How did I get into IT?

Serendipity is the occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way. I got into IT - Information Technology by a wonderful stroke of luck, for which I have absolutely no regrets.

For context, I finished secondary school (high school) really young (before my 14th birthday). I had high hopes, and like almost every other science student in those days, I had my sights on studying an oil-industry related course, getting into the oil industry and cleaning out.

My SSCE result was fairly ok, but almighty JAMB jammed me. I had a dismal score of 199. I couldn't even get into OAU for Yoruba Engineering, talkless of Geology which I applied for. My dad - by stroke of genius - ensured that I also sat the PCE (Polytechnics and Colleges of Education examination). I scored 164, which was enough for me to get into Yabatech - I thought.

I chased Computer Science at Yabatech, but it eluded me till the admission session was almost over. At this point, my dad tapped into his contacts at his home state far in the southwest, and i got admitted to into Computer Science at a Polytechnic in the southwest, not the mining engineering which i desired.

So for 4 more years while I was in the polytechnic, I kept trying JAMB, and it kept jamming me. I finally gave up at HND1, still not scoring up to 200 marks at all 5 attempts. That exam thoroughly deflated my ego.

In hindsight, I am grateful that I did not stop my education at the Polytechnic, but gave it my best shot, while also "sidechicing" JAMB. On the flip side, why was I blindly sitting that exam again and again without preparation? I just donated money to JAMB for nothing. One should never run into exams without preparation, you will lose money!.

Another lesson. You didn't get that thing you wanted? Why not love that thing which you got instead, it might turn out to be your cash cow. Eventually in Canada, IT then turned into the golden career path, which even engineers and oil big boys tried to switch into.

In summary, IT chose me, I didn't choose IT. I totally love it! :)

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