Normally, I am the person that reads without even commenting, but I am writing this for two reasons.

1) To inspire University students to start building a strong career.

2) To find like minded individuals.

If you are interested, follow on and comment below.

We have started

Here are reasons why I think you would want to stay and read this:

I am a consultant and I have worked with one of the top banks in Rwanda.

I founded a couple of start ups.

I am a second year undergraduate student.

Yes, I am in Africa and I study here.

Personally I believe in learning by doing. I am but a fan of consuming information, I believe in gaining hands-on experience.

When I started university at the African Leadership University, I had a goal: I was coming to learn.

I decided to go out and seek every opportunity related to personal development, professional development and entrepreneurship inside and outside school. Some were free, some I paid money for. There were some events I paid as much as 2000 naira for, as a broke student. I also went for as many opportunities to grow as I could find.

But, I realised that from attending these event I was gaining a lot. I was able to meet people, and gain experiences that transforms the way I think; entrepreneurs that started their journeys as students, experiences that changed my perspective and have me new skills, professionals that had a similar background as mine and were willing to mentor me.

From attending these events I grew my network greatly. I got to meet industry leaders regularly and connecting with them, meet influential individuals in different industries, among them include a former presidential advisor, Nigerian legend Samson Siasia, and lots of other individuals.

The benefit of this was that I got to develop a form of relationship with them so much so that I know I can reach out to them for advice and reccomendation.

As a side note, I want to say that as a university student, a lot of professionals will be willing to help you and network with you for free if your are willing to learn.

Another benefit that this gave me was that I became more married and knowledgeable. I could speak with confidence to top professionals, and I could dream big.

Another thing I did beyond reaching out physically was to reach out to people online. I joined relevant platforms and reached out to learn from professionals and interact with them.

Beyond this, I decided to practice as much as I could. I joined an organisation that help students become consultants while still in school, and I also began to work on start-ups. Within a year, I have created over 4 businesses, and although some failed, some are growing.

Currently, I am working for Afringa, Africa's first business and career lifecycle platform as a community manager intern.

As I said in the beginning, I am writing to inspire young university students and even pre-university students to start developing their professional career. Reach out to learn from people around you. Join online career development platform. For example, www.Afringa.com gives free membership, and you can meet tons of professionals and entrepreneurs from across the continent and even outside. Utilise these platforms and learn from them.

Most importantly, put what you learn to practice. You will fail sometimes and you will fail hard, trust me on that. But make sure that you fail forward, don't worry but pick yourself up and continue.

I also mentioned that I will love to meet like minded people. I believe it is easier to go far with more people to support you, even the Bible said a three cord rope cannot be easily broke. If you want to talk with me about professional development, I will be glad to talk. Check me out on:

https://www.afringa.com/profile/oluwapelumi-samuel-9b2a

I hope I have inspired you in any way.

Have a lovely day.