THE NEED

In life, everyone is uniquely identified as; pastor, writer, activist, change agent, politician, doctor, engineer, entertainer, designer, scientist, teacher, farmer and what-have-you. Most times, our purpose is attached to these identities; a pastor that prays for people; an activist that initiates change, a doctor that wants to see his community healthy, an entertainer that makes people laugh to forget their problems, a farmer that wants to feed his country; it’s endless.

Before choosing our paths, it takes a lot of self-awareness and self-discovery to know who we are and understand our placement in the spectrum of life. However, only a handful of people are truly assured that they are on track for their lives. Many people are still clueless and confused about who they are or what they are supposed to do on planet earth; this is why many people are sad, depressed, and stressed about life in general. Life holds no colour for them because they lack a sense of purpose. The purpose is the key to navigating the complex, volatile and ambiguous vicissitudes of the life we face every day, where strategy is ever-changing, and few decisions are right or wrong.

Studies show that people who have a strong sense of purpose are likely to be more resilient and recover faster from negative events than those who don’t. Even at work, those who have found a way to connect their job to their purpose report levels of well-being that are five times higher than the latter.

For adolescents, the issue of purpose is very critical. This is because, according to a study done by Professor William Damon, head of the Stanford Center on Adolescence, only approximately 20% of young people reported leading a purposeful life.

Bolarinder Oluwaseun saw the need to educate young people on purpose and life planning and rose to the challenge. 23-year-old Bolarinde, a 400 level student of Agricultural Extension and Rural Sociology at the Olabisi Onabanjo University, is passionate about making positive change and impacting and touching as many lives as possible.

He launched the project “Teenage to Purpose” conjunction with the DO-Take Action Team. The project is under the Skill-Up, Climb-Up program, a solution that addresses the challenges of the skills deficit, poverty, unemployment rates and unpreparedness of both African businesses and the teeming population of young people for the future of work and globalization. 

He carried out the project at Bashorun Ogunmola High School, Ibadan, Oyo state. The details include the following activities:

• A keynote presentation on Temperament types, Intelligence types, Career choices, Things to consider while choosing a career
• A practical session where the students identified their temperament and intelligence types, and their related career path              
• A self-assessment test to evaluate the students on their understanding of what has been taught to ensure comprehension and assimilation
• Selection of 12 peer educators to advocate for life planning and career choice development in their respective communities and sphere of influence. This will ensure the continuity of the good work and exponential results as the student advocates engage their peers.
• An online career mentoring/advisory WhatsApp platform for the students.

In the course of the project, over 21 participants were sensitized to the essential role of life planning in attaining a fulfilling career choice. Twelve students were selected as peer educators, signed up to the online Teenage to Purpose mentoring platform, and pledged to advocate for life planning and career choice development within their community. The participants scored above average in the self-assessment test on the Teenage to Purpose and Career Assessment Test. In addition, a good percentage of the students who were present committed to having purposeful living and maximum life accomplishment by early career/life planning.