Post NYSC Depression, 'Quarter life Crisis' and the struggle of the Nigerian Youth.

Post NYSC Depression, 'Quarter life Crisis' and the struggle of the Nigerian Youth.

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Knowledge is power, we´re told. Seek and ye shall find, they said. You accepted these words of wisdom, and embark on the decades-long journey. The journey of seeking education.
High school is filled with its juvenile delinquency, but still- it is education. You fight and won the war of entrance examinations, you look to the skies with all your fingers crossed that you will be granted an admission, and it will be your dream course. The knowledge that is promised to give you power. The results have been announced and the odds are in your favour, so you embark on the seeking, believing that you will find.

The best description of yourself in university is “a wayfarer sacrificing everything to get the promise of tomorrow”. You are unsure of tomorrow, but you’re told it is bright, that you´re only a certificate away. Graduate and ye shall prosper. You are excited, you can´t wait for that day when you will be knighted a graduate. The excitement kept you focus even at the face of numerous strikes, poor school facilitation, but yet you remained adamant. You are sure of the promise of tomorrow.

When the raining season finally arrived, you´re happy, you know you are now few months away from that final paper, from that final day. The day you finally gradate. Alas! The day is here, all family members gather to praise you, your image is in many friends social media profile, colleagues doff their fedora at your wonderful accomplishment. You are decked in a bedizen gown. You are happy, you have made it, so you thought.

You scanned some copies of your certificate and transcripts, and sent copies to your uncle and the other big man in Abuja. Meanwhile, you embark on NYSC, it seems to be the final stop before success, so you were told.

It has been about 6 months now, since your pass-out parade from NYSC, reality seems to show its original colour, you´re getting confused. Everything seems unclear. A dreadful period, a period of painful gestation, a period of involuntary waiting, especially for highly active and energetic individuals such as yourself. You are trying to endure this. Trying to cope. It is an epidemic, almost all your mates are experiencing it, only a few escape it. You are unemployed. You see yourself in the statistics every day, “high rate of unemployment.”

Quarter Life Crisis, is what you call it. A conjugate of the more popular and well researched Mid-life crisis. A period of intense soul searching and stress occurring in ones mid-20's to early 30's. Typically because of the feeling that one is not achieving his/her full potential or falling behind.

You want to give up, but you cant afford to give up. Everyday you look at your certificate- laminated with all the shiny stamps. And you begin ask yourself the tough questions; Have I failed? can I make it?. The last interview seemed positive, but not any different from the other eleven interviews you have attended that seemed all positive. But ended up to be rejections. It was as if the universe is paying a portal with your destiny. When one door closes, another one opens: only to relocate you to where you started, -looking for vacancies.
You begin to realize that the insulating atmosphere of school shielded from the harsh realities awaiting. Having spent 4 - 5 years of your live forming friendships and relationships that have become central to your identity, graduation became like casting a fish out of the river, where the deluge of depression and loneliness thus getting their insecurities amplified hits at once, Oh it hits, and it hits hard.

Your self confidence is falling, you compare yourself to the few that have gotten jobs and are married. You try not to be envious, you look for other distractions to give your life purpose. You fall in love, break up, you sometimes assume you are in love only for a sudden and rude realisation that the other person is not interested in your gloomy future. It is hard to realize, that you´re virtually in a relationship with yourself.
You feel time is running out to make something of yourself, you create a niche for yourself and embrace responsibilities. You have a vague idea of what you want to achieve but an even vaguer idea of how to go about it.

The most fundamental driver of your melancholy is comparison, comparison being the killer of joy and the father of envy fuels your anxiety and in worse cases depression.
But it is not all gloomy, this is period which fuels ingenuity, being full of energy, it's a period of risk taking and the reward to failure odd is overwhelmingly in favour of reward.

You decide to hit the gym, exercise is a good way of dispelling the dark clouds, a booster of self esteem and confidence and a natural dopamine and serotonin secretor (Happiness Hormones). Nurture a hobby, a small scale business and social and political activism should you be such inclined.

You embraced the pain, used it as fuel for your transition to the next level, propel your growth, the disappointments and challenges are like the waiting period between planting and germination. It may appear you are static, but necessary processes that may not be obvious to you are going on. Voluntarily embrace responsibility as responsibilities give life meaning and make it worth living.
Above all, you must remember not to allow the temporary set back to consume you and the negativity engulf you. Try to have hope, while you await for the light at the end of the tunnel, and hope that this light is not another train coming from the other direction.
You must remember that Gold has to pass through fire to be purified.

The writer can be reached via;

Email: walinajeeb2@gmail.com