites offering exciting courses online. Some are free and some others can offer you a certificate from Harvard, MIT and other ivory league colleges for as low as 10,000NGN. There are several general courses you could take there and several industry specific courses as well. Take advantage of training programmes that come with discount for students because it might just be the only privilege you have to learn it at such rate.

Let's talk about soft skills. Leadership being the super structure. Basically when people mention social etiquettes, emotional intelligence, cultural intelligence, inter personal skills, excellent communication skills, what they really mean is leadership. A leader should posses all these skills. The aim of being a student should be to become a leader in your industry. There are several skills you will need as a leader and being an undergraduate offers you one of the best platforms to hone these skills. Check out AIESEC, ENACTUS, JCI, Rotaract and other international NGOs often found in student communities. Join at least one of them, be active and take a leadership position. Take a look at what YALI is doing. Take the courses. Apply for the opportunities available in those places.

Another aspect of your education you have to pay attention to is the effects of technology on your career. If there's no technological advances in your career, then it's an opportunity for you to create one. If you don't, you will be blown away by the coming revolution. Do all you can to align your education with evolving tech. Can I remind you about your social media presence and it effect on your personality? I hope you have a LinkedIn account. Set up a professional profile there and look out for available opportunities. Your LinkedIn account is your virtual CV. Facebook, instagram and twitter is no place for gibberish. What you might not know is that the people who are actually observing you are not necessarily the ones liking and commenting. Stay professional. Move away from discussions and posts that are offensive.

Let's talk about your finance. On an average you spend 270 days in school in a year of 365 days. If you spend 400NGN on an average day on feeding, transportation and others, that means a whooping 108k is being consumed by you every year on feeding and logistics alone. School fees and accommodation not included. And you say you are not rich. For a four years course, the spending is equal to 432k and 540k for those of you doing engineering for 5 years. This is me being very modest because in reality you actually spend more than that. But here is the point! Do you know that if you commit to saving just 100NGN daily for a year, you'll have 27k as savings for the days you're in school, holidays not included. That does not look like big money though. But remember that in five years it becomes 27k * 5 which gives you 135k. And that's just for only savers. How about if you had invested your 27k in an instrument that gives you at least 10% returns per six month on a compounding base. No work is required to make this happen. Think about money in the long term. Savings and investment might not mean much to you now until you graduate and cannot afford to load mobile data anymore. Unless you have parents who literally enjoy spoon feeding you till thy kingdom come, it is critical that you begin to set aside a portion of all monies accrued to you. That's how the journey to financial independence begins. By the way, if you have issues believing how much you have at your disposal, simply keep a comprehensive record of your daily income and expenditure for just a month. This was an eye opener for me when I started it in my 200L. Enough said!

There are students who know nothing else about the school except the ones happening in their departments. I can only imagine what kind of students those ones are. Some of you never ever visit the school website til it's time to pay the another school fees. That way you miss out of exciting events happening in school. Don't be naive. Attend social events, music concerts, talk shows, convocation lectures, dinner and award night. How can you be in school for four years and all you do is church and class. This might make you look like a great student while it last but trust me you're shortchanging yourself. There's so much more to learn out there. For goodness sake, it is called a university. The idea is to make you a universal brand after four years. Someone who can be of value anywhere in the universe. How then do you stay in school for four years and the only places you know are your classrooms and fellowship centre. Please join useful students groups. Be active in the union if you have the capacity. Don't be an armchair critic who knows everything wrong with the system but will never be an active player in the system. You cannot effect any change by merely complaining. Act! Be an influencer from your own little corner.

The statement, "there are no jobs" is not really as true as it is propagated. The truth is that there are jobs, but those jobs are role specific. So it is important that you are in touch with current trends and paradigms in your industry. Jobs are secured these days through effective networking than just sitting back and shooting CVs to various emails. Attend networking and industry events as a student. Walk up to people with confidence and introduce yourself and what you do. Keep valuable relationships. Improve your communication skills, people skills and learn about workplace etiquettes. One fad that you must jettison is that which tends to think of everybody as having not to work for anybody just to proof they are entrepreneurs. That's not true. You can be an employee and still be an entrepreneur just like you can be an employer and still be an entrepreneur. Your entrepreneurial journey might just start up as a result of a loophole you've noticed while working for another person.

If you can start a business. Facebook, dell, Microsoft, snap chat, wordpress, yahoo all started in campuses. The university provides a ready market and a good platform to testrun your seemingly crude idea. Imagine that out of twenty thousand students in your school, you have a product that sells to just 10% of them on a daily bases. The explosion will be ridiculously unimaginable. Sound you have a great idea. Get some like-minded folks to grind with you then start.

Probably getting a mentor is about the most important help you can give to yourself. You are not a pacesetter in that career. You are not the first undergraduate. There are people who have gone there and back. Go and learn from them. Mentors help give more clarity to your purpose and provide some springboards for you to jump-start your career. Leverage on the experiences of these people and give whatever you're doing an advantage. There's no need for avoidable struggles. Identify people who have gone through all the ordeals of life and have fallible proofs. Go and learn from them. Maintain a good relationship with them. Respect their time and the value they offer to you.

My dear friends. Make google your best friend! I wish I could repeat that a million times. Activate your spirit of curiosity to the point that you are swift to google just anything you have no understanding of. Have the patience to search out truths, demystify myths and misconceptions. Keep an open mind. Be objective. Explore knowledge.

Above all stay flexible. Adaptability is key. Charles Darwin's advice is what I always recommend. He said: "It is not the strongest of species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is most adaptable to change."

I have a lot to say to you but time and chance may not allow that. I would love to tell you about all my mistakes, regrets and travails, but let me hope that I have captured them above. Stay true to your values. Be a role model worthy of emulation. Be the kind of undergraduate that will make every secondary school student in your community look forward to a time in the University. Be of help to others by bringing opportunities to them. Don't envy the best student in your class, learn from him instead. Keep a good relationship with your lecturers. Respect them. Send them good emails and sms on world teachers day. Thank them for teaching you, suppervisng your projects and practicals. Dress for success. Live your dreams. Be ruthless and bold. Be known for something unique. Make your absence create a vacuum. This can only happen when you have a value. I desire to see you become the best.
I love you.

Your Friend
James Udom
11:01:18
Tweet at @iamjamesudom

Though, I have some reservations. However, OP is about 70% right.
Thank you for inspiring undergraduates.

1) Religion
As long as black people follow foreign religions that have been used to enslave them in the past, we will always be mental slaves. Like it or not islam ultimately benefits the Arabs and Christianity the whites. GO to Jerusalem and see how black pilgrims are treated. Go to Mecca and see the difference between African pilgrims and Arab ones.
We are one of the most homophobic, sexist and ignorant races as a result of religion.
2) Survivalist mentality.
Just because you are alive doesn't mean that you are living. Poverty makes you focus on surviving and not living. You care about your next food or salary instead of taking time to look At art or do some philosophy on nature. You focus on yourself rather than the bigger picture of the community. You become so materialistic rather than perceptive. When a black man hammers, it is to pop champagne in the club, while the typical white man eats out with family and friends.
3) ignorance of our history (as a result of colonization)
If you knew that most powerful Christian churches and Muslims in the early centuries were supporters of slavery of Africans, would you be a Christian?
If you knew that your prophet regarded blacks as inferior would you follow him?
If you knew that your tribe or culture is older than Jews, Arabs or Judaism, would you claim to be descendants of Jews and Arabs?
If you knew that your tribes had inventions like sculpting techniques with bronze, hunting weapons, pottery etc, would you say that only the white and asian men could invent?

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