Pixabay CC0School life in this article simply means your life in a tertiary institution. It has to do with academics, finances, social and other parts that make you a student. Real life is life after school – this is when you tend to experience life as it is. I have heard lot of people rule out the correlation between school life and real life. Many people have said they wasted their years in school instead of facing real life just because it is working for them at the moment. They may be right or wrong, this article will shed more light.
In school, you learn lessons everytime as your lecturers come in to impact knowledge but real life, you learn lessons after life has happened. The real life is just you facing the world on your own, it now depends on the content in you that will determine who will be with you in the journey through life. I have discovered that what matters most after school is value. Value speaks for you wherever you go. Let me explain this.
There are many graduates out there carrying the same paper certificate looking for jobs, the schools and the results may be different anyway. How then can industries get who they actually need for the position(s) available? This is where value matters. Value is no longer your resume/CV (Curriculum Vitae), it is what you have loaded inside you. This is why it is important to add value to people’s lives in school; create or be a part of bodies organizing seminars, tutorials or reasonable unions. When it is successful, it is already a part of your CV. In case you don’t know, your CV is not about academic pursuits alone, your achievements hold a reasonable place. When you are in school, add value and be valuable because some people in real life really need such people.
I have noticed another thing called discipline that we overlook most times. Being employed is a part of real life and your character in school reflects on you when you get a job. If you are the type that doesn’t take assignments serious in school, you are simply not disciplined. This is because in your work places, your bosses will give you tasks and assignments to achieve within a speculated time, this is when you realize the indiscipline spirit is still there and you start to struggle. Your life in school becomes a part of you either consciously and unconsciously. This is why you need to cultivate the right habit that will grow with you as you leave school.
Pixabay CC0There are two things you really need to understand - Competence and Character. Competence is what you show to employers that you have the knowledge to work in that establishment. Character is what you show them that you can be a part of the establishment without trouble. Both Cs start from school level if you ask me. What makes you competent for a particular job are your qualifications, they show you have the knowledge of the work at hand and you can do it diligently. It can be your academic and/or professional certifications. Character is a part of you that people see to understand who you truly are. Be of good character because someone is watching and can recommend you in future.
You should know that you can't learn everything in school. School is just to create a solid foundation for you before you enter into life as it is. This is why you have to learn more while in school - don't base your knowledge on what is learnt in school alone, learn a trade or learn a course. This will help build you up as you grow.
Lastly, never write off any place you find yourself. You can highlight successful dropouts the same way you highlight successful people that passed through the four corners of a school. Take school serious because your character in school will become a part of your life as you go out to face the real world. Learning in school shouldn’t be from lecturers alone, learn from students around you too no matter the level. The value in you won’t be defined by who you learnt it from. People’s ego come in when they are in higher levels and have to go down to another level to learn something valuable, will it written on your forehead you learnt it from a junior? We maybe classmates in school but we are not life mates. Life is another race on its own, you can either hold on to “slow and steady wins the race” or “fast and consistency gets the final win,” it all depends on you. When you are in school, learn to prepare for the real world because you can never predict how it can be. Just be prepared and ready, that is the secret. Thank you.