๐๐จ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ง๐๐๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐ ๐ซ๐ข๐๐ก ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐๐๐๐ฌ๐ฌ๐๐ฎ๐ฅ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ฆ๐ข๐๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฒ?
Answering your questions received by private messages!
๐๐จ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ง๐๐๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐ ๐ซ๐ข๐๐ก ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐๐๐๐ฌ๐ฌ๐๐ฎ๐ฅ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ฆ๐ข๐๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฒ?
(My personal story at the end! You can skip immediately to that! I will not be offended!)
๐๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ณ๐ผ๐น๐ธ๐ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐ณ๐ฟ๐ผ๐บ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐น๐ฑ, ๐๐ฒ ๐ฑ๐ผ๐ปโ๐ ๐ต๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐๐๐๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐น๐ผ๐ฎ๐ป๐ ๐ถ๐ป ๐บ๐ผ๐๐ ๐๐ณ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ฐ๐ผ๐๐ป๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฒ๐, ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐บ๐ฒ๐, ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐ฝ๐น๐ฎ๐ป๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ป ๐ฎ๐๐ฎ๐ถ๐น๐ฎ๐ฏ๐น๐ฒ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป! ๐ช๐ฒ ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ผ ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ณ๐๐น๐น ๐๐๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ด๐ถ๐ป๐ป๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐บ๐ถ๐ฐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐ฒ๐บ๐ฒ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐บ๐ผ๐๐ ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ผ๐ฝ๐น๐ฒ ๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ, ๐ถ๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐ฎ ๐น๐ผ๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐บ๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ๐!
Let me start by defining what I mean by โsuccessful academicallyโ. Isnโt that having a Ph.D. or becoming a Medical doctor or a lawyer?
No!
The first question you should ask yourself is: โWhat do I want to doโ? Success means you achieve a goal that you define for yourself! If you donโt have any goal, success is not well-defined!
For some people, they want to have degrees, for others, they may want to do art and all of those are okay as long as you are able to pay your bills and honor your responsibilities! For example, if you aim to become an actor and have a masterโs degree in psychology, I donโt think you succeed yet! You got something very good and not everyone can do that but that was not your goal to begin with! However, if you want to become a teacher and you have a bachelorโs degree in teaching! You can call yourself successful after you land a teaching job! You donโt need to get other degrees, you already have what you aim for! Soโฆif you want to call yourself successful, identify your goal first!
Now, I will assume that you already defined your goal! The difference between a goal and a dream is whether you act on it or not! So where to start? You need to identify what you need to achieve your goal! You may need a degree, a skill, or moneyโฆwait what? ๐ผ ๐กโ๐๐ข๐โ๐ก ๐ฆ๐๐ข ๐ค๐๐๐ก๐๐ ๐ก๐ ๐ ๐๐ฆ ๐ผ ๐๐๐โ๐ก ๐๐๐๐ ๐ก๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐โ ๐๐๐โ๐ก? Yes! Exactly, you donโt need to have everything to start! You need to find the money on the way! Or you may find the money first! ๐๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ข ๐๐๐๐, ๐ผ ๐๐๐โ๐ก ๐๐๐๐ ๐ก๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐โ ๐๐ข๐ก ๐ผ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ฆ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐โ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ก! ๐ผ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ข๐ ๐๐! I got you! As I said before, when you identify what you need to achieve your goal, you also need to do some research (on the internet) on how you can receive some support and what resources are already available! Depending on your goal, there are skills that you can build by working on a different job (for example, you may be able to get public speaking practice by teaching), or by using a mobile app (like Elsa or Duolingo). There are also MOOCs you can take for free to learn programming, writing, journalism, or SEO (you can find some on coursera.org or at https://alison.com/).
Jobs in those areas may not require an official degree, you need to show the potential clients/employers that you have the skills by building a portfolio or posting your work on social media. Companies may also have you take a test! However, if you want to become a doctor or a nurse, you definitely need to get that degree! Soโฆ how?
Work! Find a job! Get a short training that can help you land a temporary job! And when you get that job, remind yourself you are not successful yet, because it is not your goal! You need to save money to go back to school! You may be able to open your company or do great things later but focus on the goal!
If you want to become a doctor and find a job in customer service, even if your job gives you a lot of money donโt stay there for long! I mean, you may need to talk to your boss (after showing you can do great work for the company) to move you to the night shift so that you can both keep the job and go to school! Just donโt stay too comfortable in a life you donโt want!
Some of us also may be able to receive monetary support from parents or relatives. If that is your case, good for you! Take advantage of that! But pretty please, do not post that you started from zero when you opened your company, okay? We hate that! We know you are lying!
For some students, their parents have some funds but not enough to send them to the school of their choice. If that is your case, be grateful and go get the training your parent can afford! Learn foreign languages or tech skills and find a job! Once you get a job, you can go back to school and work on your real goal! Having a parent/relative paying for school is a great privilege! That means you can focus on only studying and will learn languages faster than us all!
๐ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ด๐ค๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ข๐ณ๐ด๐ฉ๐ช๐ฑ๐ด. ๐๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฌ? Good question! There are a lot of scholarships and they support different profiles of students. If you have financial struggles (orphans, disabilities,โฆ) and were crazy good in high school, think of an 18.5/20 GPA and more, you may find a scholarship right after getting your exit exam!
I have never seen a scholarship offer that supports an undergraduate student who is just good or who is just struggling financially. You need to be both! If you got your bachelorโs and get good grades, there are scholarships for masterโs programs that donโt need you to be financially struggling or have a disability (but that helps your case too!).
There are also scholarships for minorities or abuse survivors! Also, some universities donโt offer scholarships, they have assistantships. That is, you need to work for the university at the same time as completing your degree! ๐โ๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ข ๐๐๐๐ ๐กโ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ก๐ข๐๐๐ก๐๐๐ ? Go to https://www.afterschoolafrica.com/. They have tons of resources that help you build an outstanding resume and they publish a lot of opportunities! I love this website because the opportunities are curated for Africans. You can also go to the embassies of foreign countries and ask! (Hey folks in scholarships, if you want to be featured in an interview on my page, send me a private message and we can talk! I would love to do that!)
๐๐ถ๐ต ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ช๐ด ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ข๐ญ ๐ด๐ต๐ฐ๐ณ๐บ? ๐๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต!
I was not born to rich parents! My mom was a government worker. A stable job but not a lot of money! My dad abandoned us when I was 5. My brother was 2 and my sister was 6 months old! When I said โabandoned โ, I meant, he did not divorce my mom, he just left! He did not pay child support, even after my mom died, he did not help me although my siblings were still minors back then. My mom really loved to read and had tons of books, most of them bought before I was born! She also made sure to buy the books that we use at school at the beginning of each school year. Yes, we had all those books, whether they were required or not, but sometimes not have enough food! When I was about 10 years old, I started to help my mom by selling cassava and snacks when there were soccer matches near our home! So that is how a lot of people knew me! We also sold water and delivered water to โricher peopleโ! That was like my โday jobโ. My uncle did that job so I did not have to find my own clients, I just followed him and he gave me the money after the job was done! Thanks, JIRAMA for not bringing water to my village ๐๐, if not I would not have gotten enough money! Well, I may have done something else! My village is also known for its artisanal bricks, each dry season, people make bricks from clay, cook them, and sell them! This is how a lot of people made wealth, it also brings a lot of small low-key jobs! One of them is transporting bricks and I did that! It does not require people to be smart, you just need to know how to count. Cooking bricks also requires dry cowpies (tainโomby)๐๐๐, donโt ask me why should it be cowpies but what I can tell you is that we collect them and sell them to people!
When I got my high school exit exam with a very good grade, I became famous ๐๐๐๐ in the village. I was always famous among the schools I went but that was another level of fame! People did not care anymore that was selling cassava or cowpies, people knew me as a smart girl! So people started asking me if I could tutor their children and I said, if you give me money, I will! And so I became a private tutor while studying in college. And I stopped collecting cowpies! I was still selling water because, you know it is sweet to bring water to people!
My first โpremiumโ student was a client of one of my teachers! The girl went to a French school and the parents were rich so I could charge more than my regular clients. Yes! I need to see what kind of house you live in before telling you how much you should pay me! People with more money pay more! That is my rule! How did I convince my teacher to give me his client? I did not! I just told him that I was a poor broke smart girl and I needed money to pay for the bus! I was doing well in his class so once the parents of that student called him, he sent me! For those kinds of jobs, once you start having clients, if you do your job correctly: being punctual, gentle with the student, explaining well, and honest when you donโt know the answer, people spread your name. I also learned all the skills related to my field, like using a programmable calculator, and programming in Scratch and Algobox.
I posted ads on Facebook and people recognized me and recommended me to others! Honestly, I would like to say thank you to all of the people who recommended me to their friends, I donโt even know who you are but think of this as my official thank you note. I ended up saying no to a lot of people because I had one student per day for weekdays that I tutored from 6pm to 8pm and I tutored the whole day on Saturday!
Another teacher also brought me to the first school that received me as their math teacher (St Champagnat Anatihazo Isotry)!
When I was in my fourth year, I applied to the AIMS scholarship, and remember when I told you one of my teachers refused to give me a recommendation letter? That same teacher lent me the money I used for my passport and visa processing! (I am not dropping names here because I did not ask for permission)!
๐๐ โ๐๐ค ๐๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ข ๐ก๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ก๐ โ๐๐๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ข? I just tell them I need help. As I said in a previous post, people may say no, you only need one person to say yes to you! Of course, you should not ask for money from people because they have money, nobody is going to give you a dime! People work hard to get money and even if they have a lot, they care about how is it spent! However, if you go to rich people and explain to them you got a scholarship and need funds for a passport and visa, a lot of people will give you a hand! But they will definitely need proof that you already got that scholarship! So that is a tip from me: when you ask for money, send proof! You may receive no, or a genuine โthat offer is a scam!โ Whether the person gives/lends you money or not, say thank you! Remember, it is not their job to support you and you are not entitled to other peopleโs money so if you receive, be grateful, if you donโt, be grateful for their time. Some people are reluctant if they do not know you well but when you receive more credibility, they want their name to be attached to yours! That is why you donโt break the relationship!
Back to the story, when I received an admission and a teaching assistantship to Clemsonโฆ I asked for help again! Yaaay! The world record for complaining and asking for help! (I donโt know if I am a world record on that or not but I asked for help from a lot of people!) Some people sent me money right away, and others lent me money! The first month I was here, one of my teachers paid for my rent and he asked for money from other people he knows so that I could buy food! (Paperwork is not easy!)
So that is my story, I opened this page so that I can share my journey with you and connect you to resources! There are a lot of resources that nice people around the world build for people in need! Unfortunately, the people in need do not know those free books, free webinars, and free courses exist!
The bottom line is, you donโt need to be rich right now or from a rich family. Fix a goal for yourself and work toward it. Get a temporary job, it gives money and experience! Talk to a lot of people! The road may not be easy and you may stumble in the middle! You may lose focus but having a clear goal helps you redirect yourself! When you get your degree, nobody cares about how long you took to get it!
Use the free resources I am sharing with you here! Learn a foreign language! Even if you donโt have any technical skills, if you know how to speak French or English fluently, you can get a better job! Being the cleaning lady in a big company gives you more money than being the cleaning lady in your neighborhood. And we love all our cleaning ladies on the page! We also love all the teachers who do their best to educate our youth!
This story was originally published in Malagasy in my personal account. The English version was requested by Avotra Esther!
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