I grew up in an environment that made me feel like I was never going to do great in life. It was like a constant comparison, my parents always comparing I and my elder brother; they will always say how my teachers who taught my elder brother before me since we attended the same school and he was my senior with just a year in school, believed that I was not as intelligent as my elder brother, always treated me differently as if I was some dumb ass and should not be invested much energy and finance on his education. Whenever the term was over, and we came back with our results, it always felt like my parents were not expecting any better when they saw my results, but would punish my brother for bringing anything less than their expectations, even when his results were way better than mine.
Having faced all that, I lived my life as if I only came to this world as an escort but not to make my own mark, as if to say my destiny was to serve others and to help them to achieve their own destiny. This translated to me not having any dreams or aspirations of my own.
While other kids had different dreams of becoming a doctor, a pilot or an accountant, I was moving with the flow to see where it took me. The only time I felt like I had a future of my own was when my teacher in my Primary Six (6), made a pronouncement that he had always known me to be a great student, this was after I passed my Federal Common Entrance Exams, which was the exam with flying colours we normally take then to proceed to secondary school. This statement, which to date I have never forgotten, is the only thing I have held as an encouragement and has been what still keeps me moving.
The first time I had a dream of becoming something or someone I when I was influenced by a friend of mine who I felt really knew what he was doing, this friend of mine father as at that time was working with the Central Bank of Nigeria and he had a dream of becoming an accountant, seeing how wealthy and okay they were, I immediate choose that part also for myself. I wanted to work with the Central Bank of Nigeria, become the governor of the bank, and my ambition will also take me to the World Bank level. This was the first time I had a dream. My father was a truck driver and didn’t really have much time with us, so we never spoke about all these things, and I had nowhere to draw inspiration from, practically in my life. At the point of choosing what to study at the university, I immediately swapped from becoming an accountant to becoming an Economist. I was made to believe that the Economist is more valuable, though they work hand in hand.
This is 10 years after bagging my B. Sc. In Economics, I tried to bag the M. Sc. In 2020, finished my coursework but was unable to start, not to say finish, my thesis to this day. I believe the problem I have had all the while is that I have been walking in the dark with no one to guide me directly, though the goals were set, the dream was dreamt, but it is yet to come to a fulfilment. My free advice to anyone is this, while you have a dream and even a planned road map on how to achieve your dreams, it will be wise of you to have a guide, like a mentor who will be there to make your journey smooth, and while at it, always make good financial decisions, a blind man cannot lead another blind man, if they do, they may both end up in a pit. Having said that, choose wisely who you will want as a guide. My name is @rishagamo, and above is my submission for the Sci-Fi Multiverse prompt Week 32 “LIFE, DREAMS AND SUCCESS”.