OPEYEMI'S STORY WILL INSPIRE YOU TO TAKE LIFE ONE DAY AT A TIME.

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This week, Opeyemi Aderibigbe (@opeyemii_ on Instagram) shares his story below:

You can plan your life. It is nice to project into your future. You Know, senior associate by 25, partner by 30 and CEO by 35. Well, If you’re among the lucky one percent, life works exactly the way you plan it. What I have learned however is that life doesn’t always work out that way.
When I have my kids, I will tell them that their father was among the best students in his class. All parents like to brag about "their time" in primary and secondary school but I have the receipts to show that I was always one of the smartest kids in my class.

At 16, just fresh into my university education, I had already mapped out a plan on how I was going to be a chartered accountant working and living in the States: I would graduate from Covenant University, then proceed for the mandatory one-year youth service. While serving I would start my professional exams (ACCA), finish it, then move to America for a Master's degree and continue my life in the US. 
2010: Preparing for my exams.

Everything was going according to plan until I started my ACCA. I wrote my first exams in December 2010. F5 (performance management) and F6 (Taxation). To say I failed woefully is an understatement. I scored 28 out of 100 in F5 and let’s not just talk about F6 (Laughs).

I had never failed an exam before in my life so I was perplexed. No, the truth is that I was embarrassed and I wanted to quit. I kept on saying to myself, "Opeyemi, this was not the plan."

Well, The ACCA exam that I thought would take me a year and half to complete became a journey of three and a half years. I passed F8 (audit and assurance) at the 3rd attempt and P2 (corporate reporting) at the 4th attempt.
Present day
I’m an ACCA chartered accountant now. I haven’t done my masters four years after completing the ACCA exams and yes I still live in Nigeria.

Despite all of this, I’m learning to enjoy the journey as it unfolds. I am learning to complain less too. Yes, this was not how I had planned it but I am fine with how it is turning out for me.

This is what I have learned: Life happens. Life will challenge the things you think you have figured out and you just have to learn your lessons and move on. For me, no hope is lost. I am just forging ahead, focused!

P.S: Thanks Ope for sharing your story.
ACCA stands for Association of Chartered Certified Accountants.

-Tobi Amokeodo


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