A year is long and torturous. 365 days of adults waking up at dawn and sleeping late because they have to fend for their families; adults who were assured in their childhood days that they would find comfort after finishing education. They went all out and most of them completed the requisite 8:4:4 long haul only to be met by unending hours of work in taxing and toxic environments.
Even more painful is that because of basic or misguided career guidance, most of the current adults ended up in professions they are not passionate about. It was demanded that we all aim to be doctors, nurses, teachers, pharmacists or pilots - something reputable that would bring honour to the family name. Oh, and good salary. But the name carried more weight.
A cabin crew paid in dollars by Air Lufthansa for serving tea to travellers could not be compared to a nurse in the village dispensary. How do you compare a waiter to a health practitioner? The few schools that had career departments pointed all students towards known disciplines that carried reputable names and that promised big pay checques. And because we were drilled to pass exams, we excelled at it only to realise how hard it is to love what you do compared to doing what you love.
That notwithstanding, life has to go on and bills have to be paid. Most of us find ourselves confined in laboratories around reagents we hate or tethered around patients in a ward where we feel sicker than those looking up to us for support. Gladly, we have learnt our lessons and are taking necessary steps to break the cycle of the dull-witted rigidity borrowed from our parents and their parents.
Tapping into creativity
We have learnt by watching Churchill Show and the Redykyulass comedy crew that behind the laughs we savour, there are men and women who make money while doing what they enjoy - making jokes. They don't have to dress up in suits and ties to make a salary a month, neither do they have to beat the hectic city jam daily to arrive at the same spot to sign similar papers year in year out till their scalps are hairless.
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Now we are investing resources in our children's education while also giving them the freedom to explore what they find passion in. Parents are willing to pay so much for a child to attend music classes or drawing and creativity lessons. After watching Lupita Nyong'o grace the Actors Guild Awards, we are now willing to pay extra tuition fee to have our children participate in drama clubs after school and for trainings that otherwise sound trivial to the ears such as public speaking or dancing.
Modern parents have learnt over time that the best thing they can bequeath their children is education in an area they fancy. Parents no longer frown upon a child who is less strong in class. Instead, they will support that child in whichever other way possible to pursue their desires. It is a generation of flexibility that is breeding more passion than just the allure for big salaries that has created doctors that kill patients.