I LOST OVER HALF A MILLION WHILE SERVING

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Once upon a time in 2015 when everyone that graduated from the University of Nigeria that year was excited about NYSC registration, I was scared and very uninterested in the whole scheme. I am not one who is usually scared of the future but with NYSC I was could almost accurately predict the future is bleak so I was scared.
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Here is how I could

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Before graduation I was earning more than 19800 monthly from making Artworks for people. Immediately after my project I got recommended by one of my lecturer to teach art in one of the biggest secondary schools in Nsukka - Saint Theresa College. The school had said they don't take people without certificate but my HOD had written a letter to them telling them I was a full graduate but the certificate was yet to be issued and I resumed. Power of recommendation!

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While earning more than most of the teachers there because I had a degree in view, I still got art contracts to execute for the school and others. For over five months I didn't have to touch my monthly salary. I had no much financial literacy as I have now so I saved instead of investing the money ‘wisely’.

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When it was time for clearance, I did it exclusively by myself without any external financial aid. For those of you who finished from federal universities in the east I guess you know the financial implication of doing that. I had told my papa and mama not to worry about my financial life anymore as I could help myself to some extent. I so love freedom and I was in a bid to buy myself one by doing so.

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Did I buy the freedom? Story for another day.

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Am I telling you these to blow my trumpet?
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No! I am trying to take you through the journey that made me scared of NYSC remember?
Okay, let's go.

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From my little story you will realise I was earning far more than the 19800 and here was I about to be posted to an unknown place where I have no customer base or anything. I was about to be coarsed into depending on 19800 monthly!
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It made me shriek horribly. I had seen most Corpers that have gone before me and I had seen their fate during their service year, I had seen how they manage the whole time, I had become a regular lender to friends who were serving then so I could tell what was out there for me and it scared me to the bone .
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For this I delayed my service year for over a year and finally decided to go when my parents got scared I won't want to go again. Also I decided to go when others told me about the bigger opportunities I will have after NYSC. So I finally made up my mind to go and I left for camp with over half a million in my account , but still I was not so sure what to invest with the money.

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Fast forward to five months into the service scheme, my fears became my reality, my savings stopped increasing, no jobs coming forth, the 19800 felt horrible and in a bid to do some thing about my finances I decided to invest and that was the beginning of my doom. What did I invest in? You will get to read about that in my book -
‘You, think you have sense.’

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Click https://mailchi.mp/131676fff6be/youhavesense to get a free preview copy.
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That was how I went to NYSC camp with over half a million in my account and I passed out of the scheme with less than a 100k. I made certain mistakes that almost ruined my goals for life, I was frustrated and easily bitter for a while and I got infested by PNDS (Post NYSC Depression Syndrome).

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Thanks to few good friends and my family, they helped me retraced my steps and I made a decision that was influenced by my failures, it's been 3 Years after NYSC and I can tell you I'm on track now!

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My experience is not one of a kind, it's faced by Millions of Nigeria graduates but not everyone is alive to tell their stories, not everyone who's alive have the guts to tell it hence you might never know and the circle continues. So painful!

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My friend Chukwuemeka Amadi and I have almost similar stories after graduation, we learnt some serious life lessons from our mistakes while sojourning in this life called earth. We both faced PNDS but we don't want to hide our story! We don't want to pretend it was all cozy.

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No one warned us what we were going to face, the fake life many graduates live made us believe it will be easy out here but we saw hell and we learnt. We have made a promise to help atleast 100,000 graduates to avoid the same mistakes we and millions of other graduates have made in the past.

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For this reason we bare it all out in our book - 'You think, You have Sense'.
We took our time to tell our stories of wrong paths that lead to our failures...

the lessons learnt...

How we applied the lesson into result oriented strategies to get the desired results.

PS: Remember to click https://mailchi.mp/131676fff6be/youhavesense to get a free copy of chapter one!
#Youhavesense