All it takes is the first step

Nov 22, 2015 Features / Columnists, My Column

A long time ago I sat in the benches in school and tried to learn all that I could. Of course there were the distractions. Some of my friends had buttons and used every opportunity to gamble for the buttons. School work was secondary; the primary objective of going to school was to have fun.
I did not want to be left out of the group, so I would cut buttons from my stepfather’s clothes. Of course I paid the price. One time I cut the buttons from the crotch of his pants, so when he got dressed there was nothing to button. Only one person would be so daring so my mother did not have to be a detective; all she had to do was to know her children.
Back in school, though, I was torn between what was being imparted and by the gambling that was going around me. My teachers knew the children too, so they moved me. That probably helped me to get to the best secondary school in the country at the time.
Of course there were the distractions, but sitting down in single seats in alphabetical order did not permit much of the things that passed in primary school. After six years I left that school and ventured into the world of work. To do that, I had to look at what was on offer. The first job that surfaced was that of a teacher and I grabbed it.
A few years later, because I was not uni-dimensional another job opened up. This paved the way for me to become the person I am today. I can counsel young people who keep saying that there are no jobs. The truth is that there are so many, but it is just that some young people zero in on a specific job, but there may not be any openings at the time in that area.
So they sit at home or walk the streets or get tugged into some unwelcome distraction that could sometimes be detrimental.
My life is full of examples of people who took what was on offer and later moved to what they long wished for and ended up being very successful. I was once married and actually migrated in 1994. I did not have the courage or the desire to start over in another job area, so I returned home. I hadn’t a job having quit the Guyana Chronicle when the government changed.
As an aside, people say that I was fired. The truth is that I might have been, because the political powers that be did not have any affinity for me. Like some of the young people, back in 1992, I wondered at job opportunities. I had proven myself as a good reporter but the politics of the day had no use for me so I had to find something that I could do to earn a living.
So I did some teaching on the side until I got back into reporting. Tony Vieira wanted somebody for his fledgling news production and that was the re-start of the career that I enjoy to this day. The point is that young people should first of all get into the world of work, even if the pay appears to be insignificant and the job is not what they desire.
The woman to whom I was married was a manager in Guyana. When she went to the United States there was no job for her skills so she took the first job that was available—at Macy’s as a sales attendant. Not too long after she got the job for which she was qualified. She had a university degree. She is now retired.
My very good friend, a trained teacher who once lectured at the Cyril Potter College of Education, migrated to Canada. Her qualifications meant nothing at the time but she had to earn, so she worked as a store attendant. She mopped floors, then got another job until she became a teacher again. She is very comfortable having bought her own home after fifteen years. She earns more than me.
I remember these things because I am hearing too often that young people cannot get jobs. That is not true, and parents encourage them to develop these negative thoughts. My late son started as a teacher until he ended up working with Hand in Hand Trust Company. He left his own home for his wife and son.
My daughters are also part of the story. My eldest daughter studied and got her Masters in Agriculture. When she came she could not get a job to match her qualification, so he entered banking. My other daughter became a nurse. When she went to the States she took what was on offer. Today she can actually work from home. She is a nurse once more. She works with the autistic and other mentally affected children and with adults who need hospice care.
There are jobs, but the young people must first take the step to enter the world of work. Take what is on offer and the rest will follow. Guyana needs good teachers, policemen and women, soldiers, clerks and so many other people.

Discover more from Kaieteur News

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

Latest News