When my school went on strike following the demands of the mother union ASUU..., I was not only unhappy but very sad and devastated. I had recalled how difficult it was for me to get myself useful last year when my school embarked on strike for almost the same reason they did this year.
At home, the thoughts about ASUU contentions with Federal government occupied me. After some days I realized that my thoughts were inconsequential rather I should worry about myself and my development. I was at that stage of brooding about the upcoming ASUU- Federal Government negotiations fearing the outcome; until the issues of Covid-19 and the need to lockdown all non-essential activities came in to being. During the period of Covid-19 lockdown I read all the books I came back with twice because the level at which the electricity distribution company interrupted the supply of electric power was and still appalling. Hence, I couldn't watch more of movies- it was really bored doing the same thing over and over again and getting the same satisfaction. I started looking for what to do immediately the first phase of lockdown was eased but from July I started looking for what to do outside my house.
I looked for a menial Job in various establishments, every morning I always leave my house happy and come back sad. I gave up on that futile quest when I walked into an establishment on August 17, and was opportune to meet with the manager who told me clearly- "Listen, it is impossible to get any job at this time that companies are intentionally looking for workers to layoff... besides you are not ambidextrous no one will look at you twice". To be honest, that day was my first time to hear the word "ambidextrous" not knowing what it meant I understood his euphemism. I reached home and googled it the way I pronounced it; thanks to Artificial intelligence (AI) in search engine it showed me exactly the word and the concise meaning. I was sad not because he said that I was not ambidextrous but because he generalized hastily, judged me from my appearance and refused me an opportunity to try and probably succeed.
I had been through a lot so I learnt to be resilient, I sought the counsel of an IT specialist on LinkedIn and enquired if it was possible to learn digital skills with just a smartphone at home. He told me that I could learn Data Analysis with Excel on my smartphone and more. Excel on smartphone, how? I asked, he told me that with my school email I could directly get registered on Microsoft website acquire Microsoft365 office and automatically own a personal Microsoft office online. He continued and told me to get enrolled into free data science courses for beginners in various online platforms like ‘Cognitive class, Coursera, Data camp, EDX.’ Now with my smart phone I can take raw input data and transform it in a way that can actually provide value through virtualization making it ready to solve problem. I take data, train myself and learn more. I don't need to be ambidextrous to do this.
My name is Lotanna and ASUU Strike got me a great Skill!
