The 23rd Birthday Project. Day One.

Beginning of my career journey (Civil Engineering)

Graduating from school felt amazing. I was ready to move on to the next stage of my life, but then I had to spend months at home which was a buzzkill. Fast forward to NYSC camp, I hated being in camp, the sun in Paiko, Niger state was scorching and out for blood, not to talk of the accommodation which was a huge disappointment, we were stuffed like sardines and expected to live peacefully as one big happy family (LOL🤡). On the bright side, it was in this circumstance that I got a glimpse of a side of me that had somehow remained in limbo, and that side enabled me to get my internship in Em-One Energy Solutions Limited (😁). 

My strategy in camp was to find ways to keep to myself busy in order to make time go faster. I joined my platoon's volleyball team. Wow, shooting for the stars kinda thing, right?(😉) So yeah, it was a big deal to me because I was quite indifferent about sports and I had never played volleyball in my life. At the end my team came 3rd position, and I felt quite proud. I was part of Man-O-War ( chosen because of my body size, lol). Then I participated in the Bold and Beautiful category of Pagentry, that was fun (😄), took 9th position out of 10. Apparently body size was the only criteria needed to win. And no, I didn't have a camp boyfriend (😜).

I got to know about Em-One just before I went to camp through my cousin. After I went through through the company's website and seeing their projects, I knew it was something I wanted to be a part of. My father being a Civil Engineer with years of experience exposed me to the Civil Engineering world majorly building construction. I was curious to see how Civil Engineering could be integrated in other industries different from what I was used to, since my six months I.T was under Highway Engineering (bridges and road construction).

I sent an application to the company's email and was told to send my CV then an interview date will be fixed. Double trouble, I didn't have a CV and I was still in camp in Niger state. With no prior knowledge of preparing a CV, I was faced with this challenge, the environment was discomforting, no laptop, no power source in the hostels and of course time constriction. It wasn't easy but calm seas never made great sailors 💪, I prepared my CV on my phone over a few nights and sent it in the hot cramped hostel chambers of Paiko camp.

Experiences no matter how little tend to push us to a variety of unpredictable reactions and what really makes them experiences are our reactions to those situations. 

I celebrate completing my internship in Em-One. Being a part of the solar project in Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing, Mabushi, Abuja, exposed me to not just a variety of people but also areas in my life I needed to work on (career wise and personally). I'm happy with the work I put in all those months with no regrets. Working on weekends and late hours should have seemed foreign to me, but I have my Father to thank for training me ahead of time. 

The learning process is a neverending one, there's one thing I learnt that sticks out, "JUST SHOW UP". By showing up, without realizing it you're exhibiting other positive characteristics, you're saying; 

a) I'm reliable and ready to work at any time. b) I'm making this job a priority by being available. Then when you show up and do the work everytime, You've made yourself an asset.🤘