Opportunities
There are two universities in Lesotho and a few other higher learning institutions. Every year, the country produces a large number of graduates, who sadly join the statistics of what is a high unemployment rate. Traditionally a large number of graduates were absorbed in the civil service but unfortunately the government is no longer hiring as it used to. So a majority of these graduates stay home, some depressed and broke.
Horace Mann said “education then, beyond all other devices of human origin, is the great equalizer of the conditions of men, the balance-wheel of the social machinery”. Even former President Nelson Mandela attested that “it is through education that the daughter of a peasant can become a doctor, that the son of a mine worker can become the head of the mine.” This is true, because education allows people to grab opportunities that will make their lives better. Yet one will ask, what profits a person to attain all this education just to sit at home?
I believe this is where we are missing it. You do not go to school just so you can wait for somebody to change your life. We are so channelled to being job seekers that we forget that we are capable of being job creators. And can you imagine the snow ball effect of that? If ten young people became entrepreneurs and created employment for other people who will in turn work themselves out of their jobs to start businesses and create jobs?
I recently had a conversation with a graduate from one of the universities, and she was complaining that it has been a year since she graduated with a degree in Information Technology and she is still unemployed. I asked her “do you know how excited I was to learn I could build an app without an IT background, what more you who has a degree in IT?” The opportunities are so many in our areas of study, not only that, your educational background does not necessitate that you work in a related field; it is just to open your mind to the endless opportunities the world had to offer.
There are circumstances that will make you realise your potential. It is in times like this, when no one is hiring, that you get to realise your capabilities. Sometimes it takes hating your job, for various reasons, or even getting fired from your job, that will get you thinking; because somehow, you need to find a way to stand on your feet.
Have you ever asked yourself, why can’t I hire myself? If you were to concentrate on what you have rather than what you don’t, what would you become? There is a quote that I like that says “if you do not like where you are, move! You are not a tree”. There are so many opportunities, engage your brain, change your attitude.
Salute!
