My Comical but Fulfilling Journey from The Field of Software Engineering to Learning

"What Next?"

The year is 2013.

I just finished my Bachelor's degree in Computer Science with a good grade. After all the pictures taken and celebrations with friends, I journeyed for 10 hours back home to the warmth embrace of family.

Like many folks in my position, the question in my mind was "what next?". I come from a conservative family that prioritize the academia, so that in response to my question of uncertainty, a unanimous battle cry from the room to the parlor echoed: "go for your Master's...you'll do great...you're brilliant!", and similar endearments.

Yielding to the pressure, I enroll in one of Nigeria's premier institutions, the Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO), to "further my education" - to the delight and joy of family.

I am at FUTO for a few months with no headway. Once again, in my one-room flat, I ask myself the same question of uncertainty, but this time with an expletive, "what f****g next?". Mind you, I am doing quite well in all courses. I am on a CGPA of 4.75/5.00. But I notice a certain gloom and boredom in the academia. I want more beyond theoretical musings.

In the spirit of "wanting more", I begin upskilling myself in programming languages and a few cloud computing technologies. So that shortly after this upskilling process and doing a couple of interviews, I'm on another 8-hour journey to Lagos, to take on a Software Engineer role.

The Parrot

In my Software Engineering role, I take on a few projects that are enterprise-related. It seems there is a strong aversion to consumer-related applications, but I digress. Anyway, I receive lots of instructions on functionalities to integrate - some of which were pretty intuitive, others not so much - from an enterprise user perspective.

My stint as a software engineer, who should be an obedient servant of the wisdom of my commanding officer becomes characterized by "explaining" and parroting ideas that might augur well to internal and external stakeholders. I rightly earned my parrot status.

This doesn't go unnoticed in the organization, as I am promptly given responsibilities to help upskill internal staff and serve as an interface with external clients on software functionalities.

The Parrot Sees a Path

Ever been doing something without being aware of the science behind it until someone comes along and tells you the scientific origin or etymology behind it? Yep, that is me.

While I continue parroting to those who will care to listen, in 2019 I get a message from William A. Adams , about a Microsoft Leap Apprenticeship role as Technical Instructor (how word of the parrot flies!). Basically, this programme isn't fully launched, but its target audience is all-female who will be upskilled in Software Engineering, Data Analysis and Cloud Computing.

My response? Why not, let's do this!

So my journey in Learning begins proper, after beginning for a while through endless facilitations across multiple subject areas.

A Few Lessons and Tips

1. "Man, Know Thyself".The Philosopher, Socrates, popularized the maxim as an attempt to draw insights on man's pursuit of truth and happiness.Who am I, for example? I came to discover I was a generalist (In this article, I expand more on the idea). As a generalist, I had interest in so many things. I didn't just want to code, I wanted to be involved in product marketing, copywriting, hell, I also wanted to be a software tester. My work's not done because I keyed in a few commands for the computer.Who are you really? Make it as ambiguous as possible, and then drill down.
2. Why I Chose Learning.a. Learning is dynamic. Building on the previous point, you honestly can't get bored in the dynamism of Learning. A key component of learning is called "Instructional Design". I'll let you adjudge for yourself the dynamism of learning through this definition of instructional design: "Instructional Design is the process of assessing learning needs and then applying the appropriate learning strategy to meet them".At first glance, two things stand out: one, learning needs might never be the same, especially across industries, two, strategies for each learning need are also going to be extremely fluid. If you love the grunt work of just doing as you're told, maybe this will be overwhelming for you, but if you want your creative juices to remain in constancy, Learning is for you.b. Impact is continuous. There are seemingly few things that beat "because of you, I'm now a Software Engineer", or a lady saying, "I was promoted into an all-male circle because of your trainings". Money can't procure that. It's a different level of satisfaction. So if your aim is satisfaction, have at it!c. You have free time for other things. Free time, not for the sake of free time, but for the sake of honing other skills that make you a better Learning agent.For instance, I still code in my free time, because I love solving problems. I have also honed my data analytic skills using tools like Power BI, Excel and the likes. I have digital marketing and social media skills which comes in handy when, say, I want to advertise or draw awareness to my courses, through social media campaigns. I have business development skills that enables me interface with potential clients and close deals. I play chess and play the piano. When you look at all these skill sets, it enable and drives my understanding of Learning as a field.
3. Understand the role of invisible and visible mentors.A few folks have the penchant of messaging others with the opener, "can you mentor me?". That's the wrong approach. You may never speak to some people and still have them as mentors. One approach I tend to use which you may know already, is putting your mentors in buckets. For example, for me:Principled bucket: GILBERT OBIEFUNA , my dad. I can't find a better man of principles anywhere. Maybe they exist, but who can tell?Leadership bucket: John C. Maxwell. I've never talked with him, but I've practically read all his books.Articulate mentors: Joe Whittinghill and Prof. PLO Lumumba . Being able to deconstruct complexities is a skill that few people have. You need to listen to Prof on Youtube or any other platform to really understand articulation.Assertive and knowledgeable mentors: Priya Priyadarshini (She-Her) . Chizor, my current boss, embodies assertiveness and knowledge. Priya, in my first interaction with her after my new role as L&D Specialist for EMEA at Microsoft, gave me a resource titled, "The First 90 Days" by Michael Watkins. This book helped me a ton and is currently my grail message especially in my first mid-level management role.Empathetic mentors: William A. Adams , Ohwofasa Imoh , and my mum, who isn't on LinkedIn. I personally tend to be brash sometimes, but these ones remind me of the humane element of interacting with folks no matter how you feel at the time, which I'll always cherish.For me, these five (5) buckets are core to how I visualize improving myself holistically as a Learning agent. For instance, I visualize, "as a matter of principle, what will my dad do in this situation?". Or "how do I deconstruct this as a Joe and articulate it as a Prof. Lumumba", and so on. By standing on the shoulders of giants, I'm able to mould my own unique image. I encourage you to use these 5 buckets and any other you can think of, and highlight invisible and visible mentors that will mould you into a complete package.
4. Begin from anywhere that involves impacting knowledge.In the question of "where to begin", I often come across advice ranging from getting a particular certification or another, as a way of ratifying one's skillsets. While those are important, a certificate doesn't make a doctor, a true doctor has helping others and administering care at the core of his/her being, before taking any examination.If you have the desire to see others succeed through impacting knowledge, start doing so where you are. Share knowledge more than you receive and assist more than you are helped. That is the core of impact. The ripple effect exceeds your efforts in multiple folds.But in terms of getting a certification in terms of ratifying training skills in several IT areas, you can become a Microsoft Certified Trainer (MCT) by following this guide. But for a broader understanding of Learning and Instructional Design, this course from the University of Illinois, will bring greater clarity.

Congratulations to my fellow future and current parrots. Let's keep impacting the world with invaluable knowledge.