Intro

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I went out today to submit my final project report to the Civil Engineering department office at Unilag and then decided to sit outdoors and enjoy the sight of nature and human interaction for a while as I ignite the vibe to write this post.

Who am I?

This is a question I've pondered over a few times without figuring out an answer. Maybe I will find that closure as I'm writing this post.

When I look back at myself 15 years back, sometimes I wonder if I actually grew or if I lost my spark.

Maybe I should start with what I actually remember about myself: 15 years back, I was a young boy with high self-esteem that might have even led to me being conceited. I remember myself as being respectful but lacking empathy. I was rigid and believed you had to work to get what you wanted, and anyone I saw that was poor and had bad luck, I simply assumed didn't work hard enough.

As I got older, I began to experience life itself. Life threw me a lot of curveballs despite working so hard and planning meticulously. I began to lose my self-esteem. I kept asking myself, "does that mean hard work isn't all it takes to shape that fulfilled life you desire?"

Let's also talk about my days in the university. People familiar with the education system in Nigeria understand that we take a longer duration to complete our programs because of strikes; I literally spent 7 years at the university. It felt like the school had taken so much from me. As an Engineering student, I was always studying and had less time for social interaction, and the fact that I spent 7 years in school was kind of sad.

I am done with school now and keep asking myself, 'Ola, who are you?' Have the decisions and beliefs you've carried changed you? Would the young boy of 15 years ago still recognize the same me of now?

Well, the answer to this is quite subjective. The young boy of 15 years ago would definitely be a bit disappointed about some awful decisions I made and that I allowed myself to get consumed by trials and lost my spark, although the young boy would still also be proud because I learned. I learned the hard way, but I still learned.

When I think about it, those trials made me a better person. It was a hard route of depression and anger, but it made my paradigm shift in many ways. I learned that you can't win without failing. I tend to not take failure lightly; when I fail, I could lose my mind. I learned that you shouldn't judge other people's failure based on hard work because a lot of other factors play into winning or losing. I learned the power of networking; I was always an island that felt it could do it all alone. And most importantly, empathy. People helped me a lot when I was at my lowest. I legit started keeping a gratitude list because I was shocked at the sacrifice people could make for other people.

So in conclusion, I can't change my past, but I can make my future better. I guess the young me would be proud of this statement and post I have created.

So, who am I?

Olamide is a young man who failed and grew from those failures.
I am a talented young man that has honed lots of skills that the world would recognize.

Oh, and Olamide is someone that enjoys being a chess wizard 🧙‍♂️ in his leisure, LOL.

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I hope you all enjoy reading my thoughts through your screens

First Image is Mine
Second Image Used AI generated from: https://app.leonardo.ai/image-generation

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Thank you for reading ♥
Editing and gif with Canva

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