Is education the key to success?
By Thandokuhle Dlamini, 28, Gauteng
The challenge I am facing at the moment as a South African youth is getting the right job in the field I am qualified in. Being unemployed has weighed me down since graduating with my honours degree in 2016. Getting a job in my field has been harder than writing an exam you did not study for. Not being able to get a job has increased the financial challenges I have been facing all my life.
I was raised in a family of three boys by a single mother who has never worked her entire life. My mother always scraped by and made sure we never go to bed on an empty stomach. She would do this by selling second-hand leather jackets and boots she bought from Maputo, Mozambique. I thought by going to university and graduating with an honours degree would help me get a decent job in my field of study and help alleviate the financial burden at home. Things have not been going as planned. I still rely on my mother for financial support even though she has never worked her whole life. At home, we now depend on my mother’s pension grant for survival.
All these challenges sometimes make me wonder if going to school was even worth it. This is because people around me without tertiary education are living more comfortably than I am. They have a stable financial income. They drive nice cars, and I do not even have one. Is education really a key to success? If that is the truth, then when and where is my success? Because I am educated with two university degrees and studying towards my third one. I am not studying because I have a passion for what I am doing. I am studying so I can keep busy and not fall into depression like most unemployed graduates.
This is not the kind of life I envisaged myself living, especially being old as I am now. But hey, it is what it is, right?
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This is all so heavy to take in. As someone who truly believes that education is the key to success I feel I should be able to answer or at least try to help you. Maybe the meaning gets lost in the word ‘education’. By ‘education’ maybe we don’t just mean the academics by being informed and knowledgeable and experienced. Two degrees down and the years you have gained in your life I think it’s safe to say you are ‘educated’ in all aspects of life. It’s no secret that there’s an unpleasantly high unemployment rate in our country and mostly for individuals such as yourself with degrees but maybe that’s where the secret lies. Maybe know we have to be unconventional, maybe we’re no longer studying to go out there and look for jobs but instead, we’re studying to solve a problem in this world. Since you’re embarking on another degree, maybe take up a business course along the line that will help you formulate a solution for our unemployment problem using all the knowledge you’ve gained from your other degrees. It’s all about innovation, and I know that word sounds tricky but it’s basically thinking creatively. An entrepreneur is someone who sees an opportunity where everyone sees a problem. There’s already a very big problem so just ask yourself this, “What do the unemployed youth need?”. Maybe you could be the one to bring yourself and others in a similar predicament as you find yourself in. What do you need? Maybe you could be the one creating the jobs. None of this is easy, I know but like I said; it’s no secret how big of a problem this is in our country and basically everywhere but because of that there more opportunities to get people into that entrepreneurial mindset, business development, funding, you name it. The trick is to grab all the opportunities you come across, no matter how futile or impossible it may seem. It’s about the probability, the more you grab the higher the chance of getting something. At the end of the day, you’re networking. People will connect you to people who will connect you to others who can help you. It’s all about getting out there. Again, I know it’s not hard but you’ve already proven your capabilities and perseverance by pursuing a third degree, two more than most out there – it’s just taking a little step further.
Thank you Lusanda for you heartfelt comment!