Life after School, the untaught Lessons

By Reagan Nyadimo.

Society today is full of very many young people desperate for advice on how to begin life after school. Thousands of youths throng into the outside life oblivious of the challenges awaiting them. Very few realize that they are no longer protected by the both the school administration and their parents. This drastic change of events has led to a number of suicides cases amongst young people. Some have ended up ruining their lives by over indulgence in drug abuse and immorality while others are forced to learn life the hard way.

The common advice “Work hard, get good grades, finish school and get a well-paying job” have turned out to be the biggest nightmare for young people once they step outside school. Things begin to change hours after graduation when reality dawns on them that life is not as rosy as we were meant to believe. Have you ever asked yourself why? Well below are some of the lessons our parents never taught us.

1.      How To Network

Majority of young people do not know how to interact with other people to exchange information and develop contacts to further their careers. Most of the interactions with great personalities have been reduced to asking for favors that range from jobs to money with little time left for seeking advice on professional issues.

2.      How to find life partner 

Africa is known to be a polygamous continent with most of our leaders caught up with custody cases. Our homes are not different with majority of families being raised by single parents. This state of affairs have kept talks about life partners the biggest secret amongst many families as parents shy away from this topic for fear of being asked questions. Trial and error, fear to approach a suitable life partner, abusive marriages are the end result. Ending up with the wrong partner is therefore inevitable as most young people gamble with love and testing life with every opportunity that presents itself. No-wonder our morning shows are filled with relationship talks with both men and women airing their dirty secrets to the whole world.

3.      Financial security

This remains the worst affected area as it also lacks in our curriculum. Nearly three quarters of graduates leave colleges and campuses without knowing how to budget, save and account for every single cent that leaves their pockets. The over-spending culture amongst most Kenyan youths have led them to live from hand to mouth. With no family to feed and siblings to take care of, most youths take their cash to entertainment joints, personal belongings and promiscuity with little left for savings. As a result, most young people find themselves in huge debts and salary advances even before advancing in their careers.

4.      How to build your career

Building once career and becoming a professional in your area of specialization has become a key challenge to most graduates especially those who ended up taking courses they didn’t apply for. Combination of external courses to make them marketable and increase their chances of employ-ability has become the biggest headache. This is largely contributed by loss of touch with the ever changing trends in the job market and inability of our parents and guardians to keep track of the diversity of the corporate world. Of concern is that a number of parents are still stuck with this mantra of employment. In the process thwarting every effort made by young people to be self employed.  

Of course we do not expect to be taught everything but the truth is, there lies important lessons we could have been equipped with to help us sail through this tough terrains of the “outside world”.