I don’t have any interest in the course I am studying, I want economics

May God bless all the contributors on this topic. I had wanted to write Jarushub pertaining to this very topic. The difference here is that my course of interest is Economics and I’m a final year student of Agricultural Engineering. I never for once dreamt of becoming an Agricultural Engineer, not even after an expert and practitioner tried to convince me of the career opportunities for students who study Agricultural Engineering. Having spent four years at home after my SSCE, I became desperate to enter into any university to study whatever course was given to me. I got admission into one of the leading schools in the country with an offer to study Agricultural Engineering which I accepted with a view to moving to Economics department after my first year. All effort to cross to Economics department in my second year was to no avail. So I carried on with Engineering. Even though I’m an average student of engineering (by my school standard), I don’t think I can fix simplest fault in simple farm machine. This weakens my learning spirit everytime I think of myself as a part five student of engineering. My inability I believe is mostly due to my lack of interest in the course and, maybe, poor system of education of the country.

Despite my best efforts, I’m still struggling to make a 2:1 in my final year. These, the stress and ‘you must cram to pass’ syndrome, are killing my academic life and make school uninteresting to me. I would have loved to start afresh with economics if not for my age (will turn 26 next june) and my financial status. Sir, kindly do justice to my case  as you’ve done to that of Kelechi.

Thanks

Curiouses

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Dear Curiouses,

My brother, your case is quite different from that of Kelechi, though similar dilemma. Reason is, while anybody, irrespective of academic background, becomes an accountant once he writes and passes accountancy professional examinations (ICAN, ACCA, CPA etc), there is no professional exams to write to become an economist. It is academic and research-driven. So unlike Kelechi that we advised to just write ICAN or ACCA to become an accountant, there is no professional exam we can recommend to you to become an economist.

Yet, you never said you wanted to become an economist, you only said you wanted to study economics. Mind you, you don’t become an economist by having first degree only in economics, you must have at least Msc, if not PhD, in the field (or any of its branches) before you can be regarded as an economist to be taken seriously. Despite having my first degree in economics, I don’t refer to myself as an economist, keeping to that convention.

So again, why did you want to study economics? To become an economist or to use the course to achieve some other life goal (e.g career opportunity). Yet, I will not advise you to go and start your first degree again in economics. At 26, age is not on your side. You mentioned not being so financially surefooted, and will definitely like to hit the labour market; at 26, it’s already getting late, given the many age criteria out there today. So going to start all over again because you want to study economics is not the best decision, in my opinion, because by the time you finish, you will be 30+.

But the good thing is, you can still have your way to become an economist! Pat Utomi is one of the most popular economic analysts in Nigeria today. He didn’t study economics for his first degree; rather, he studied Mass Communication in Nsukka. He went ahead to do some further programmes and degrees in branches of economics to become an economist.  Opeyemi Agbaje, who I once interviewed on this blog, is also a leading economic analyst, yet he read law for his first degree. He gathered his experience from being a banker for many years, MBA, and personal readings. Today, he matches a PhD holder in economics in economic analysis.

So I don’t think you need to go back again to obtain first degree in economics. Finish your first degree in Agricultural Engineering, then you may consider MBA, or search for Msc programmes in some branches of economics where first degree in economics is not mandatory.

In the meantime, while it calls for sadness that you cannot fix a farm tool, truth is more than 90% of Nigerian engineering undergraduates also cannot do. It is the cramming mentality that our educational system has forced us to apply to survive the system. So finish the programme. Meanwhile, start thinking of what you want to do post-school.

Keep in touch as things progress.

All the best.

Jarus

PS: You write articulately, and although this should not be something surprising for an undergraduate, I have seen too many Nigerian undergraduates struggle in expressing themselves that the ones I see pass across their thought in clear terms, impress me.

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