After Graduation What Next?

Dwamena Oppong Bonsie, a junior colleague of mine, invited me to his graduation at KNUST last time, on one sunny morning. The sun was so bright that I thought it was his day- Sun day. But it was not, as the date on my phone’s calendar indicated it was a Friday.

I would not miss Dwamena’s graduation for anything, one choice stood before me like the moon in the sky- to attend. So I did. And I was happy I did. How else would I have gotten the opportunity to write these words? There, at the graduation, it was splendid and glorious. People were dressed as kings and Queens, and trust you me, wedding dresses could not even be a better match to the glamour of the day.

The auditorium was filled to the brim and overflowing, though the attendants had been compressed well enough. Family came to support their wards, friends came to feast, well-wishers spread wide and well and congratulatory messages were overflowing.

Was I the only odd person in there? Perhaps so. Everybody’s face were signaling happiness save my own which spelt a needless worry. And for a time, I felt I was not really needed there. I sat in that huge social sciences auditorium, I casted my mind to the front row, and roughly estimated the number of graduands in there, in addition to those who had theirs the preceding days, I was filled to the brim with mixed feelings. Two main feelings mixed in crucible of my heart.

One, I was happy my colleague was happy, and that the others too were happy that their four (some six and seven) of ‘troubles’ in the university had come to an end. I was equally happy that some did not even know what lied ahead of them to, in a way, restrain them from ‘chilling-till-they- freeze mood’ as evidenced at the Accuzi pub (a pub and kitchen, strategically situated just around the tech school premises) after the ceremony.

Two, I was greatly concerned. I was concerned about the half-baked young people the school had churned out who are not in any way better prepared to face the world out there, to meet life’s situations. Not to talk about the menace of youth unemployment shackled on the neck of our country by kind courtesy the indiscretions of our office holders

and the interest of the IMF and the World Bank. Staring at the face of this alarming issue, my concern grew even worse. It left with one question occupying my mind- After graduation what next?

Many of our students pass through school without any plans of entering, let alone plan of exiting. They sit in the schools as the weather alters and go out when the school itself finds it a mercy to squeeze them out. It is a sad development as life without a plan, as the great men say, is useless.

But how do we plan our lives if we have not been taught how?

But, must we even wait for someone to teach us how to plan our own lives?

I sat in the closet of my inventory and derived some questions that hit me real hard whiles at Dwamena’s graduation. And I encourage you to do an introspection and self-analysis of yourself and go through them in truth. It may not be a panacea, but I am sure it would help out decide on which path you are taking whiles you are in school or even out of school. These questions, not intended in any way to make you uncomfortable, are motived for any school going person who could read this article.

After school, what next?

Have you sat down to analyze the question above? Did you put your mind and heart to work? Were you able to do an introspection and self-analysis as to where you want to be after here? Were you okay with the grades that you got and does it matter at all? What do you really want out of life? After your graduation what next?

Could this be the single most important question to answer after you put down your last dot on your last paper or after you lay down your graduation gown? And as you answer, could it lead you to one of the most important decisions you will ever make in your life? After your graduation, what next?

Did you read the program (or the course) that was in line with your abilities, skills and talents? Were you given a program (or a course) that you had no idea what it looked like till you got to school, and you had to force your will do it (all the same) because you thought ‘it is the paper that matters, after all?’

Did you pass through the school or you let the school pass through you? How about your social enterprise? Did you learn any skill in addition to your academia? The question still remains, after your graduation, what next?

Absurd? Laughable? Fantastic? Of course, you are allowed to your right to dismiss the questions with whatever adjective you wish. But mind you, ‘education’, said Dr. John G. Hibben, a one-time President of Princeton University, ‘is the ability to meet life’s situation.’

My question to you: are you educated enough? Are you equipped to face the life out there? Have you psyched yourself up to go out there and make it big, your own way? And if you are not better equipped to meet life’s situation, after your four years period in school then I shall be greatly concerned for you, for ‘the great aim of education’, said Herbert Spencer, ‘is not knowledge but action.’ Use your head, use your heart and use your hand. (Head, Heart and hand, they go together).

Do well to save the words of Robert Orben in the memory bank of your mind- “A graduation ceremony is an event where the commencement speaker tells thousands of students dressed in identical caps and gowns that ‘individuality’ is a key to success.”

The key to success, as you saw in the above words, is your ‘individuality’ Therefore, I ask you to be proud of who you are. Be who you really are!

Adolwine Kennedy Wilfred

KNUST-Kumasi

[email protected]