If you didn’t know I finished university back in 2019. That marked the beginning of a break in formal education that began when I was a toddler. Yes we fall and pick ourselves up to achieve this goal.

🥇My Experience

past

The year 2019 ended with the introduction of a deadly virus that later brought the world down on its knees. businesses closed, travel was banned, as the number of cases raised. Lucky me, for I had Just finished University. The World Health Organization soon declared the outbreak to a pandemic and suggested measures to be taken in order to control the spread of the virus. That’s when all things changed. Gatherings had to be banned that meant that schools had to be closed church gatherings also had to be stopped. It was a real shock. The way of doing business changed also and people were encouraged to work from home.

So I am someone whose academic journey had only been done through face to face classes. That was what I m comfortable with. I had never had online classes before, as there was no need and there is no part of my academic journey that required me to take online classes.

The only lessons I had taken that might be equivalent to online classes were Photoshop and Illustrator YouTube Tutorials that I was having since the start of 2016. To the online learning world I had some experience after all.

recent

When the pandemic and lockdown hit us. I was home and stories of an alternative way of face to face learning reached me and that was online learning through various mediums – WhatsApp, video conferencing etc. If I remember very well that’s when I started to here of zoom, google meet and MS teams. These applications Already existed I believe but I never paid attention to them since I didn’t see myself using them anytime soon. Hey, what happened to skype?

I had to grab the opportunity to explore, so I made the decision to try out this new thing. I found myself an online course to take. I picked Project Management on LinkedIn learn. to be honest I liked the experience but then some were along the line I stopped, I don’t know what happened, I don’t remember, but what is true is that I didn’t finish those project management classes. I will redo that in the future definitely.

Fast forward to 2021 I got a Graduate Trainee Program at one of the local Newspapers. Part of the learning journey required me to be a sells rep. Then I decided to take the free digital marketing course offered by google garage. When you going into uncharted areas you learn all there is to know and also to put some of my extra time to good use.

📝What I learnt

Taking these online classes I have to admit it was a fun experience, I remember looking forward to going home so that I do the lessons. Its worth it. Here is what I have learnt through this journey, as always I hope it helps you.

👮‍♂️Discipline

I m sure you agree with me that is talked about a lot. Well most things in life require this trait and even face to face classes did require this too but, the discipline required for online classes is a bit more. Trust me you need to be disciplined in order for this to work. These day companies have a way of getting you distracted, look at your Facebook notifications, WhatsApp, email, YouTube, etc. Take it upon yourself to build the much needed discipline. since being online brings many exciting distractions.

💖Dedication

Dedication gives you the joy of taking on your classes. it is like an invisible fuel that keep you ticking. Constantly you have to find time to take these classes. Your dedication has to be spot on. Of course there is no one to hold you accountable so your dedication need to be strong. Imagine there is no school governing you when to finish your class, what time to take them and there in no lecturer or tutor to say kept quiet, don’t do this and that. You can be scrolling Facebook feeds whilst having classes. With all that your dedication is the only thing that is going to save you from the commotion.

🥳Learning is all about having fun

There is so much joy and fun when you choose how you are going to do your classes. You choose what kind of reward system you are going to use, you have to choose the time that works for you, and the environment that work for you. All this gives you the power to make learning as fun as you want or as boring as you want, maybe you are one of those that want to be bored for effective efficient learning. I think let call this learning customization, rather than taking classes at school or college stipulated times and places. For me the 40 hours required to finish the digital marketing course didn’t seem much because of the way I structured my classes and I didn’t faced any problems as I was the chief designer of my classes.

🎯Future plans for improvements

Having gone through this online experience, I envision my future self differently. I need to build habits around the learning – there is no limit to what you can learn, that is why I m taking it upon myself to continue with this. However I need to build lasting habits so as to successfully integrate this in my life. I would like to make this part of my life/part of who l m. Again one thing l learnt about entrepreneurship – pro tip – is that information is power, learn when you can and what ever you can from anyone around.