University Is Not A place For Clever People

It's a common mentality that university is a place for clever people. Typical people on the street view university as a place for people who are very intelligent and posses unique skills and abilities that enable them to enter a university. This mentality is typical for those that have gone through the formal education system. For instance, one that passess Grade one  through to secondary school and university. To date, many Papua New Guineans(PNG) believe this concept as  a reality.  Rather university is not a place for clever people. Its a place for those who have a high committment and determine to study hard and live a different life. Its also a place for people who have a right attitude and sees ordinary things in an extraordinary way.

There are also many that have gone through the informal education system like College of distance education(CODE),Department of open and distance learning(DODL), Matriculation etc... and are occupying higher places in the social structure in our society.There are many real personal testomonies of people who have gone to universities and graduated with degrees in various discipline despite being termed as a "school leaver" or drop out from the formal education system in PNG. There was one guy I know personally who failed in Grade 8 and went through the informal education system and entered university of PNG and graduated with Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS). He is now a practicing medical doctor in PNG. There was also a carpenter who also studied medicine and is a medical doctor. As such, can you say that university is a place for clever people?

I am also a testimony of such commitment and determination to achieve a purpose in life. I droped out of Grade 10 in 1988 and unable to secure a placing in the tertiary institution and university. I was out on the street with the street boys doing what a street boy would do. I indulged in drug, stealing, break and enter and selling ciggarettes to make ends meet. After three (3) years  of been on the street, I realised that I can become a better person only if I made a personal comittment and determined to have a good life.I praise God for the wisdom given to me at that time to started thinking seriously about a better life.

From scratch,I enrolled with CODE and upgraded my marks in 1991. I did extremely well and was accepted a placing at Lutheran School of Nursing in Madang in 1992. I successfully completed my nurse training in 1995 and was employed with the Lutheran Health Services (LHS) and posted to the remote Menyamya district of Morobe province in PNG. While employed, I enrolled with DODL at the University of Technology in Lae and completed my Adult Matriculation(Grade 12 certificate). A year later, I studied Health Management at Divine Word University(DWU) in Madang and graduated with a Bachelor of Health Management in  2010. In the near future, I am looking forward to pursue a Master of Science in International Management and possibly a Ph.D before I retreat from public life.

So there you are.  University is not a place for clever people. I would like to encourage those that are pushed out of the formal education system that its not the end of your life. By all means, you can make it to a university, if you have the right attitude and made a commitment to study hard and is determine to live a different life.