Dilemma of a young african developer - To Uni or not to Uni

Have you ever been forced to graduate?

Thanks to the very successful dropout billio-millio-naires who have carved an indelible niche in history, the desire to NOT go to  university has really become a good, comfortable and proud thing for many including myself. What's the point in going to Uni when I know I will be dropping out to start my own company anyway is the anthem of many. Just so you understand the positive impact these dropout billio-millio-naires have had. Today, a lot of Ghanaian parents including mine no longer give their kids pressure to go to Uni because they have come to somehow (I don't know how) know the stories of the men behind Apple, Microsoft and Facebook. Amazing!!


Despite the evidence of living testimonies for both sides of the coin (the successful dropouts and the successful non-dropouts), lots of young people still find themselves in the dilemma of whether to go to Uni or not to go to Uni. You as an individual are solely responsible for the final decision on this subject and it'll be suicidal to let someone make the choice for you. I am just going to share with you why I went to Uni and pressed 'undo' after 2 years. Then pressed 'redo' after another few years.


So why did I really enter Uni?
For a few reasons.

1. Peer pressure. Back in the day when I finished high school (1998), Uni was the next logical path for anybody who wanted to become somebody. All my friends seemed to be heading there so I had to 'wise up'
2. Parental Pressure. My dad is a chartered accountant and you definitely don't expect him to watch his only son waste away with some flimsy excuse of wanting to be his own boss.  Nonsense! Definitely not under Mr. Ocansey's roof.
3. Extended family pressure. You know how smart uncles and aunties ask you questions like "oh so what course are you reading at the varsity?", "are you in level 200?".. That's their tricky way of asking if you are in Uni at all.
4. I missed out twice on a UN job. I got a UN job that really required a first degree at all cost. Shit! I missed it and boy ... It pained me. That was before I decided to go to Uni. The next time the opportunity came I had dropped out of Uni. Silly me you can say!
5. My girlfriend in medical school was after a few years going to come out with a straight doctorate. I had to compete or at least match up small.
6. To spice up my profiles and introductions. You know how when people come to give talks they mention their long qualifications. I kind of liked that and wanted to build up such an academic trail.

So why did I press 'undo' and drop out of Uni?

I had been doing very fine without Uni. Before going to Uni I had already  started my career in I.T. I had completed the 2 year diploma program with NIIT and had already worked in 2 international companies and was by now in a third.  All that before Uni? The heck I would need Uni now.

Uni was boring. I decided to do something different from IT so went for Accounting with information systems since it happened to be the most difficult of the courses. After 2 years the course got so boring I never went back.

The I.T. lecturers didn't know much. After dropping out of a main stream Uni I decided to go to a Uni that was more I.T. centric. After a few weeks I realized I was just wasting money because the lecturers were telling too many lies. At this point I was about 4years into my I.T. career and so knew a lot. This happened in two I.T. centric universities I tried in my country. There was no luck and no going back.

Combining school and work wasn't getting easy. All the while I went to Uni I was in full time employment and had to combine school and work. The projects at work were fun and often got my attention till late into the night. I was using assignments time for work. I sometimes missed lectures because I had to be at work. It got to a point I had missed so much school I actually forgot I was a student.

Passion for my work. I got more passionate with work and the desire to build something great. Once you get to this point there are three things that are likely to suffer in your life. Your relationship, your academics or  your full time job. For me the last two suffered. I quit job and quit school. I had to focus on building a business and needed all the time I could get.

If you decide to skip Uni
Make sure you develop yourself personally. Get certified professionally. Luckily for us in I.T having a degree before getting certified is not at all a requirement which is a very good thing. Get as many certifications as you can.

Make sure you are good enough with what you are supposed to know. In Africa a degree is mostly your first marketing strength. You can really know nothing and still get a job with some company once you wield a degree. Imagine you not having a degree and not knowing jack in the professional path you have chosen. That's like shooting yourself in the head while hanging from a rope.

I have been lucky enough to get work in 5 companies without ever having to present a certificate. None. That's because I mastered my fields and had very compelling projects to back me up. I still continue to learn daily. No room for complacency at all. 


The few moments I spent in Uni taught me things that really helped me when I started Kursor Solutions.

Company law: first year at Regent University of science and technology we learnt company law. I applied all I learnt in my company law lectures when I had to write contracts and agreements, even terms and conditions and privacy policies for some of my projects. Of course you can always read these up on the web or even get a template from someone who has done them before but there is really nothing like hearing the concepts from the mouth of a practicing lawyer.

Basic accounting: I was reading accounting as a major so of course started with the basic book keeping, balance sheets, profit and loss statements stuff. These were again very useful to me when I had to keep accounts for Kursor Solutions.


I guess by now I have left you more confused by not really giving you the straight answer you expected. I did answer you right up in paragraph one. You are solely responsible for the decision of whether to Uni or not to Uni. This however has been my story about why I decided to go to Uni, get out, go back and get out again. Get in and get out one more time. For one last time I am back in Uni and this time it's not for the paper or any of the 6 reasons I gave earlier but just because I never leave stuff I start unfinished. Wish me luck!