Short Story: Follow Your Passion!

There are few occassions that could contest with the aura and razzmattaz of University graduation. For Nkem, it was a dream come true; a dream that once looked like a mirage. He had toiled for five years to etch his name in the enviable annals of men who had come to be known as Civil Engineers. It would have been a perfect story for him if he had not narrowly missed the coveted first class honours. 'I still know my worth though', Nkem reassured himself in words that sounded more like consolation than confidence. Within two months of completing his youth service, Nkems' brilliance had landed him a dream job in a frontline bank, with a pay that many at his age will kill to earn. It was the holy grail for many graduates to find a white collar job with juicy renumerations, and Nkem had just attained it with minimum fuss. Some of his friends and relatives wondered how a Civil Engineer ended up at the bank, but Nkem marveled at their foolhardiness. 'This people don't seem to understand the kind of country we live in', Nkem soliloquized. Five years later, Nkem had grown in fortune. His pay was nearly in six zeros. To those who were watching from the outside, he had arrived. However, on this faithful morning, as was the case with most of his mornings, Nkem woke up with a knack to leave his job. As he entered his SUV, ready for work, he was determined to end his five-year miseries and penury once and for all. For five years, he had tried to see if he could bring himself to love his job. But every effort he made to develop a penchant for his job, led him to further dislike that job. Nkem cried in his SUV. This was not the future he had bargained for, and he was determined to end the deceit. To the chagrin of everyone, Nkem resigned from his bank job. His parents wondered if he was under a spell. No one but his own heart could comprehend his decision. Within months of resignation, he set up his own Youth NGO, which was his first and only love. He galvanized youths towards nurturing their voice and abilities for nation building. For Nkem, this was the only thing worth living for. His life had been a tussle between pretence and passion. He admonished the youths in his NGO, 'Follow your heart, for it's your life and you will only live it once'. He continued 'From Civil Engineering, to the bank, now with an NGO, I have found purpose. I might not earn as much as when I was in the bank, but I have found a reason to wake up every morning with joy and sense of purpose. Follow your passion'.