Was it really worth it? Is there truly light at the end of this tunnel? Was I deceived, or is this just the unfortunate circumstances I found myself in? These are rhetorical questions I keep asking myself every blessed day.
I am a medical doctor by profession. After spending six years plus to attain this degree, these are very pertinent questions I pause to ask myself everyday and reflect on. My friends who pursued four-year courses have long completed their NYSC service and started their life in full whereas I am yet to get to NYSC ( there is no competition in life, I know and I am not comparing myself with anybody, but just that sometimes, thoughts creep in and I ask myself; was all the stress was really worth it?)
My life is practically a reflection of what they taught me in school because for professions like Medicine, law, engineering even teaching, you still need that certificate to prove your worth, but let us take for example, the tech guys,guys into business and marketing; your employers definitely are not after some white papered certificate you are about to present to land you an employment offer, they are after your skills, your hands-on, what you can bring to the table, your experiences just to mention but a few. That is to say that certificates are necessary, no doubt, but the relevance is now dependent on the area of specialty you are pursue.
That notwithstanding, our educational system still have lots of reforms to do. How can someone spend so much time in school just to come out with almost zero knowledge of how the financial world runs? Someone graduates from the University and comes out to start learning how the real life runs and this is now happening too often.
This happens because there is no proper incorporation of life surviving skills and basic financial literacy which makes survival so difficult for some persons after school and until this singular problem is solved, the popular notion we all hear, "School na scam' will always be in the lips of everyone, even the undergraduates because indeed, they are really meant to be two different targets but one that could be attained with the rigorous academic programmes.
I personally feel that schools should be more geared into equipping people with the necessary arsenals to survival in real life rather than the stereotyped cramming and ticking of options in the exam hall.
In summary, I won't even lie to you - Degrees are still worth it, though, sometimes, it feels otherwise. Perhaps, in the nearest future, the dynamics will change for good and the odds will be in our favour. But, if I was placed on the spot over and over again and handed over a choice; the alternative of becoming a graduate or just forging ahead with a certificate, I will still go down the route I went to become a doctor and I will keep my hopes high that one day, it eventually will be worth it.
Thanks for reading and have a nice day ahead 👍