WISDOM FOR SCHOOL LEAVERS

After school, people take to different trajectories to their destinies – some get admission to a higher institution immediately, others get into apprenticeship or take up a job to make enough money to pull them through school while a number of others just stay at home waiting for admission into the higher institution. Whatever direction your life would take, I’d like to share with you some vital truths that are bound to help you on the way.

Today’s Action; Seed for your Future

One of the most important truths you need to imbibe at this phase of your life is that your actions today are seeds for your future. They grow in the soil of time to bear fruit for you and you can only determine the fruit you will reap by ensuring that you sow the seed that produces such fruit. This is the way God made life to be and you and I cannot change it but cooperate with it. How do I know?

Please open your Bible to Jeremiah 17:10. From the New Living Bible, I read; “I, the Lord search all hearts and examines secret motives. I give all people their due rewards, according to what their actions deserve.”God is observing your actions and motives and after weighing them, He will give you the reward you deserve in due season. In all your actions, bear this truth in mind: “Don’t be misled, …you will always reap what you sow!” (Gal. 6:7).

Why am I telling you this now? It’s because as you step out of secondary school, you are entering into a new realm of freedom where you may not be under any strict control or scrutiny of your actions and are supposed to make your decisions and damn the consequences.

If you sow the seed of laziness, you will reap failure in life. Therefore in whatever you do after now, be diligent. Also, if you sow the seed of cheating people or engaging in fraudulent practices to make money, you will get the money with troubles accompanying you. Doing that will be sowing seeds for pains, sorrow and a short life. Don’t be deceived by those who do evil; yet seem to be succeeding. They are only getting one sided success which comes with all kinds of sorrow.

I know someone who made over N50, 000 in a year doing exam malpractice but he told me that he doesn’t know how the money vanishes. He buys clothes and a phone with them and lost them. Many wealthy but evil people we have in our society are not truly successful. We only read about their successes in newspapers but not the failures of their marriages and stupidity of their children. We also don’t read about infections that they contract as a fruit of the evil they sowed.

Let me tell you, people can become chronically sick because of their action and not their exposure to diseases. A case in point is Ghazi. He did not become leprous because he had body contact with Neman that was leprous. He reaped leprosy because of his greed. Abimelech sowed the seed of taking Abraham’s wife (though unknowingly) and reaped the fruit of making all the woman in his palace barren (Gen 20:17). The men that ganged up against Daniel reaped death and that of their family because they sowed the seed of ganging up against the servant of God (Dan 6).

In the same vain, if you sow the right seed, you will get good fruits. Ruth sowed the seed of love for her mother in law and she reaped a husband and being path of the lineage of Jesus Christ (Ruth 1,3). If your relationships with people and the way you treat them is guided by love for them and how to add value to their lives, you are sowing the right seed. Believe me, God will pay you back and you may not even know.

My friend, be careful what you do with your life today. Everyone of them counts!

Invest Your Time And Money; Don’t Waste Them

Every one of us has the gift of time and at this phase of life, our parents and relations give us money. The big question is: what do with them? The answer to this question is to differentiate failures from successes. Investing your time involves putting it into things will generate positive  result for your future. It is a waste of your time to sit down and watch movies all day at the expense of learning a skill or studying. Recall that I had explained that education is indispensible and you need to make out time for it. What are you doing with meaningless gisting and gossiping or valueless argument on football? Remember that every second that passes cannot be recovered again.

For me, what guides the use of my time is that it must be adding value to my life and future or that of another person. That’s why I don’t and can’t go to anybody’s house for holiday because I will eat food and see the city without being sure of how the holiday will improve my life or the life of the people I am visiting.

Your indefinite holiday will soon start. How are you going to invest your time within this season? After my WAEC and NECO, I studied wild and wide. I read books that gave my life direction and guided me away from wrong choices in life like Choices Key to Destiny by Pastor Bankie, Manifestations sof the Spirit of God By Bishop David Oyedepo’s and Ben Carson’s Gifted Hands, The Big Picture and Think Big. At that time, I read English texts and public speaking books to improve on my English and public speaking skills. If you think you have all the time in the world; know that you really don’t.

Let me bring to your attention that at old age, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe said, “Give me back my youth and I will pay whatever price there is.” The point he was making here is that youthful season is the season for the payment of price for what we desire to get at mid or old age. It’s the time to sow the right seeds for the future. My friend wake up and realize that you and I have opportunities by the virtue of our youthful vigor. There are so many things our parents wish they’ll have the opportunity to do but they don’t because they are already old and don’t have strong bones and sharp brains like you and I.  There are others regretting their actions, they wished they can turn the hands of the clock to undo their actions but they can’t. You have you hand of clock under your control now.

Invest your time learning or helping other people. Put your money where it will yield more value for you. Don’t just spend it; it must not be about clothes and latest fashion. For your information, I know no man who have made great impact just because of the quality of his attire and outlook. It has always been what they have inside them. That’s why there was a time I had only two trousers and two long-sleeved shirts and go for lectures and church in them without feeling bad just because I spent my money on books, newspapers and internet access.

Your money should be about your future; making your life better and getting you better equipped to fulfill your assignment on the earth. Spend your money buying good books to read and paying to acquire skills. You can’t be living in the century and not know how to use a computer. It’s a taboo! Enroll for computer training.

My parents knew that clothes are not my priority. I recall there was a time my dad gave me money to buy cloths and as I entered bus to go back to school, a thought came to me, “How can you buy use this amount of money to buy clothes when you don’t have tools for  journalism practice.” I simply used it to buy a tape recorder and a major journalism textbook. My father was shocked by my action especially since I never told them I wanted to be a journalist.  Believe me, I don’t regret my action one bit. Reading that book and many others, I understood journalism practice and have had my writes ups published in a major newspaper in Nigeria, Daily Sun and I am yet to go to any journalism school. I am not saying you should do exactly what I did but I told my story just to illustrate how I invest my money.

Pastor W.F Kumunyi in his devotional, Higher Everyday, shared this truth:  “Success depends on how best you utilize the gift of time at your disposal to the benefit of your achievement.” Again, what are you doing with your time?

Education Is Indispensable

Education is important in your life as a youth and in your quest to fulfill the assignment you are created to do on the earth, you must do your best to ensure that you get adequate education. Basically, secondary school prepares you to learn and goes a bit further in giving foundational knowledge in the your area of career choice.

Listen, education is not for those who want to work in government establishment. Many of us think that education is not for them since they want to do business. Let me tell you: in this day and age, you cannot really do well and compete successfully in doing business if you are not properly educated except you want to be a local champion.

My sister, life is not about getting married; don’t be quick to rush to a man at the expense of getting good education. By the way, know that a girl’s life is not and should not be able getting married and producing children. It is about executing the assignment God created her on the earth for and getting married should be primarily to ensure that the assignment is fulfilled properly.

Please note that education is not necessarily going to school, it’s far beyond it. It’s about refining of your character, lifestyle and talents and development of right mindset to effectively fulfill your assignment on the earth by infusion of knowledge and interaction with educated people. That is why some people, like Bill Gates, became wealthy and influential without graduating from university. If you don’t have opportunity of getting higher education from the four walls of the university, get books and tutorials and learn.

Dr Sunny Obazu Ojegbase, the CEO/ Chairman of Complete Communications, publisher of Success Digest and Complete Sports has attained the highest height in his journalism practice but he did have the opportunity of going to university. He took a correspondence course in journalism.

Nike Ogunlesi, founder/CEO of world renowned clothing company Rough n Tumbleafter being admitted to study Law dropped out of  school after two weeks to do what he was talented to do – making clothes. She never went to any university to acquire degree but studied on her own, went for conferences and observed people who are ahead of her to take cues.

Bishop David Oyedepo studied architecture in school but when he realized that he is meant to be a preacher he pursued education on preaching by studying books on great and successful preachers. He studied 39 biographies of successful preachers to know what to and what not to do, without going to school. As much as we can see, he has made success of his calling.

I told these stories to point out that education must not be in a higher institution. It’s about learning which can should be done even outside school.

As You Go To Campus…

My prayer for you is that you will be able to get admission after graduation despite the stiff competition. But there are practical wisdom you need to arm yourself with as you go there. Understand that you are getting there primarily to learn and not to get certificate. That’s why you must commit yourself to learning and not just passing exams.

Our school system is the kind that makes you memorize notes to regurgitate in the exam and some lecturers go as far as insisting that students give answers exactly the way it was written in the note. Because you really have to excel in your exams, follow their rules but if you do that alone, you will realize that you have cheated yourself even though you may have got first or second class at graduation. So what should be done here? Use your holiday to learn properly by studying key texts in your field and going to companies where what you are taught is applied to have a feel of the theory you learn in class. You can go further to interact with the lecturers that actually know their courses, it deepens your knowledge and better equips you to be a high flyer in your field.

Also, beware of bad influences. It may be in your room, class, clubs or even football pitches. Learn from people but don’t learn evil from them. No matter how popular an evil is, it doesn’t make it right. Also, bear in mind that your actions are seeds and ensure that you don’t sow seeds that will ruin your stay on campus or your life as a whole.

Associate with a good fellowship and maintain your focus despite distractions. It is common to see fellowships rushing after students to make them their members. It’s good to join one. I must confess that my greatest source of training in all my days on campus is not my classroom but in the fellowship I joined. I was thought leadership and given opportunity to express my gift. But be careful not to join a fellowship that will not add value to your life. If you notice that a fellowship spends most of its time in shouting and little on the word of God; it may not be the best for you. If you notice that a fellowship claim that the work you do in fellowship should take higher priority than your academics, it’s a risky fellowship to attend. A fellowship that has no respect for your time may hamper your academics. So which one should I join? Locate a fellowship that builds you with the true word of God while encouraging your academic pursuit.(Please for more on this, visit our website to read the article, ‘Which Fellowship?’

At Home With Your Parents’ Business

You may not go to school immediately after graduation but please don’t start visiting everybody in the world in the name of going for holidays. Help your parents in their businesses or craft. Realize that they have been doing the work to pay your school fees and apart from getting excellent grade, a way of appreciating their effort is by lending helping hands in their businesses or career. Don’t be ashamed of joining them no matter how dirty it will make you look provided it’s legal.  One of the things I found is that carrying yam or cassava on my head from my parent’s farm or wearing thorn clothes while  farming  does not in any way reduce the degree of my understanding of my textbooks. As a matter of fact, the farm is a good place to relax my brain and think since making heaps doesn’t task my brain.

Note:  Jesus was so much into his foster father’s business that people knew him as a carpenter. That was why when he started doing miracle, they asked, “Is it not the capenter? I take a lot of pleasure when people describe me with my father’s trade because of how dedicated I am in it. It makes me feel I am in Jesus’ class; walking in his footsteps. Don’t be too big to join them. Helping them doesn’t stop you from being great; it will be a qualifying ground for your elevation.

Don’t you realize that David was in the bush tending his fathers sheep when God noticed his heart of a leader and sent Samuel to anoint him king? It was while he was tending to his sheep that he acquired slinging skill that helped him kill Goliath. It was also there that God gave him songs to sing which we read today in the Psalms. I must confess, I have gotten much idea including  how to start and operate my online magazine in my father’s shop in the evening when customers are not much. I always take notebook to the shop to document the ideas. Also, help your parents save money. I understand that you can’t make money now but you can help them save it. Do for them what they pay people to do which you can do. Offer to do them once you see the need; don’t wait to be asked.  Let them feel your presence and don’t constitute yourself into a distraction to them. Believe me; by doing this, you will attract the blessings of God  that gives long life.

As You Go To Work

You may not get admission immediately or just decide to get a job and work for a while so as to get money to start schooling. That’s OK. But there are blunders you must not commit as you go to work. Don’t take it as someone’s business not yours. Treat it as if it’s your own. Remember the golden rule, “Do unto others as you will want them to do to you.” Be serious with it. Come early and attend to your customers as a priority Don’t cheat and lie; these are ways of making money that will ruin your life. If you want to do eye service, understand that God’s eye is everywhere. Seek for ways to help your employer and make  money for him.

As you go to work recall that your focus should not be on the money your boss gives you at the end of the month. Your goal should always be to his  business. Increasing his income. God is your rewarder (Col. 3: 24 – 25). Please know that your boss will be out of business without the customers. Without the business, there will be no money for you. Know that if you treat the customers badly, you are gradually trying to close you’re the business.

You are not working there just to get paid at the end of the month. You are given an opportunity by God Himself to sow into your future. Let me explain. The way you treat your boss’s business is taken note of and if the God concludes that your reward is poverty, you can’t help it and if they decide the opposite, it is wealth you will reap wherever you go. That’s why I tell you to take it as yours, ensure you avoid waste, lost and increase income but not by cheating o!

I pray for you: May God be with you as you leave school this year. May he direct your steps and guide you into your destiny. In your next’s steps after now, may he direct them. God has plan for your life and Satan also does; may every plan of Satan or his agents to make you walk in his plan fail in Jesus name. The world need you; please don’t disappoint us. I am sure you desire a great future; don’t sow seeds that will make you a failure no matter the pressure. May God help you in Jesus name.