It was the week; after I decided I would concentrate on French and would no longer study Law. There was I at the departmental notice board, my bad grades staring at me assuming the bad eyes of an overbearing bouncer preventing you from entering a club. I didnot fail any course though but my GP was taking a downside turn, 2nd semester part 1,my GP was conveniently taking fresh air in a beautiful 2.2 mansion. I thought of my siblings all studying or intending to study 'good' courses (Engineering courses and Architecture), my parents would pardon them to an extent if they had bad grades like that. But not me. With French! You know that idea of the work-over courses? Most courses in the Arts are presumed to be. I called my friend Kike, she was the only person I wanted to talk to, and she calmed me down. But a question kept nagging me, ‘what will I do with my life, who will employ me with such a degrading grade that might still plummet into a 3rd class?’
But that is not the beginning of my story. The ‘fear of the future’ had been with me since I was in secondary school.Deep within me, I wanted to study one of Literature, Philosophy and Yoruba. I had my reservations for literature though, I didn’t like poetry so it was last on the list but I loved the Yoruba language (I hated French by the way), and as a teenager I had tried to compare the structures of Yoruba and English, why does the adjective sometimes come before the noun and other times after the noun unlike in English that seemed to be more fixed I had thought. But it was unheard of, do intelligent students fill JAMB form and willingly fill in Yoruba, Igbo, French, Philosophy or Literature? What would I do with such courses, who would employ me? Law was a better course, people had told me I liked arguing and by my second year in Senior Secondary school, my grades had greatly improved! So Law was the course, I dreamt of the pride of being called a Barrister, the social implication, the good job it would fetch and other good benefits that would suite the appellation. Law was game! Long stories bore me, I assume they bore you too, so, I am cutting out details of my JAMB result (I passed o). I was offered French at my Alma Mata, I had planned that at the end of my first year,I would switch to Law in another university. I banished the thought and thought Law after French would be a great deal though I had an option of switching in my second year. By my third year in the university, I realized I only wanted to study law because of its socio-economic advantages. To waste another five years of my life on what I may not use is utterly stupid! To this end, I preferred to strictly follow my dream of being in the Arts - Languages and I am not regretting it!
It seems to be a societal problem that no one wants to study courses outside of Engineering, Medicine, Law, Accounting and the likes but how would I have fed my obsession with how languages work if I had studied Law, by now, I would probably be living a frustrated life trying to put to mind all those things that Lawyers cram.
We follow the big dreams that others set for us that the society offers us but our best is harnessed when we allow the innate dreams we were born with to flourish. So what if one of my children wants to study History, Music, Drama, French Education or any other of those courses that you only need a 200 in JAMB to be offered? Great dream child! Follow it!
It may not be a bed of roses following your dreams, sometimes you need to effect the change and find out how you can harness your course and dream. As an example, when I was offered to study French, a lot of friends and some family members encouraged me and said I would work in an Embassy or become an Ambassador, the first was likely, but I knew within me I did not want an administrative job the second option was not so likely, Ambassadorial appointments are mostly political appointment. I had my big dream, I was going to build one of the biggest translation firms in the country. I kept at it and after graduation, I worked in a Public Relations firm in Lagos where I put my knowledge of language to use. It helped that the head of the Public Relations company was a mentor so when I was leaving he assisted me in making contacts with a number of movie producers and I also went out of my way to write proposals to companies and established writers, it seemed promising but my master’s program came calling, I needed my master’s program which will better prepare me for a career in the Academics and Translation business, I opted for my Masters. I am still living my dream. Up till now it still amazes me how quite a number of people have bought into the dream. Last week, I called a journalist I knew while working in Lagos, her first question was ‘how that your French business’ I liked the feeling! What if I have another opportunity to start again? I might not choose French, but I sure would study a language, Yoruba, maybe. Philosophy too would not be a bad choice.
By the way, that caution ‘there are no jobs for people who read your kind of job’ does not seem to apply to me. Siddon there, wait for me. I am more flexible within my dream; my choice of language will only morph into something bigger if one door closes.
Tanimomo Oluseun is a Masters student at the University of Bayreuth, Germany. He studies Intercultural Anglophone Studies. You can follow him on Twitter: @Teemomo
(Young Voices is a quarterly 15 days campaign on this blog where 15 notable young role models will share their story – today is the second day in the first season of #YoungVoices. It continues tomorrow with another inspiring young role model)
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