(Book E1) The Job Hunt College: Prologue

‘Career development book for health professionals‘

It was obvious we were not meeting as a class again but that was not how we expected it to end.

Everyone seemed unconcern! We all sat quietly in our seats as the sixty-six seater bus moves slowly from Tema to our hostel. Could it be due to fatigue from the week-long of professional licensing exams?

We have endured longer weeks of intensive exams than this and have come out glowing and smiling but it appears this one is having a different level of impact on us.

In fact we’ve really enjoyed our days together! Our class was made up of individuals from all walks of life, schools and cultures. Yet we had a common dream; that is to fulfil the lifelong ambition of becoming nurses. We walked from lecture to lecture, through one semester to the other and year after year conquering all the hassles and tussles of our four-year education with one front.

No single day passed without the cords of our togetherness tightened. It was a class with swag; full of fun. We had all in all! A community on its own!

We need not to look elsewhere to entertain or educate ourselves, set up a jury or a parliament. It was a unique class!

Little did we know that a day will come where this class shall no more exist? Where the members shall take a special flight, to a land of ‘No Man’s Land’, to make a name for themselves!

May be we knew, but not as soon as it has caught us. The pains of not seeing each other again; instead of gluing us eyeball to eyeball, has lighten up our inner eyes, replaying the chords of our old school days.

Today, we stand on the track of life, drawing the curtains to our childish ways, and ready to take the race of endless beginnings. We have the whole world before us to make an impact.

A virgin scroll: quite voluminous and still fresh, and here we are ready to write our own story. We all had a story in mind but what do we write first? I guess that is what is keeping us mute.

This time around, no one was in haste, not as we did for our first lecture, but we knew the bell of ‘start work’ shall surely ring when the bus arrives on campus.

We were all optimistic of a great future but how do we overcome the dilemma of a beginner? Our school days have been good and the society has also been lenient on us. But that’s not going to continue forever? Especially in the light of our new dawn!

The baton has reversed. The society is no more going to spoon-feed us. It expects us to do otherwise.

What do we do after school? Is it a period of rest or more education, marriage, travel or hibernation? All these things may suffix; may be for a while; but the main thing that will be required of us is gainfully engaging in a meaningful venture that has a net positive impact on the society.

Rest may come but for a while not exceeding certain number of weeks. Above a certain quota, one will be seen as a burden or recognise as a lazy cocoon in the society. You can give it a try. Rest in the house for 6months after school without making any effort to gain employment and email the result to me. Even speculations alone will set you up on your toes!

Education is the key but is never complete unless the knowledge gained is put to practice. No one was born to only earn academic certificates. In fact education without work experience does not make one any better than a piece of book lying in the national archives. In the same manner, a person with experience and no education is not better than a robot, programmed to act in a certain manner without thorough understanding. Thus education goes hand in hand with experience. One leaves not the other.

Marriage is a knot tied once in a lifetime for a lifetime and may preoccupy a person’s mind right after school. Yet it must be noted that, it’s not the primary reason for education. You were not educated simply to be married or marry.

The primary reason for education as already stated is gainfully using your knowledge and skills to make a meaningful impact on your community. Thus one is only said to be a doctor or a nurse, when he is able to serve the sick in his community with the knowledge gained at college.

In pursuit to make this positive impact, one is automatically admitted into another college, called The Job Hunt College. In order to graduate successfully from this college with a very good class, one needs to know the rules and regulations in the college and acquire certain skills.

These skills do not come by crumbling all your Anatomy and Physiology notes into your head or memorizing every bit of your pharmacology lessons. It comes by experience and it is only those who have been there, that can share the realities in the college.