Dear Varsity Student...

Dear Varsity Student…

I do not know who you are, I do not know your name or where you come from, but I have been where you are. I have traveled the journey you are already in. You will most probably not see me giving any speech during your events. You may not see me at all, or know me for that matter, so I decided to write you this letter instead. First of all congratulations for making it this far, trust you me it’s no mean feat. You now hold your destiny in your hands. Not many people get that chance, the chance to be the author of their book; your own life, which I believe you are still will remain to be.

Varsity life is a journey, and the map as to where it leads is completely in your hands and in your control. I am going to tell you what most people will not tell you. What most people will sugar coat or disguise in vague terms while giving you speeches or advising you. So permit me to be real with you.

Ideally, nothing really prepares you for University life. Nothing prepares you for the hurdles, the hustles and the challenges that come with it, but most of all, nothing prepares you for the freedom of choice that comes with it. And that is the most essential. The freedom of choice, the democracy. Even this article will not sufficiently prepare you for this. Most of you come from former Secondary schools where discipline was very strict and everything had to be done by the book and that were characterized by pressure to deliver and other cases cane had to come in. I also know some of you are far away from home. This means now you are completely free from the old-fashioned strict parents and their rules. However, allow me to point below;

i)                    Peer Pressure 

 "You grow up a certain way, and you make decisions within your family, but then you go to college, and the decisions become harder. You are away from home, from the influence of your parents, dealing with peer pressure. There's a lot of stuff that goes on in college." Benjamin Watson

The fact that now you have infinite freedom is no accident. Freedom is only granted to those who deserve it, to those who have attained the capability to decide for themselves the course of their lives. So for your sake I hope that describes who you are. Now that you hold the power to decide the direction your life takes, do you think it would be wise to delegate that duty to a friend or your colleagues? Do you think surrendering the driving license of your life to someone else would steer you in the right destination? I can tell you one thing for a fact, that journey would either end in an accident and a fatal one, and if it is lucky at all, it will end up in the wrong destination. In most cases the result is a terrible irreversible mess. I’m talking about peer pressure. You see, we all come from different backgrounds. Your parents may be well off or may be poor; acceptable. But now the University has brought you in a cosmopolitan place with students from diverse backgrounds. It is only natural that at some point you will be tempted to fit in, to feel accepted, to feel like you belong, to feel like you are at par with the rest. And this may lead you into making decisions that you would otherwise never do. Terrible, irreversible decisions.

You should know this; the only sure thing about choices is that they have an aftermath. An aftermath you will have to live with, by and along, the rest of your life. Nothing will be more fatal than if you decide to practice your freedom of choice without practicing your freedom of thought. I will give you a simple advice; run your race, knowing there are trophies to be won. Never try to live beyond your means and destroy yourself in the process. If there’s anything I have learnt in my limited school of thought, it is that confidence is knowing who you are and not changing it a bit because of someone’s version of reality. Stick to your reality.

At any given point, you can realize your greatest self. Do not let anyone hold you back. Don’t let anyone dilute you. Don’t be peer pressured into being less than you are. People willing to dilute themselves for the sake of others is one of the greatest tragedies of our time. Never let others define and set the pace for your life. The only person you should compete with is the person you were yesterday. Endeavor to be better every day. Get out there and be your best. Do your best. Live your best. Make every day count and you’ll see how exponentially more exciting, thrilling, successful, happy and full your life will be.

ii)                  Social life

These are some questions you will come across “Do you have a medical problem or why exactly don’t you drink?”

Your colleagues will make things you would rather not do appear so cool to the extent you start wondering why you have not been doing them all along. To the extent you will start questioning principles you have lived by all along. Look, I am no saint and every a saint was once a sinner. All I’m saying is that everyone is entitled to their decisions and choices. Have the mantle to stick to yours. And remember you owe no one an explanation for it. When it comes to social life, no one can really give a sufficient enough guideline on how to go about it. One thing for sure is that it will affect every other aspect of your life. So handle yourself carefully; I will say be conservative, if need be. I will not waste my time telling you to abstain, it would be futile. Just remember this; AIDS is real, and so are many other Sexually Transmitted Infections. If you can’t do it for your sake, then for the sake of those who love you, your parents and any other persons, and for the sake of this generation, which you owe a great contribution, kindly do take care. Let the excitement of being in University not prematurely drown your great potential. If you must have sex, don't. Your life is too precious. To every lady reading this, do not turn contraceptive pills into ground nuts! Statistics have it that the more you take these pills the more you are prone to cancer. Your life is precious girl, just take care for sake being called mum, darling, hunnie  in future.

Do not become a slave to any man in the name of a sponsor for temporary materials that will soon fleet by, as the Holy word says; (Matthew 24:35) all things shall pass but only IT (word) will remain. Think hard and long, and realize your life is worth much more. I know you have probably heard that a million times, but I have nothing to lose in repeating it. Just remember that your freedom is nothing but a chance to be better. You get to decide what your definition of better life is. I will tell you guys this for free. There are several things to do in campus several clubs and societies that champion positive and transformative causes in the society. Whenever you are tempted to waste your life, join one! I’ll tell you this for a fact, drugs are going to ruin your life, if you only let them to. The day you will start using them is the day you will break up with reality and everything else that really matters to your life.

iii)                Academics

This is the primary reason you are here. Unlike in High School, no one is going to push you around. But I can tell you for a fact that the campus academic system will naturally push you around. You see, the system is structured in such a manner that it naturally sieves out anyone deemed unworthy. No one will beg you to attend lectures or sit for CATs, exams or even be disciplined. The only thing you should remember at the back of your mind is that you are no longer competing to go to University anymore. You are already here, and the only thing you are eyeing is the job market. You get to decide whether you are going to have a position in the employment market or not. You get to choose whether you are going to be in the forefront of making impact in the society or not.

How you take and treat your academic commitment will be the key determinant of that. The University prepares you for the world out there, and how you cooperate in that preparation determines whether you will even make it past first year or not. So never forget what matters.

iv)                God

I am finishing with this to let you know everything else I have said would be obsolete and pointless if God is not at the Centre of it all, in fact I should have started with it, only that if many you saw the headline first won’t read to the end, unfortunately. I don’t know your faith or lack of it thereof but always remember that you can never prevail in anything without God. Never be too arrogant to forget that. Just remember everything else is vanity if we don’t commit them to Him. I know Sunday is the day that we take to rest, not even giving God 30minutes to say thank you, sorry am becoming an enemy but remember this Commandment ‘’ Keep the Sabbath day Holy”

Let me make this clear as I pen off. I am not telling you to live a boring strict life in Campus. I’m just pleading with you to engage your brain in every decision you make. By all means have fun, interact, learn new things, make new friends, discover the world, enjoy your life and discover your potential. Life is short my friend. But I invite you to wallow in the greatness of these words by Steve Jobs;

“Your time is limited, don’t waste it living someone else life. Don’t be trapped by dogma, which is living the result of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others opinion drown your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition, they somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.” Everything else is a non-issue. Make this a memory verse, “He (GOD) is before all things, and in Him all things hold together” (Col 1:17)