• Lead image by me.

It's a Saturday and they're supposed to be fun, mine wasn't any less. I have a question for you at the end of this article.

I had been anticipating today, it has been a while since I've volunteered because I'm home and it's not convenient but I managed to make it work this time around.

The program was a wellness charity walk hosted by Health Emergency Initiative (HEI) in partnership with Waka life international and Q-Life family clinic and it was held in Ikoyi, Lagos State, Nigeria.

I left home at 6 am but I couldn't make it in time to start the 6:30 am walk with the other participants because it's far from my house but I made it in time to finish with them.

After the walk that ended at 8 am, we shared refreshments for all the participants which include a granola bar and hibiscus juice commonly known as Zobo produced by zoborite.

It was a refreshing experience. Several keynote speakers came to address the audience that pooled at the meeting point, among them was a doctor, I've seen doctors talk severally but when I heard this man, I heard passion for the profession and passion for the people.

When you have a passion for your job or something, you love to do it. You do it happily. I know some of my coursemates that are always happy to read because they think it's exciting. They get so excited that it annoys everyone but I understand that it's the passion for the field of study.

I'm not sure if I've ever been passionate about anything.

People have things they're passionate about including their dreams, and career options.

But I have a question for you.

This is the season of an Exam in Nigeria we call JAMB, an acronym for Joint Admission Matriculation Board. It is one of the most important exams to enter any higher institution, if not the most important because it carries more points for admission in most schools.

I know we should always go after the dreams we're passionate about but do you think there should be a limit to how long you're passionate about a particular dream?

Medicine is a highly competitive course in Nigeria, every student in science department wants to be a doctor. I can't even count the number of people that wrote JAMB this year aiming to study medicine that I know. As a result of this, the cut-off is really high, especially at the University Of Lagos which most of them are gunning for.

Then, they come to meet me for advice since I'm a student at the University Of Lagos. I told them to write this exam first and score above 32o over 400. I realize that soon the result will be out and I'm not sure what to tell some of them if their result isn't good enough.

This is because, despite my advice, they'll still want to try and say the usual 'maybe the cutoff will be lower this year' and then it'll not and they'll have to write the exam again.

I know someone that wrote this exam for four years because she wanted to study law at the University of Lagos, in some of the years, they would give her another course but she rejected them all. Her younger brother got an admission before she did and she later got admitted to study English language and not law. She settled for it when she didn't reach the cut off the fifth year. By this time, some of her mates already graduated.

This is not even a case of comparing her to others but would it be right to call that individual stupid or should I call her brave for trying to hold on to what she's passionate about?

I know there are people out there that try for that same amount of years and end up getting that course they're passionate about but that doesn't happen frequently.

I decided to ask these questions because I'm not the kind of person that'll hold on to a dream or passion for that long.

My story

When I wrote JAMB for the first time, about 5 years ago, I think, I got about 250/400 or so, I picked pharmacy because of my love for drugs but after the other exams I missed the cut off by 0.06 points, I cried because that point looked insignificant, it wasn't even up to one point.

The next year, I chose the same course but I did wayyyy better, it seemed to me like everyone else did better so I became scared. I changed my course to Biochemistry and when the school's cut-off was released, it turned out I actually met Pharmacy's cut-off and beat Biochemistry's cut-off by far even though the cut-offs were increased.

You would think I would regret changing my course but no, I don't, I believe that if you see something isn't working out for you, then quit. That's the kind of person I am.

That's why I'm asking, I need your opinion on the issue.

What do you think?

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Thank you for reading🤗

May 7th, 2o22.

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