Life to me has always felt like a field full of things to explore. I believe that with the right amount of curiosity and willingness to learn, you can acquire knowledge about almost everything in the world. Even more possible with the presence of companies such as Google and YouTube!

These two big bosses of the internet have made knowledge acquisition available to everyone right at their fingertips. They are the reason why a person like me, who studied Soil Science for five years in the university can easily transition into the tech world simply by being curious enough and ready to learn.

I began with social media. Talk about Twitter, Instagram and the age-long Facebook. Everyone was on these platforms and I was not left out. I had my pages but at some point, I became more fascinated about the different platforms. I watched several YouTube videos and took courses on how I could monetize this holy grail called, Social Media.

Learning how to monetize my social media presence led me into Social Media Marketing. I started out by helping friends build their small business pages for free. Later, I got recommended to other people and businesses by these friends. With most engagements, I worked based on freelance contracts which allowed me to take on as many brands as possible and to have several potential sources of income. A number of the brands still owe me for these services but, I practiced my skills and improved what I had to while I worked with them.

I learnt to use some applications to provide more services to my employers; video editing apps, design apps and, I improved my copywriting skills which helped me with better content creation.

Soon, it appeared like everyone was into Social Media Marketing and around this period, my interest began to peak in the areas of website design and coding.

One day, I came across an offer of almost-free coding classes for women and I applied. Almost-free because I paid 10,000Naira to acquire the resources used during the training. There, I learnt the basics of front-end website development and UI/UX designing.

But life doesn’t always go as planned. I’ve had several distractions from furthering my website development trainings and practices. I’ve started new businesses and taken marketing job roles. However, this year, I am attending a training to get certified on being a UI/UX designer. This certification training is scholarship-based and it excites my friends.

I began taking social media gigs 3 years ago and it’s been a huge learning process transitioning into a UI/UX designer. So, if you are thinking of changing your career, all you need to do is take the appropriate steps and get to work.

Also, remember to have fun while at it.

Submission by: Wems