KISSING GRAD SCHOOL GOODBYE FOR NOW

How long has it been guys? Too long if I have a say in the matter. I have literally been neck-deep with life’s work and I kid you not, it isn’t as easy as they say. Unfortunately, the virus doesn’t look like it’s going away anytime soon so I understand that a bunch of us are still stuck in the rut of being at home all day, err’ day. While some of us have adapted to the changes of being at home 24 or for fewer hours because we can be bull-headed introverts, it’s a pity that the other folks are struggling with the claustrophobic state of being cooped up all day at home. In all, the one thing we should be most grateful for is good health. This part gets underrated when compared to wanting your life back but it’s the one reason you’re even able to be at home after all.

     This bit of time has taught me how much a little shift in your plan by you or any unlying factor(s) deliberately or unintentionally will be responsible for shaping the rest of your life. The saying “man proposes; God disposes, comes to mind and it is the exact way this year will end for us all.

 

     I remember drawing up my vision board for this year in October of the last year. It was absolutely detailed with everything I was going to achieve at the end of every quarter in 2020. I went ahead to project my plans for grad school in Europe or the UK and I was deliberate to add getting a job to the list of things just to make the MSc journey smoother. Earlier in the year, I discovered I was all on my own with my big plans but I had a bit of a nest egg to execute most of them. The remaining funds were going to come along somehow so I wasn’t too worried. After I discovered how much fun the science of data was I figured what’s to call a career if you don’t love it enough. I started making substitute plans to look for schools that offered data courses almost immediately after making the choice to switch things up with my career. By the 3rd week in January, I had successfully applied to universities in Netherlands and Germany, and on one Sunday evening in February, I had my flatmate review a meticulous application to The University of Auckland to study Sustainable Energy and The University of Canterbury to study Data Science come the Fall of this year. Since I wasn’t putting all my eggs in just one basket I started an application to the University of Bristol and looked up an old offer from the University of Sussex both in the UK. Towards the end of February, I took a leave from to get some things sorted for travel and no one knew what I had up my sleeves. The pandemic had hit but wasn’t as threatening as it later got so my application officers and student advisors from the different countries I had applied for school, were still reaching out to keep me posted by webinars and live chat on my application status. 

     I got a mail early in March from the school in the Netherlands and later from the University of Auckland New Zealand and I started to weigh my options. By mid-March, I was hoping to get my English tests done and settle travel plans for later in the year before going back to work. Forgive my rather long story but if you follow you’ll know that by the end of March the pandemic got serious and almost everything shut down. I was still pretty positive until the whole world faced the second coming of the Spanish flu rather fiercely by the beginning of April. It’s May now, and while I have decided that grad school will not be a possibility this year because of how much I still need to conquer I am grateful that God’s plans are always different from what we think. It took a while to come to terms with my decision but I invested my nest egg and time in other things. I even started learning how to make nice dresses for myself and focusing more on completing my professional courses. I have gotten more useful in the kitchen; baking and creating mouth-watering snacks and munchies have become my favorite past time. Who would have thought this day will come? 

This may not rub you right or inspire you but it’s everything to imagine being played like a chess piece by life and determining to not totally give up but make other positive choices necessary for your happiness even when the going gets tough and the future seems uncertain. My favorite quote of all time by Oprah, 

"the happiest people don’t necessarily have everything or have it all figured but they make the best of everything"

will just be the newest mantra to live life by. Make the best of this situation and grow ten times larger than life. But guys is it okay to want some peace and quiet after all? I’m tired of playing house with the rest of the geng.

STAY SAFE ALWAYS 

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Helen Dami