Zainab Aderounmu 
From someone who truly enjoyed university and came out with a First Class in my first degree, I have my “reservations” about schooling.
Imagine putting your energy and focus into excelling academically, only to discover that you’re deficient in other areas of life after graduation, because the curriculum didn’t prepare you for it.
That was how I felt after leaving school. Largely underprepared for the real world. It was almost as if I hadn’t learnt anything at all, so I knew immediately that I had to invest in learning and self-development.
First, I created a roadmap for what I wanted to achieve and identified the loopholes in my knowledge and skills. I quickly discovered that my biggest gaps weren’t in academics, but in the soft skills that school rarely teaches. If you did any extra-curricular activities in school, it means you have a head start with skills like teamwork, leadership, or even communication. If not, that’s exactly where to start. Imagine having to work with a group of people, but you don’t understand how people work, or how to get your ideas across to them? You’ll definitely struggle.
Beyond those skills, you also shouldn’t joke with personal finance skills. Learning how to earn, budget, save, and invest your own money should be your top priority to avoid near-future financial stress. Networking and negotiation are my personal favorites. Prioritise learning how to build quality and deep relationships with people, if you didn’t pick it up in school. You should also add digital and workplace fluency to the list. Learn email writing, slides presentation, excel, or any other digital skills you find relevant.
Once I identified the missing skills, I turned to books and the university of YouTube. You can randomly search top books on the particular skills you’re trying to master. One or two books on each skill is fine; you don’t have to read all the books before you apply what you learnt. If you are pressed for time, you can watch Youtube videos instead. Search top 3 videos on strategic networking, watch them and apply the lessons immediately. The trick is to apply, don’t just watch.
If you’re still a student, don’t wait till you graduate. It’s also not enough to just join an association and hope you’ll learn what you need. Instead, take charge of your personal growth and put in the self-work. Understand self-awareness, build quality relationships (and hone your networking skills in the process), consistently audit your skills and improve where necessary. It’s not enough to hope you’ll catch on, because you might not.
Finally, here are some book recommendations for communication, networking and personal mastery you can hop on today; Insight by Tasha Eurich, Rejection Proof by Jia Jang and How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie.
I’ll see you at the top.
Zainab ADEROUNMU A. W. is a First Class graduate of English Language and the Overall Best Graduating Student from the Lagos State University, Lagos Nigeria. She’s a professional Master of Ceremonies, known as The Hijabi Compere , a public speaking coach and Communications Professional. She is currently a Youth advisor to the European Union where she doubles as the Spokesperson and Head of Communications & PR for the Youth Sounding Board.