‘No One Is Coming to Do It for You, Dear Child'- Ramblings of an Unemployed Graduate!

Type :Personal Essay

My turning point comes as sequences of events in the past year. To be specific there are 2 events that changed my life, that helped me see that I needed to stop feeling sorry for myself and actually do something for me. I had the honor and the privilege to take part in a 5-day empowerment workshop that was hosted by YALDA and First National Bank Botswana. The workshop covered topics on mental health, career readiness, entrepreneurial/financial literacy as well as the 4th Industrial Revolution and how it affects us. The sessions were insightful, I valued all of them and attended all of them.The first event that led to my turning point in my life was hearing young people at that workshop, some older, some younger than me sharing what businesses they were running, what plans, actual written plans, they had concerning their futures. It was in that moment that I was reminded that I too had so many plans and dreams, dreams of having my own counseling centre, dreams of helping other young people like myself find purpose as a counselor. I was reminded of all these and my spirit was renewed. I gained a new sense of purpose, and although even now I still do not know my intended purpose is in life. This happened in September 2019. The final turning point, the nail that closed shut my conviction came months later in December as I was spending the Christmas holidays, with so much time on my hands, and a recommended book from a friend, I had the time to immerse myself in the profound book, The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. There is a specific passage from the book that fully transformed my thinking and I can boldly say it gave me the breakthrough I needed. As i paraphrase the passage, we should never stop chasing our dreams because it is in the pursuit that we get to encounter God again. Our dreams are what the divine being uses to communicate with us and when we pursue them, live them, we come face to face with him. This passage had me in tears because it reminded me again that I was alive, I had dreams and there was nothing stopping me from achieving them. I can attest that I still do not know what my purpose is in life, but I have a glimpse of what my future looks like because I now have a renewed look at life. I do not have my life figured out, with so much happening around me, the unemployment scourge that has so many of us questioning our worth, the daily struggle to provide for ourselves, it is not surprising that many of my peers have lost hope and are frustrated. I am no better than them, but I do know one thing, no one, absolutely no one is going to come and make my dreams a reality for me. I have to stand up and do something for me because let’s face it, everyone one of us is fighting their own battles and sometimes looking up to check on your neighbor can be hard. I am unemployed with a master’s degree, but I wake up every day and I volunteer in my community, empowering and sharing my knowledge with others, I have registered my business and now offer counseling to young people, maybe things won’t improve soon but in the mean time I will add value to myself by reading more books, attending free lecturers and seminars so that when I do have my breakthrough I will realize that all of this was not in vain.