Beyond Wires and Bulbs

How he found his path in Electrical Engineering

Welcome to WHY THIS COURSE?

From childhood dreams to random decisions, from chasing passion to JAMB choosing for us. Every student has a story behind their course. In this segment, we explore the stories behind how students ended up in their current courses. Some chased passion, some stumbled into it and a few aren't even sure about how they got there. Either way, every story is a story that deserves to be told.

Meet Festus, a 300-level Electrical Engineering student whose journey has been shaped by curiosity and discovery. From dreaming of inventing as a child to finding his path through engineering, Festus’s story is about navigating challenges, uncovering purpose, and embracing the practical side of a field like engineering.

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Hiiii Festus, Thank you for being down for this. On a scale of 1-10, how are you doing today?

I'm doing great, so I'll say 8.5 out of 10.

That's nice to hear! Let's go back a bit. As a child what was your dream course to study?

As a child, I always knew I could never be a doctor as many children claimed they would 'cos I found blood disgusting, even mine. I was a talkative, but in my mind, so I didn't go to Arts 😂. But I was passionate about inventing stuff, so I wanted to be an "inventor" since I didn't know the names of courses.

Oh wow, what are you currently studying?

Right now, I'm currently studying Electrical Engineering, and I think I'm on the path of becoming an "inventor"

Love that for you! Would you say Electrical engineering found you or you found it?

Hmm, this is a deep question 😂

Give us the tea, please😂

I think it found me. Like I said, I wasn't so conversant with courses until I was about to enter uni. My desire was to become an inventor. Then, it unfolded to studying engineering. A professor actually advised that I chose this course as it was a better option to achieving my goal. Maybe we actually found each other. There was a spark in me for Electrical Engineering, and it revealed itself to me 😂

Interesting shift. So would you say you've found purpose in it?

I’d say I’m still on that journey. It's not the purpose itself, it’s more like a pathway to it. It’s helping me think critically and solve problems. Through that process, I believe the purpose is unfolding.

Hmm I love this response. What a balanced Response! What's one thing you love about your course and one thing that frustrates you?

One thing that I love about my course and really motivates me I that when I study, it's very practical. You can see wires and cables, but there's much more going on within and around it. Ifykyk 🤭 (if you know, you know)

One thing that frustrates me is that there's so much to study within a short period. I'm still just a little boy 🫠

I know right! Sending hugss! You mentioned how your course is really pratical. Have you ever fixed something based on what you've learnt from your course?

Just some tiny little stuff, like when an extension box stops working.

I haven't really gotten my hands dirty with major repairs but I have some ideas that flow when I see faulty appliances 😂You can bring your household appliances to my workshop sha... no promises, but we can look at it together 👍(Terms and conditions apply.)

Okay na! Thank you, my charger head is shaking, I'll bring it you.

Okay nau 😂😂

I think now is the perfect time to ask, What's one misconception people have about your course?

This misconception is so annoying. Many people think that studying electrical engineering is limited to just fixing household electrical appliances like bulbs and sockets. It's actually a wide field where you can work in telecommunications companies, control systems, and real industrial work.

Another one that is usually very funny is that they think what we just do is join wires together and gbam, that's what I learnt for 5 years 💀

Eiii, is this shade to me? I actually understand this stereotype, people think that electrical engineers are just the ones you call when you want to fix light or connect wires. Because to be fair, I can learn how to join wires in YouTube.

Yesss, exactly

So to clear that up, what's one thing you wish more people understood about electrical engineering, that is not "joining wires"

Hmm, how do I put this? Okay, so in electrical engineering, we study how electricity is generated from the popular Kainji dam through hydroelectricity, and it goes through your transmission lines to your blenders without your blender catching fire.

You know the way network is active and you're using the Internet, it's because of the signals that gets to your phone. We also study that. You know how some companies just click a button and it begins to produce many items automatically, that's automation. I apologise for any difficult terms, but in summary, we study machine design, automation, signal processing etc

Thank you for that lecture, now I know better. I'll still call you help me fix my charger head oh😅Have you ever had moments where you doubted yourself and felt like giving up and changing courses?

Yess, sometimes I remember the course I'm studying and I'm like "That's true, I'm studying ELE 💀"

But because of the goal I have in mind, I guess I always found a way of pushing myself back up. As an engineer, you can't create systems on your own, so community has helped a lot in this journey.

Thank you for that! Let's imagine someone reaches out to you that they want to study your course, what's one thing you'll warn them about and one thing you'll hype them about

If the person plans to attend the same school I am, I'll tell them: brace yourself, and that it gets harder as you advance. There'll be days where the brain is not braining, and you're just staring at formulas. Speak in tongues when that happens, continue and stay consistent and you'll get to learn much more than you thought.

Now, the hype is that the diversity of this course is actually wilddd. There are so many possibilities in this field, home and abroad. You'll also get to see things differently too.

Love that! If not ELE, then what?

If not ELE, I think I'll love to study music.

Wowww never have I ever would have thought.

Yeah, I love it 😂

Aww, thank you so much for doing this with me, Inventor, Engineer Festus!

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Festus story reminds us that every course has more to it than meets the eye. Whether you're still on the journey or still figuring out your paths, your story matters too.

If Festus’s journey inspired you, don’t keep it to yourself, hare this with your friends, classmates, and anyone who’s curious about what studying Electrical Engineering (or any course!) really looks like. You can always tell us in the comments which course we could talk about next.

And, if managing your budget this semester feels like a challenge, don’t forget to grab our Free Student Budget Tracker designed to help you keep your finances on point while you focus on your studies.

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1. Some details have been changed for privacy sake