Advance Your Education
While growing up, my dad always told me about the value of education and he often did from his own experiences. He was only a senior school certificate examination holder and he saw younger people who had acquired higher academic qualifications jump past him to bigger opportunities.
Today, education is increasingly playing a very important role in society. Some persons may argue otherwise. But through the years, I’ve seen education define people and how they are rated. The quality of opportunities one can pursue is now dependent on the qualifications he has accrued over the years.
With unemployment on the high and job opportunities increasingly becoming scarce, the best jobs are going to those who can gather credentials. It seems there is much ado about certificates even if one has to get them to run a personal business.
Academic qualifications are not only becoming necessary for jobs, they are also becoming necessary for political appointments as well as religious appointments. Talents is considered only second to the documents on hand. If you have a talent, you must prove it by acquiring academic qualifications.
It is true that skill acquisition and entrepreneurial development is the current buzz. But this buzz is increasingly pushing the drive to acquire formal education.
If you are thinking why you should get a degree, getting a degree shouldn’t be an issue. Everyone’s getting a degree these days. Check out the matriculation board every year and you will realize the huge increase in those applying to write the matriculation examination. This tide won’t go down anytime soon.
You need an advantage at the opportunity market, but this advantage will arrive because you are prepared for it.
Attending school is big work. You need the years when your brain is still up and running to do the advance calculations and algorithms that characterize academic work. It is wise that you apply your young years to gather as much qualifications as you can gather. The future will be depending on what you have gathered now.
Before you turn forty, settle your academic struggles. Define how far you want to go and what qualifications you want to obtain. If you don’t, you may end up growing up to realize that the younger smart certificate acquiring generation is taking all the opportunities including the one you were enjoying.
Age forty is the threshold of maximum performance. Things begin to go down as the years increase including your drive. What you are doing now, acquiring now or pursuing now will determine how your life will turn out in those years when you are losing strength to gather.
I like the fact that the quality of our minds determines the quality of what we get through life. Education is mind investment. How you educate your mind determines how your body reacts. If you want the best life in your later years of life, the best deal is to invest in the right education.
Don’t stop at just acquiring a first degree. Push for a second and a third. These days, acquiring higher degrees is becoming less difficult compared to former years. Young people in their twenties and thirties are becoming master degree holders and PHD holders. This means, it’s no longer a big deal; if you put your mind to it, you will get it.
People tend to find excuses why they can’t pursue higher academic programs at the university. They bring forward busy job schedules, family responsibilities etc. Someday, your boss at that job that you are using as an excuse to not get better qualifications will fire you because he has found someone else who has higher qualifications and can do your job better because he knows the better way. One day, you will be out of that job despite the experience you have garnered.
Look! We are very much in a society that puts premium on academic qualifications ahead of capability. In brief, you only get the opportunity to show your capacity only after your papers has qualified you.
Today, there are lots of academic institutions online providing education opportunities for those who want to study from the comfort of their homes. You don’t have to be at loose ends trying to figure out how to run around classes at a conventional university.
Its no gainsay the fact that those with higher degrees will always be considered ahead of those with lower degrees regardless of experience. Check the civil service. The certificate you get a civil service job with is what determines your rank or grade level.
My friend’s father worked in the communication unit of the police force in his state. My friend’s father had the experience; he had worked in this unit for over fifteen years. He knew the job. When the senior officer who headed the unit was transferred to another unit, other officers assumed that my friend’s father would be next in line. But no, it did not happen. A young officer who was just recruited but who had a degree was posted to lead the unit. The bad news was that he was only a year ahead of us at the university and he was our peer.
My friend’s father was assigned the duty of training this fresh recruit into the responsibility of the office which he could do. The reason was obvious; there were no documents to support the experience.
Some persons are opportune to get civil service jobs with their senior school certificates, but they fail to grow up. They choose the slow promotion route when they could easily upgrade and get better opportunities. If you are in the civil service, it is necessary that you invest in your education if you must be considered for promotions.
I heard a story about one military officer who opted to join the Nigerian Army at recruit level, but who decided to acquire an extra education along the way. He was posted to serve as a security for one of the top politicians in the country but he realized that his life was meant for more. When he got his degree and asked for an upgrade, the army refused his application. He decided it was over with the Army. He opted to apply for a job in a private company with his degree and he was taken. He earned more than ten times his salary as a happy military officer.
Education will continue to play an important role in how things run around here for a long time to come. It is therefore important that you have an academic ambition that will put you at the advantage when you arrive the forties and fifties where experience plus academic qualification will count.
It’s not enough to love books. As much as you are a lover of books, you should let the books you read also add to your certificates. No matter the number of books you have read, it is what shows on your certificate that will matter.
Age forty is a stage. Imagine you have a stage that you are about to sing on. You have to prepare your songs and practice the stage nuances before the D-day arrives when you take the mice and face the crowd. Your performance on the stage will be determined by the songs you have sung and the practice sessions you’ve had prior to getting on this stage. You don’t want to get on the stage to realize you had no songs prepared or you got carried away by the size and antics of the crowd.
When the challenges that arrive with forties suddenly hit you, you want to be mentally and academically prepared for them. Learning shouldn’t be a one off thing. You should invest yourself in it every opportunity you have to.
As you grow, you take up responsibilities. From your forties, the world will be expecting to see what you can offer. At forty, you should not be talking about what to receive but what experiences and capacity you are bringing into the polity. When you get there, you will be glad you had the correct education to place you at the vantage.
If you are using certificates that are not yours or the certificates you are using are fake, you are hurting yourself and limiting yourself to what another person’s brains can offer you. It also means you know the value of education but are not willing to be responsible enough. But you must be willing to take the personal education process yourself else nemesis will catch up with you some day.
It’s not rare to hear about political office holders who lost their opportunity because it was discovered that their documents were fraudulent. Many persons have lost their jobs and have faced years in prison after it was discovered that their certificates were fake.
Before you turn forty, the smartest thing to do is to get as much education as you can get. Get a good degree, go for your masters. If you can add a Ph.D. or some professional certificates, please do. They will count for you!