Life is in phases, as you progress through life, you would move from one level to another. Pondering on things to do while waiting for your Waec is a normal life occurrence that happens to anyone in this phase of life. It happened to me when I freshly graduated from secondary school too.
Deciding on what to do shouldn’t be much of a difficult task if you look within and around you, your end goal should determine what your choice might be. During my time, I had a lot of options and I had to make a priority list to make my choice.
Having so much free time at this stage of your life, you could either decide to do some volunteer work, read books, learn skills, or even get a paying gig. I utilized my free time to the fullest at this stage of my life, I read books, explored the city where I lived, acquired skills, and volunteered.
In this article, I will elaborate on the above-mentioned suggestions for clarity and lay emphasis on their importance.
VOLUNTEERING /SHADOWING FOR EXPERIENCE WHILE WAIT FOR YOUR WAEC RESULT
Offering free services and becoming a volunteer helps you gain experience in whatever career path you are looking to venture into in the future. Life is more about gaining experience, the more experienced you are in a field the more likely you would excel in that field.
While I waited for my Waec result, I seized the opportunity to volunteer in my Uncle’s small village clinic, I would go over there a few days a week to spend some time and see what medicine was all about because I was interested in becoming a medical professional.
There are different career paths in life, having a prior experience in your area of interest would give you an insight into your career path and help you make informed decisions. If you are interested in becoming a medical doctor in the future, then you should look for a private practice or government hospital where you can shadow a medical doctor for a couple of days a week.
Looking to be a Lawyer, go out there and look for a firm or even an individual you can follow to the courtroom a few hours in a week for a first-hand experience. Interested in being an engineer, look for professionals in that area and shadow them for some time.
For media, you should offer free writing gigs and learn while you are at it. Looking to go into movies, and visit movie shooting sites with actors and actresses. If your interest is in becoming a Liberian, consider going to your local library to volunteer a few hours a week as an assistant Liberian.
Furthermore, if you are interested in sales and marketing, you should consider offering free services as a sales assistant, make sure where you are offering the free services are not far from where you live to avoid spending money on transportation. Being a Nanny is another area you might want to volunteer in, it would expose you to handling kids, and there are career paths focused on caring for kids.
READ INSPIRATIONAL/MOTIVATIONAL BOOKS
Reading books opens up the mind and exposes you to things and life situations you might never get to experience in reality. Investing your time in motivational or inspirational books can help you with personal development and also build your character.
I enjoy reading, and I tell you I have learned a lot from reading, books gave me more insight into life and helped me understand my kind of person better. The most recent book I read is the “ATOMIC HABIT”, it made me understand that everyone has a pace, stay through to your own pace, and with consistency, you would eventually get there.
I listen more to audiobooks than hard-copy books because they are easily accessible to me online. Some of the online audio book platforms offer free trials for a month before the actual monthly subscription fees.
There are different genres of books written by brilliant authors, and the struggle is always with finding the right books to read. Hurray! This puzzle has been solved by book lovers across the globe, there are numerous book clubs, forums, and groups in existence on the internet. These platforms help with book reviews and recommendations.
I remember joining a book club and every week I would receive an email with book recommendations and reviews. They are very helpful, you should consider joining one if you don’t know what book to read.
LEARNING SKILLS/APPRENTICESHIP
Currently, the world is evolving so fast, jobs are being lost with the rate of unemployment going over the roof and a huge increase in the demand for employment. Certainly, essential skilled individuals will always be in high demand, dressmakers, hairdressers, farmers, and cooks to mention a few.
Growing up, my mother always made my hair and when I was around 8-10 years old, I learned how to make hair from her. She would always make me and my siblings take out her old hair and cornrow it afterward, I never knew this was a skill I was picking up.
Years later, I left the comfort of my home and found myself in a place where exorbitant prices were placed on hair making, I quickly refined my hair-making skills and started making my own hair and that of my friends. Some of my other friends that also knew how to make hair got paid for making other people’s hair.
Acquire a skill that will be relevant to you now and in the future. As an undergraduate in University or higher institute, an acquired skill can be the bases of your entrepreneurship journey and can also help offset some bills while on campus.
When I lived in an all-girls hostel, there was a certain young female student that opened a nail-fixing studio right in the hostel, she would go to school during the day and opens up for a few hours in the evenings. On weekends she was always fully booked, most female students in that hostel interested in fixing their nails and nail care were patronizing her.
You should be an apprentice or learn a skill by taking online courses only if you can afford it, the more realistic way of acquiring a skill if you have no money to purchase a course is by going to a shop to spend time with experts in those areas as an apprentice (salon for hairdressing, dressmaking shops, electronic shops to learn sales and more).
PAID GIGS TO EARN MONEY
The economy might be hard and in the grand scheme of things there might be no jobs out there as they always say but I tell you there is always a vacancy somewhere. Start with your community and the businesses around you.
If you go around from one business to another looking for a vacancy you are most likely to find something to do that you would get paid for. During festive periods like Christmas, there are always vacancies for salespeople, marketers, and more.
I remember when I freshly graduated from secondary school and I was tired of staying at home and wanted to earn some money for myself, I had to go out there to look for something to do. It was the Christmas period and we had this trade fair that was scheduled to run for 2 weeks, so I went to the venue and started asking if they needed help or marketers.
I was lucky to get a marketing gig for an energy drink at the trade fair, all I had to do was create brand awareness, go around in the trade fair talking to people about the drink, and before the end of the 2 weeks the energy drink company sold out their products and I also got paid.
You have to go out there and look for the opportunity you want, and grab it for yourself. There are numerous opportunities in the Nanny industry, if that rocks your boat, agencies are out there that will guide you on how to go about it.
CONCLUSION
Life is in stages and every stage has its challenges, most importantly life is a journey and everyone’s journey is personal to them. In other, for you to have a less rocky road while you journey through life, equipping yourself from the get-go is important. Acquiring skills and experience in your area of interest, and reading books to open up and sharpen your mind are some ways you equip yourself for the journey of life. Money is a lubricant that makes the journey of life easier and bearable, in a nutshell, acquire relevant life skills that will help you make money in the long run, and also navigate life to make living life easier.
