Randomly, I think about the last days of my final year in secondary school, pre-JAMB, when I told some of my mates that if there was another thing to do apart from going to a university, I would do it.

My only other option then was to become a businessman, by joining the Igbo apprenticeship system. I considered this, and I still talk about it, but the terms of service weren't clear to me then, and I felt I was a bit too smart for that kind of work. Like, good students are meant to go to school and get good grades na.

I didn't like the whole idea of Nigerian public universities, and then ASUU might just increase the time I had to be in school. I wanted to just do something different, to be me. Ended up writing JAMB, settled for Mechanical Engineering since there was no Computer Engineering in FUTO, and I wanted to get into school fast (I just wish someone had told me the difference between Computer Engineering and Computer Science.)

Started school, met some great guys, Gozie and Bona. I joked around in my first semester, hardly read, and wasn't sure what I was doing in school. When I checked my first result( which had some errors) I started considering starting afresh, doing another thing with my life, going back to my only other option. But I just had to continue, my mom told me to, she explained to me that there are always setbacks in life.

3+ years later, and I can say that it's been a great ride so far, no doubt, I've managed to build up my grades to just above a particular border. But it has not been a one of purpose, of growing to that level where I can place a dent on the universe. Where the products of my brain can help people who do not know me. Horizontal scaling.

When I read Naval's thread on Twitter in 2019, "How to get rich, without getting lucky." That was when I realized that I had a third option in 2017, one that was obscure, that was not presented to me by my immediate environment. Software Development. I'm super-bullish on Altschool, because they present this opportunity, and power to many young Nigerians.

I have been into software development since December 2021, and for once, there's this sense of purpose and direction I feel. Like I'm doing the right thing, and there's no way but up. I now feel and I know that the moon is my starting point, like my teachers always wrote. Thank you, Fidel, for the opportunity.

I just got off an interview, that made me recall my dilemma in 2017. I wasn't accepted because I'm still a student. And then I ask myself, What if my environment at that time, presented me with this option I finally get to choose 4+ years later? But then everything happens for a reason, I believe the world follows a pattern we do not recognize. To anyone out there reading this, if there is anything you should pick from this article, it is to always follow your instincts. You might seem crazy at first, but I bet you, you're on your way to greatness. Greatness is relative.

Well, I have made that choice now and will go all in, solving the hard problems, and making the world a better place, one step at a time.

To the future, growth, and marking a mark, cheers. I'm rooting for you, mon ami.