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@timi The thing with college/university is that it may work out for someone people and it doesnât for others. I personally havenât finished Uni, I left the bants solely because tertiary education in Nigeria (in itâs current form) doesnât work for me. Iâve been doing software development for a while now and I can feed, house myself and buy a PS4 whenever I want.
What Iâve learned however, is that my experience does not invalidate other peopleâs experiences. Some people go to Uni and it fits perfectly into their lives. Some go through Uni, finish and decide they want a different career path - a decision which may have not come about if they didnât finish in the first place.
My personal opinion is that, youâre still young and you have time to try stuff out. There is no one size fits all solution. Try school out, also try everything you find interesting out. Seek to learn and when youâve experienced enough, youâll figure out which path is yours.
Itâs quite unfortunate that all most Nigerian universities are poo poo sha, if you have the means, try to get into a Uni abroad. Not getting into Uni this year isnât the end of the world.
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@sugabelly @lordbanks @Lord_Commander @StephenAfamO @the_Ozmic @Emeka @spokentwice
Thanks everyone!
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Lmao, this only matters if the purpose of my blog was to make money as a blogger.
Newsflash, itâs not.
Without going into unnecessary detail: the purpose of my blog was to be a safe space for me to deal with events in my life I was struggling to cope with.
That hundreds of thousands of people started reading my blog along the way was not something I intended nor particularly welcomed.
Now if we want to talk about whether Iâm successful then we should measure whether or not Iâm doing well as an artist.
Iâm not primarily a blogger, Iâm an illustrator and Iâm certainly not a commercial blogger. That you would read his blog over mine only confirms your own terrible taste, but do you.
If youâre going to the university just for knowledge then you can forget it, youâre going to be fucked ⌠on the other hand , if you want to learn real life values and get that âexperienceâ youâre looking for, then you should definitely go to the university .
there are unlimited things to be learnt just by existing in a university environment ranging from communication skills >> effective time management >> open mindedness >> exposure to various characteristics of people or rather the way other interact and live which can be a major plus if you ever want to build a product that deals with people. and the list is endlessâŚ
personally , i strongly advise you to go to a university , if not for anything but for the life changing and brain building experiences âŚ
i have no time for bants@timi Well this might not be the best advice to for you, cos there will be more variables in your circumstance that might require you beat a different path.
To my 17 year old self, I would have told him,
Do not go to the University⌠It is a bloody waste of timeâŚ
The most important thing you learn for the University is logical reasoning and from your writing, your reasoning quotient seems to be sufficient enough to figure it out along the way.
You can learn everything you need to be great without giving up four years of your life in return for a paper. Only marriage is worth such an exchange.
These are the things you need to know at age 17;
1.) Read like crazy, read everything you come across it will help your mind be lateral.
2.) Write, even if it is for fun. It will make it easier for you to concretize knowledge.
3.) Ask questions, even when not necessary, it will help you develop an inquisitive mind.
4.) Pick arguments, all forms of arguments, discuss issues and not personalities. This will help you process thoughts faster and engagement should be the key.
5.) Get street smart mentors, not your brothers or family members. Guys who are just good at hustling and solving real problems. They might be your mates or even younger. You will learn how to move on as quickly as you failed.
6.) Learn how to stay up at night, the best things are made when no one is looking⌠Jesus is a good example⌠
7.) Always be on the lookout for how you can help people around you solve their problems, one day they will start paying you for your solutions.
8.) Go out and meet one new person everyday, stay in touch. When the time comes, the people you know will matter in your life.
9.) Never, never ever be satisfied with average, constant self improvement should be your mantra till you die.
10.) The rest you will figure out along the way.
Finally, if you are still living in Nigeria with your parents and you want peace of mind, you have to attend a University. But, practice all these ten things I mentioned more intensely and you might turn out better than most folks.
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I was looking for where you stated your dream or a passion that youâd like to pursue rather than go to college. Since thereâs none for now, please go to school. You can start with a diploma programme maybe along the line youâd pick up interest. By the way, your blog looks good. No city was built in a day.
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Before you say that a Nigerian University is useless or whatever, please tell us the University you attended and your GPA at the time you dropped out or when you graduated.
Eg. I went to UNN, studied Electrical/Electronics graduated with 4.92GPA and it was a waste of time because I learnt nothing.
THIS WILL HELP US IDENTIFY THE USELESS SCHOOLS TO AVOID.
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@Uduak, Please donât bring me into this nah.
You are alone in this your quest to build a âUseless School Locator Appâ app 
BTW, I said University, without preference for either foreign or local. I have done both. The GPAs were average, could have done better.
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A great man once said:
Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great makes you feel that you, too, can become great
â Mark Twain
Any one can say what your blog is. What truly matters is what you see your blog as, as that will eventually define what others will see it as.
Just to add:
In life, the most important thing is to use your intuition and believe in yourself.
This thread is also a representation of life. As you are aiming for success:
Some will give good advice, some bad advice, some a mix of both and some will even go off-point.
Its your duty to avoid the bad ones and choose whats right for you.
You need to discover what you are passionate about. Your passion.
You also need to have a dream. â> A BIG ONE.
Finally, your definition of success:
If success to you means making a lot of moneyâ> Depression will be your no. 1 friend.
But if success to you means being happy and content, while seeking more.â> You will live in Bliss.
And just like with your blog, anyone can tell you who you are, but who you become is what you believe in.
You become what you believe in.
My 2 kobo. 
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I really donât give a shit
Wow! Where to start from? So many widely differing opinions. We have a saying in my language that loosely translates into; âNot studying will hurt you when youâre old.â I have found this to be true. Even if you hate whatever it is youâre given to study, make sure you get the damn certificate otherwise you intentionally will lock yourself out of many many maaanny opportunities. Iâm not from Nigeria but itâs the same all over this continent in regards to education. Itâs as shitty as it can possibly get but it is still a minimum requirement for most things. (This place is not your⌠âI dropped out of Harvardâ)
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You must either have a lot of balls or you ignorantly didnât know that this place is full of ferrocious online carnivores. I guess you now know.
At 17, I was already in my 3rd-year undergrad in university. I have two Masters degrees after my first degree and I still donât know why I fucking went to school at all as I learned most of what I am doing now on my own. To be honest, maybe some Harvard courses also helped but I digress.
I made some great friends while in school and I learned a lot about people while there too as well. I am a learning junkie and I find that no matter how much I try to learn by myself, there are people who know their shit better because they have had some real life experience and also know how best to deliver learning outcomes. Some of the greatest life changing decisions of my life came after I attended two lectures by Joe Fuller and Noam WasserMan at HBS. They made me realize that all I was doing for almost 20 years as an entrepreneur was bullshit. I have also made some of the greatest connections in my life while in school.
The purpose of school is not just the learning it also includes what it teaches you about relationships. They all come in one package. I met my co-founder while in school and he is my best friend too. We also started what I am still doing now while in school.
I like your wit. Send me a mail sometime and letâs see if we can chat. I need to wipe off that slight sense of entitlement that I feel you may have. Hit me up - asemota@gmail.com
PS: âNaijaTeen.comâ is a brilliant domain name! Letâs press a reset button on it and make it great. I know the right mentors you should be working with. Add me as friend on Facebook www.facebook.com/vremix and letâs see how we can help you be great.
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Please go to school. You will learn somethings 25% of the time and get friends you will rely on for bants and a couch to crash forever. Also, you will have a lot of time to refine any ideas you have.
But, my real feedback is on your blog.
Youâre 17, this is a great time to actually learn to write coherently. Write about your life, write about your experiences as a Nigerian teenager, write about why youâre having second thoughts about university. You will write all your life, whether a report or an email. There are people who spend a full work day replying emails trying to make it convey their exact thoughts in a non-abusive way.
Itâs a great skill and the one thing I learnt with a blog at 16; I go back to read (and laugh at) my poems every other month.
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No one is saying not to study
To get the full context of the saying, youâd have to understand Luganda. Thatâs why I said âloosely translates intoâ.
Really? Then Iâm sure a lot of people wouldnât mind âBurning timeâ for the rest of their life.
Like this dude that made $40,000 in November from an 8months old blog.
http://nichepie.com/30k-archived/
Or this guy that sold a âBLOGâ for over half a million dollars ($550,000)
I just smile when i see people talk down on blogging. They obviously donât understand that blogging is not just for fun , its a BUSINESS. A very lucrative one , if you know what youâre doing.
A bloggerâs 1 month earnings can equal a bank managerâs 1 year salary.
Iâld love to talk more on this but unfortunately time is not on my side.
Cheers.
On average, Nigerian universities are pooh. But departments vary. I AM learning in school. Actually learning.
So to say that âif youâre going to university just for knowledge, then you can forget itâ is just plain wrong.
To the OP @timi
Go to school. You might find something you like. Along the way you can do a million other things. I am in my final year and I have a very good CGPA. And along the way, I have worked in many different job positions. I currently have a full time job in addition to school and I am working on my own personal projects.
I also didnât get into university the first time around. But I kept myself busy that year. Enjoy your gap year and use it to learn and develop new skills. But go to school. Education is important.
Bill Gates dropped out of school when it began to interfere with his work. Same with the Zuck. They didnât just have an idea and then drop out because of their idea.
But then again, you can ignore everything Iâve said and everything everybody has said. Because at the end of the day, we all give advice from our personal experiences. Find your path.
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@asemota and @akindolu i know the invitation is for timi but can i send a friend request(and holla at you guys) also? I know you guys will be very helpfull.
Ha! What I would give to be 17 again.
@timi There are a lot of roads that lead to where you want to be.
There is the internet now, I have a first degree from the UKOU and will get a masters from Roehampton university and Iâve never set foot in both campuses before, I didnât serve either because I didnât qualify. The funny thing about my BSc is that I have never shown them to anyone since I started working, the skill speaks for itself. I donât regret not going to a traditional university but I missed out on all that human interaction and relationships. That is my road.
I went to the UKOU with a Nigerian friend called David who was working on a Nigerian BSc at the same time, when I asked him, he said he was doing it for the fun of been able to say he did it, he will go on to NYSC and heâs a manager now with a VAS company. This is his own road.
Lastly, I have a friend who failed everything post-JAMB, wasted a lot of time trying to get into one school or the other, started learning Javascript and PHP, now works for himself, consults for God knows how many companies, drives a big car and lives on the Island. Every time we talk about the past, he regrets all the time he wasted trying to get into one dead school after the other.
@timi Find your own road.
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