Take Pride in Your Vocation

admin · Take Pride in Your Vocation

Take Pride in Your Vocation

We should all learn to take pride in our vocation whatever it is, temporary or permanent, so far it is legal and sustains us, giving us the ability to meet our present needs.

No condition is permanent, and we should not be defined by what we do or what we have, but who we are.

Striving to satisfy other people's expectations of ourselves has been known to get many people into situations in which they never expected to find themselves. Unfortunately, these same people are readily available to judge those who erred while trying to please or impress them.

If you steal to live above your means, the same people you stole to impress will judge and codemn you, even if they benefitted from your folly. If you lied to excel, the day you fall, those who benefitted by virtue of your unearned position and undeserved accolades, will be first in line to judge and codemn you.

It is therefore essential that we have contentment at whatever stage we are, and strive to better our disposition without succumbing to what we believe others expect of us. No fingers are equal, our destinies are different and our abilities to excel are not necessarily guaranteed to be smooth, but regardless of our shortcomings, each of us can reach our destinies, fulfill our goals and take pride in our accomplishments, IF we choose to measure our progress, success and accomplishments by our abilities and opportunities instead.

Cxsm
11th Jan. '08

© Cxsm 2008 All Rights Reserved

admin · I Pay my School Fees with Income from Akara Business

I Pay my School Fees with Income from Akara Business - Undergraduate

Isiaka Wakili
2 Dec. 2007

It is the dream of parents that their children became successful in life. They could either step into their shoes or chose their own path to success, so long as it is the path of honour, the children would certainly get their parent's blessings.

So it was that an undergraduate, Kabir Babatunde in Osun state chose to fry and sell akara bean cakes or what others call kosai. He took a liking to the business when he was a child and use to sit with his mother while she fried akara. Now frying akara is his own second nature. Even as an undergraduate student of the Federal College of Fishery and Marine Technology, Lagos, Babatunde said that akara frying has improved his financial status; he pays his school fees from the money he makes from frying bean cakes while he still maintains high standard in his studies.

For him, asking him to quit akara business is like "taking a fish out of the river". He even uses his leisure time to fry akara. This is the synopsis to an amazing story of the 25-year-old Kabir Babatunde, from Osun state.

Kabir says that despite his engagement in akara business, he has never been found wanting in his academic pursuit.

"The akara business has never prevented me from performing well in my studies in school. My academic record would show you a brilliant performance. I come home every weekend to fry akara. If I am allowed to fry akara on campus, honestly, I wouldn't mind doing so. Akara business has been a source of financing my education. I pay my school fees myself through my income from akara business. I cannot even remember the last time I asked my parents to pay my school fees", said Kabir.

He is also driven by the belief that there is no job through which someone cannot aspire to become rich or important in life.

"One thing about success is determination rather than the nature of the job involved. A lot of people are into the jobs of their choice, and yet they donâ€™t seem to succeed. If you find out, you would realise that they are not determined to succeed. I am determined to succeed and I believe that akara business can take me to any level of success", he said.

For Kabir, going to school is just to fulfill an obligation. "We are living at a time when the society relegates those who are not educated to the background. But what people donâ€™t realise is that those who are not privileged to go to school also have some potential that can make them become great in life. Personally, I choose to go to school so that people would not say I refused to do what everybody thinks is right, gaining education. But my going to school is just to fulfill an obligation".

How did he come about the akara business? He responded: "I started this akara business right from childhood. In fact, I was born into it. I can even say I inherited it.

"My mother is a very popular and well-to-do akara seller. I used to help her fry akara when I was young. As I grew up, I became impressed by the kind of achievements my mother made out of the business. She is a very committed akara seller. It was then I came to realise that it takes a committed heart to succeed in life no matter what one does as a job".

Kabir is looking forward to a future where he would have the opportunity to expand his akara business. More amazingly, he does not aim at searching for any white-collar job after completing his education.

"I am determined to see that this akara business does not collapse. My future depends on it. I will obtain my Higher National Diploma and keep the certificate; I am not interested in any white-collar job, there is much wealth to make in frying bean cakes. There is no day I fry akara that I don't make a sizeable amount of money as income. What I am just expecting is an opportunity to have a bigger akara venture in place. I want to become a very prominent akara businessman. This is my ambition and I will never allow anything to distract my attention. It is a dream that must be fulfilled," he said.

The only challenge confronting Kabir in his akara business is societal negative attitude. "I don't have any problem in my akara business except the societal negative attitude towards this kind of job. You know many people see this business as an odd job. Ladies in particular think it is not ideal for a man to engage in it. Each time they see my frying akara, they look down on me, and that is why it has become difficult for me to get a girlfriend. But I cannot drop akara business because of any lady", he said.

admin

Re: I Pay my School Fees with Income from Akara Business - Undergraduate

This article is about excellence. It is about a person who is well balanced and who knows who he is. Many of us cannot lay to claim to all these impressive qualities. Perhaps if more of the "privileged ones" amongst us set a better example as human beings, Kabir might not simply view education as an obligation. Unfortunately , academic achievement has not improved many of us as human beings; it may have improved our social status but it has failed to improve our character. We have a lot to learn from this young man.

TeachLearn
12/4/07