ASSUMING RESPONSIBILITY

From Drew

Responsibility is one word people dread to hear. It is also something that shows how mature someone is. For the person who is unwilling to grow up, the person who does not want to carry his own weight, this is a frightening prospect; these are the words of Eleanor Roosevelt. This quote to me, explains the reason why people hate or love the word; responsibility.

The very day I wrote my last paper to complete my first part of tertiary education, I got an internship with a software company to learn about the practical aspect of the career that is ahead of me. (I must say that I have been convinced by someone important to me to choose this career path, but that is not to say that I don’t like the career, I mean who wouldn't want to be a corporate communication tycoon someday).

I had to quit my internship because of delays in my project work after a week of starting work. I will tell you why I delayed in my project work some other day. It is an entire story on its own. Hopefully, by then I will be laughing about it.

Since the day I had the internship, I knew from the word go that my career is my responsibility, my father’s, was to get me an education which he has done. I am now responsible for the success or otherwise of my career.

This got into my head so much that I thought the only responsibility I had in life was my career. Everything else happening around me was not my responsibility but that of others.

For instance, I thought I wasn't responsible to cook though I was the only one who stays at home, neither was I responsible for cleaning the house since a it is a woman’s job, yet my house is infested by men; my mum lives and work at Cape Coast, while I live with my dad and brother at Accra. To me, everything I do in that house is like a charity, I’m donating my time and service to.

This whole responsibility thing really hit me in full force when my dad started an extension on our house. I was handling the project money and everybody but me, goes to work, so technically I am the foreman or the contractor of the project. Yet I convinced myself that it was not my responsibility to supervise the work. The only responsibility I felt I had with this project was the financial aspect. Knowing my dad, I know I better render proper accounting to him, especially when the money is finished and there are still lots of work to do.

After weeks of constant complaining from my dad that the workers aren't doing the right thing, I got the sense that he was disappointed in the contractor of the project; me! Yet, I did not see the reason why I should be held responsible for the mistakes of these grown professional men who have been doing this job for more than five years. Mainly because, I knew, I have never done any form of construction before except for the ones we did in Mathematics and Pre-Technical Skills class.

 I later realized how I have failed to show up as a contractor.  Here I was, after being forced to quit my internship and now looking forward to starting  my National Service in a company where I can learn and practice as a Public Relations Officer,  I have completely blew away the opportunity of learning how to execute a project successfully.

 I realized I could have used this as my internship, though it is not exactly communications related but I know that as a corporate affairs manager of company I have to know how to execute a project well.  A Public Relations Personnel should be able to manage both human and material resources to properly execute a project; it however, demands efficiency among your staff, an attribute that was clearly absent in my construction staff.

I failed to turn our house extension into the best ever working-from-home-internship.

But one thing I have learnt from this project is not to focus too much on the negatives, besides my boss (my dad) did not fire me partly because he is stuck with me as his only intern which is a good thing for me because I can make up for my short falls (the project is still ongoing).

Besides I currently have a firsthand experience on how to fail as a project manager so at least I have fair knowledge of how not to fail as a project manager.

In the end I’m doing my internship, I don’t wear a tie and a jacket and go into a fancy building, instead, I work from home and I’m learning about project management and execution. I can now get these old masons and carpenters to work to my specification. I have realized my dad rarely passes bad comments any more.

My career is on course and I’m responsible for it.

THE LAST INTRODUCTION

 And so i am the unintroduced one among us three, thus the tittle,but
hey you know what they
say always save the best for the last.( I pray the other guys skip over
this, when reading).

Okay about me, i`m Lemuel Michael Nana  Akyien Nortey.Well if  you are
wondering why i have two English names, mum gave  me Michael and 

Dad,
Lemuel,call me which you want, i`ll answer.The Nana Akyien shows my dad`s
Fante roots even though he has a Ga name.

Was born 22years ago, September 23, in Eastern London, (never  mind i don't have the
accent),I've lived in Ghana since i was four; I have traded it all for
Kenkey and Auntie Mercy's waakye at GIJ.

My family is a large one,apart from the dad and the mom, i have six
siblings, i mean four brothers and two sisters[know what you are
thinking, i`ll tell my dad he is a great man ].Fortunately, i have
always lived with my family,even though most of them are now elsewhere.
At least,with my dad old now, i get to be the man in the house.

Starting in the year 1997AD tiil present I’ve attended  about  some six
schools.I attended nursery school at Jack& Jill Day care,then had my basic
school education at St. Anthony’s Preparatory School and Grace Preparatory
School.Later on I had the most life changing High school education at the
Accra Academy.While there I offered courses such as
Literature,Geography,Economics mathematics.I mention them all because they
all impacted my on my life different values.

Prior to my time at Accra Academy(Bleoo), I was at sea as to  what I
wanted to do for a living.Nevertheless I had always been an avid reader,and
quite brilliant at school.So my Literature teacher’s be-a-writer sermons  at
Bleoo, made an impression on me.Thus I write poetry to this very day.Well
the writer part of me pinches me everyday to forget it all and just publish
my first anthology of poems,well guess what Jah willing that will happen in
December.

High school came and went, then a year later, l  enrolled at the Ghana
Institute of Journalism, to offer a Diploma in Communication Studies.Partly
because I later want to pursue a degree in Public Relations.


The Ghana Institute of Journalism has such a close knit campus, its as
if everybody knows everybody.However,the legendary  2013 diploma
class, was more close knit.That was my class and there i met these two
other brilliant guys,Jonathan and Andrew who birthed this idea.

  Amidst all the drama and whole experience at GIJ, we still carried
our dreams with us.Myself to become a PR professional and
writer,Andrew to work at Harpo studios, and Jonny to achieve
perfection on on the mic, scissors and pen. Now we want to share with
you every bit of our dream chase, in the hope that we inspire and
entertain you our with our real life experiences

Dear reader, my name is Lemuel and i feature in this unstaged reality show.

Scissors, Mic & Pen

My name is Jonny; actually it’s Jonathan. Jonathan Donkor. Don’t worry, I am not going to add that I was born on 27th August or I went to Mfantsipim School or my favourite meals are Banku with fried fish and Jollof rice.

No! I wouldn’t because adding that info will make my introductory piece sound like one of the “myself essays” I wrote way back in basic school. Well, it appears I already have. Forgive me.

At  different  stages of  my life,  according to those “myself essays” I authored in basic school, I wanted  to be a  Priest , a Playwright,  a Poet, a Journalist , a Singer, an Actor, a  Fashion Designer and a lot more I can’t even remember.

Choosing one of them to focus on after senior high school was my worst day and nightmare until I decided that if I can’t be all of them, at least I should be most of them. To achieve this, I categorized them into three, representing each with a tool thus the Scissors, Mic (microphone) and Pen.

Scissors represents Fashion Designing. I’d like to become a celebrated fashion designer whose work would revolve around buttons, a clothing line, I intend naming jOn-buttOns^®. What slightly drives this passion is the disloyalty of most of the tailors I have had since childhood especially the one that stole my fabric and used it to sew a shirt for his son. Can you imagine?

Microphone signifies Music. Even though I enjoy singing in the bathhouse, I’m happy that I have not ended up as a bathroom musician, at least not yet. I read music as one of my elective subjects at Mfantsipim School and currently a chorister in the Ebenezer Methodist Church, Cape Coast. I Love Gospel, Jazz, Soul, R&B and any song I find pleasant to my ears. I have written a few songs, my favourite being a birthday song I wrote for my dearest friend and I believe that if John Legend, Stevie Wonder and Ghana’s Efya, my favorites, have done it, I too can.

Pen of course, symbolizes Writing. Aside what you are reading, I write poems, plays, short stories, movie scripts, tributes, in fact anything that requires a touch of creativity.  I host three blogs http://jonnydonkor.blogspot.com for poetry, www.fiction-files.blogspot.com for fiction and www.mystolenshots.blogspot.com for slightly humorous but thought provoking pictures and of course I co-host www.lifebeyonduniversity.blogspot.com. My personal motto is “write to right and delight.”

Completing Ghana Institute of Journalism (GIJ) makes me thrilled. At least, for now, the Pen part of my dream is gradually taking shape and this springs optimism that with hard work, dedication and determination, the Scissors and Mic parts will also be accomplished.

My name is Jonny; actually it’s Jonathan. Jonathan Donkor. The future is my destination and I want you be my guest as I journey through Life Beyond University with my Scissors, Mic and Pen.

MY FAMILY

From Drew.


Most of us were born alone, except of course twins. We spend nine months living alone in our mother's womb but the moment we come out, announcing our arrival with a cry, we begin to live with others.

We are introduced to a family that is supposed to protect us and care for us.

My name is Andrew Tetteh but you can call me Drew. Growing up for me was a little away from the ‘normal’ well, like I tell my friends; I don't come from a ‘normal’ family. It's not that my family is crazy or something but my family history's is not what most of my friends have.

Ever since I knew who I was and had a fair idea of our existence as human beings (eight or nine years old), I have never lived under the same roof with my entire nuclear family for more than three weeks before. It is either with my brothers and/or with either one of my parents.

At school my friends talk about their family and certain things they share, they speak so highly of the “family bond” but I realized I had no clue as what my family had in common apart from our names and our bloodline. I wished then that I will one day experience the same thing they talk of. This was way back in primary, fast forward to present day university graduate and I have not yet experienced the so called family togetherness or bond.

The interesting thing here is that I'm not complaining and more so I wasn't craving for that experience. In the end my realization is that my friends have their family story and I also have mine, which is unique to me and my family.

It wasn't that my family didn't have a story or was not 'normal' as I believed it to be, but the fact was that we did have a story. It was not a story of us living in one big house together but a rich story of us living physically apart from each other yet staying together because of love and respect. Yes my family is a normal family. It is our normal, besides who defines what is a normal family?

Living in the same house is a good thing, but if you don't have that it does not warrant complaining about not having a good family. What is most important is love amongst you, this I learned from my dad Richard Botchway, Agatha Botchway my mum, Nathaniel Tetteh Snr, Benard Tetteh, Micheal Tetteh, Kingsford Tetteh and Nathaniel Tetteh Jnr my five big bully brothers. I hope they will not read this else I will not get a gift on my next birthday; March 25.

I have been to college, finished successfully and I could not have done this without the help of my family.

One thing I have learned is that every family has a story, a unique one for that matter and there is no way you can have the same family experience as that of your friend. The most important thing is to find ways to make your family work. It took me twenty three years of searching to get this answer.

I hope yours ends here.

Please do tell us your family story by commenting and share the article with your friends and family.

LIFE EXPERIENCES

                                                                              

So we went to school, did our best and passed our exams; coming out with flying colors and then we got a job. We both got a middle class houses on mortgage while we were pretty sure our jobs was secured. A good one for that matter and then we started taking our girlfriends serious. We started discussing marriage and then we got really serious and did the unthinkable; we met the parents.

After a month or two, one of us took the lead and went for the engagement list and he realized he doesn't have enough savings so he started buying them in bits and when he realized that he had bought two third of the items of the list he set a date for the engagement and the wedding date too.

Two weeks to the day his wife and him started buying the rest of the items but then their savings begun showing in the red, the next natural thing to do was to start contemplating whether to postpone the wedding or borrow money to pay for the rather lavish celebration they have planned. Postponing was taken off the list because their parents have invited all their people from the village and they have embarked on the three day journey already. So, the only option left was to borrow. He did not ask us for the money but a business associate instead.

Well, the wedding was great; there was plenty of food and drinks. The music was superb; he hired the best live band in town and got the most sorts after venue for the reception. The marriage ceremony was everything he had read about from the fairy tales books during his childhood and now, it is his reality.

The honeymoon was unimaginable, a four star service, but when they got back, his friend business associate from whom he borrowed the money to pay for the rest of the wedding had left him a voice message on the answering machine. His lender was in a serious financial mess and could do with the money he borrowed him, preferred deadline for payment; three weeks. What a start to a marriage life, gasped.

This is a real life story but not ours, follow this blog for real life stories about us, (three university graduates) as we cope with life after school. We will tell you everything concerning our hustle in life from our career to our love life, nothing is off limits.

Most importantly we hope that these life stories of ours will help you live your own life……. Sometimes we think we are alone in our misery but most often than not there are thousands more also wearing the same issues as us.

It is our wish that you learn from our real life experiences and do not repeat our mistakes….

Our names are Lemuel Nortey, Jonathan Donkor and Andrew Tetteh but we prefer that you know us as Lemuel, Jonny and Drew.