What Nigerian Intellectual Cemeteries Do To Your Dreams
Since the age of 12, I have dreamt of becoming a software developer that will build relevant and commercially used applications like “windows”. Truthfully, the ultimate aim was to be as good and rich as Bill Gates who was the richest man in the world as at the time. Being a little Nigerian girl from a below average background, the dream did not seem realistic let alone being achievable.
With the help of my mother, who believes in girl child education and insisted on university education, I studied Computer Science. However, the harsh truth is that the Nigerian education system and its curriculum ensured to make me regret studying Computer Science at some point. The curriculum was archaic and irrelevant to the needs of the day and time we are in.
If all I learnt in a bid to educate myself in line with my dreams were all useless and irrelevant, what then was the hope of fulfilling my dream of becoming ‘the next Bill Gates’? So, I ignorantly told myself my dream can’t come through, it’s too late. Oh… what Nigerian education does to the dreams of her wards… All buried in the intellectual cemeteries of her outdated tertiary institutions.
Well, after graduation, I needed to get busy to hold body and soul together since I couldn’t practice what I had learnt and I couldn’t continue to ask for money from anybody at that stage. So, I got to work for 4 years in a startup that had no alignment with my vision. Either way, I have to keep going, to make matters worse, there was marginalization in the team. My crime was that I was a female in a male-dominated environment. At some point, I was verbally and emotionally abused on a regular basis, nonetheless, I continued faithfully.
In the meantime, I started a course in Data Science in November 2019 just to keep the fire burning but the rigors of my day job were affecting my study which made me to start considering to resign my job. I knew that I had to start somewhere if I must succeed, so I started looking. Then, the opportunity to attend a 6-month software development Bootcamp in Lagos presented itself right up my alley. Just before the boot camp started, the Covid 19 Lockdown hit and put almost everything on hold for a while.
Thankfully, the Lockdown gave me time to think deeply and introspectively about my future. I did a deep inward search for my original passion and the drive to follow it doggedly to fruition and I found it. So, I made up my mind to resign from my job and follow my dreams. It was a major decision as I was already used to being independent and fending for my needs for the past 4 years of my life. Most importantly, I was going to leave the comfort of my home (Port Harcourt) where I was assured of my mother’s watchful eyes and care. Nevertheless, I made the decision and today I’m glad I did.
With the support of my mother and my siblings, I took up the new challenge of changing my career path and relocating. It was a very intensive training sessions for six days in a week and lots of hands on project to complete within stipulated time, I worked (read and code) at least 18hrs per day so as to be great at what I do because I believe in excellence in all I do.
Here I am today, after all is said and done. Now, I can confidently say that I am an excellent developer with good knowledge in HTML, CSS, Sass, Vanilla JavaScript, React, Next and Vue. It’s been a wonderful time learning these skills and being on the path of fulfilling my dreams.
Dreams will always seem impossible at conception but if you put the work consistently it is achievable, never give up on your dreams.
Below are the links to my GitHub repo and some of my projects achieved in these few months of back-breaking work towards achieving my dreams.
Projects: https://expressionapp.netlify.app/
https://whitestallion.netlify.app/
GitHub: https://github.com/Phynnex
