Yearly, Nigerian graduates spend one year in service of their fatherland. This one year offers the Youth Corp member various opportunities to improve their lives while serving. Unfortunately, many Nigerian youth Corp members fail to utilise this partly because of ignorance of what need to be done. As a serving or prospective Corp member, here is How To Make The Most Of Your NYSC Program. You need to be truthful with yourself to make the most of this opportunity.

How To Make The Most Of Your NYSC Program

Plan Your Life: The NYSC offers people the opportunity to plan their lives. It should be a time when someone with purpose and dream should sit and plan how to spend his or her life. One is expected to ask certain pertinent questions and also provide answers to them sincerely. Some of the questions to ask include: After service, what next? What kind of life do I want to live? How do I achieve my life goals? Who do i have to relate with to achieve my goals? What is my long term and short term goals? Do I want to further my academics? Etc.

Write your CV: As soon as one graduates, he is expected to get a job immediately after service. Unfortunately, many graduates do not have a written CV. The service year provides you with the ample opportunity to sit down and write your CV. If you do not know how to, make some research. Many graduates are without job because of a poorly written CV. You can also learn more about interview etiquettes. These are things that should form the focus of your service year as a serving Corp member irrespective of where you are serving.

Read Books: Probably, you never had time to read as you wanted when you were an undergraduate. There is no excuse for such while serving. Invest in books. Read on books concerning your life goals and dreams. Read on relationships, read on finance. Also read on purpose and destiny. Read on career etc. Invest in your mind where it can’t be stolen from you. You could also read on your line of study if you are furthering your academics. One thing is sure, he who does not read is not better than he who cannot read.

Also Read: How To Make NYSC Online Payment

Learn New skills: There are new skills you can learn within weeks or months. Use the NYSC year to learn them. It may be some programming skills. Just anything that could be useful now or in the future. Whatever skill you can learn, make use of this golden opportunity to learn as many are beneficial to you. It is what you can do that matters more than what you know.

Network And Make Friends: The value of meeting new people cannot be overemphasized. People are an open door way for future opportunities and connections. The joy of making new friends and meeting new people keeps the spirit in the camp high.  Most people make friendships that last a long time even between same genders. You can meet up with people who are already way ahead of you in your chosen career. You could meet professional photographers, public speakers, movie producers etc. Make friends with them. These people can introduce you to a better tomorrow. Make strategic friendships and reap the benefits in years to come.

Also See: Dressing Rules For Interviews

Attend Professional Programs And Conferences: One other important thing to do while serving is to enrol in and attend professional courses and programs. During the service year, you have lots of time to yourself. Use the time to attend professional programs. So whether it is an IT or engineering or finance professional examination that is relevant to you, do not delay. Make use of your time. Make out time for conferences whether paid or free. After your service year, you may not have the opportunity again for them.

Fine-tune Your Talents: For many individuals, they already have many skills and talent going into service. Some are already starting it up. Whatever your case, fine-tune your talents. Make your talent feed you. If you can sew, sing, speak, teach, sell etc, advance your talent and skills during your service year. Make friends that can improve you. Do not leave your talent dormant. You can start with extra-mural classes if you can teach, you can also use primary and secondary school students to kickstart your public speaking talent. Whatever you can do, make it beneficial in your service year.

Also Read: State By State NYSC Allowance

Is there anything you feel we can add to this/ please share your ideas with us. Perhaps, you can share with us what and what you learnt while serving. So, share with us How To Make The Most Of Your NYSC Program. It could be of help to someone reading this post today.