The Wall the School Confines

THE WALLS THE SCHOOL CONFINES
BY ADEYEMO PRAISE ADEOLU

Record has it that when I was in kindergarten, pre-school, nursery and junior high, my teachers would always come to class then and teach lots of “important” stuff to us. Brilliant! But I do not think my dad ever uses his quadratic equations and several theorems he had learnt in sustaining the family. This is just an eye opener. We go to school to learn what the syllabus has to offer, we do not learn what we need do to give back to the society. And that is the unfortunate situation our educational system subjects us to. So many a great graduates are turned out everywhere into the saturated economic market and have no clue as to how to survive. Common sense! They do not know how to, simply because they are clueless.

This piece was birthed in a very boring class on a fateful Monday afternoon. And I asked myself how the knowledge of what I was being taught would lead me straight to hitting the jackpot. Don’t get it twisted, many would love to pursue this profession, but many are called, few are chosen.

My mentors in life have come from different walkways, shared different beliefs and belonged to diverse schools of thoughts. I have learnt and am still learning from these ones whose shoulders I have stood on to see how far they have gone, to prevent my journey in life from being knocked off by turbulent waves. These, who I give much reverence to, do motivate me indirectly by how much they have been able to wield success round their necks. For crying out loud, the school system confines us in a wall that only permits the teachings on how to do, what to do and not to, where to look for (several bits that make sense), only to yield a success in that field, but not to prepare or cultivate the minds of young people in the market out there.

The higher you go, the higher the challenges and the closer you are to either achieving your aim in life or realizing how far you still are to getting any closer to it. The school does not educate us on how to make money, be successful in the careers of which we are being bombarded to understand their concepts; neither does the school open our eyes to the real life situation in the saturated economic market. You know why? The school does not know any better! The teachers and lecturers might not see it as a big deal, because they are confined to a box too - the school!

What have you used the simultaneous and quadratic equations, Pythagoras Theorem, “find x” for in your present day life? “x” has not been found yet? Yes, I know it is just an unknown variable in a particular mathematical problem, but the truth be told, I do not remember using it to make money!

The school stuffs you up with books, gives you lots of assignments, these build you, I agree, but the school does not teach me how to play smart and not just play safe, to be the fittest survival of the competition out there.

You still do not agree? Alright. Why are you in school? Why are you studying that course? Did I hear you say because you want to be educated? Is someone thinking so I may get a good job? My dear, it is high time you awoke from your slumber. Finish with the best grade in school and you’ll be stuck with just the best “unemployment job”. Being educated makes you “employable” and not “unemployed”. You might never be able to transcend from the mediocre level of the unemployable to the satisfying level of the employed if you want the government’s job. Why? You never gave yourself the opportunity to break off from that wall the school had/has confined you to. Do you not know that the most successful people in the world are not the guys that just finished with the best grades in school? They are those that could think, engage their minds in the most useful processes, members of clubs or organizations (in or outside their field) while they had the opportunity, harnessed skills other than the particular ones they need for just that course. They are those who know how to major in the majors and minor in the minors!

Hussein Sherif, Suli Breaks, Stephen Haastrup, Joseph and Elizabeth Adeyemo (my parents) are people that I particularly admire for who they were and what they are doing. Hussein Sheriff in his best motivational video said “Be desperate for success as much as you would be desperate for air when you dunk your head inside water.” That is my clue! I want to be a success, so I would prioritize all I should, take what the school offers me, go out in search for what the school will not offer, and not sit in my comfort zone thinking that a good job will just knock on my door after obtaining DVM (Doctor of Veterinary Medicine) even with a good grade.

Suli Breaks, whom I admire, because he is a young chap who does not deceive himself said “I will not let my exam results determine my fate.” He also gave very sensible reasons why he hates school but love education. I love school, because I have chosen to get some education even outside school.

Steven Haastrup is a miracle to me. His gospel is the same. Acquire all you need to be that excellent person in the field you want (might not be the course you are studying) while you are in school. He preaches balance! Balance academically, spiritually, morally, psychologically and mentally.

The book “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” by Roberts Kiyosaki should be read by anyone who knows or has realized that there are just few jobs out there, and still wants to be relevant. I belong to his school of thought. The skills I need to do well in Vet school, make money when I’m out, invest and employ even my mates are not thought in school. I have to learn them outside the walls of the school!

Conclusively, beyond a dark cloud, there is a silver lining. Take these pieces of advice and you just might be an employer of labour and not just an employee who is in the mercies of their boss when there is a downsizing of the labour market. Wisdom is very profitable to direct. Put God first in all you do, ask Him to lead you on in life and be determined to succeed. Read your books, arrest the opportunity to harness skills and don’t be too rigid to “education”. After all, education is defined as the process of impacting knowledge, either formally or informally. Be wise, remember, you need to play smart and not just play safe to be able to have a long lasting joy.