The F..A.I.T.H Initiative
| Name | Omotola Akinsola |
| Country | Nigeria |
| Website | www.thefaithinitiative.org |
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Omotola O. Akinsola is the most positive and encouraging individual you would ever meet. Her zeal and dedication to social justice, social change, service and leadership makes her shine above her peers. Her mission is to help others, especially young people help themselves and be all they can possibly be. Born and raised in Ibadan, Nigeria, Omotola is a forward thinker and an agent of change who has come a long way because of her outstanding passion for civic engagement. Recently, Omotola was named one of the recipients of Who\'s Who Among American Colleges & Universities Students. She was also awarded the 2012 Outstanding Social Work Student of the Year and was inducted into the Circle of Influence for Student Leaders by the Leadership Institute at Columbia College, South Carolina. She has been selected as a Congressional Fellow and would be working at Capitol Hill in Washington, DC during the summer of 2012. Omotola will be studying for a Masters degree in Social Work at the George Warren Brown School of Social Work at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri having earned a Bachelors degree in Social Work with a double minor in Leadership Studies and Psychology from Columbia College. She serves as the director of leadership for The F.A.I.T.H Initiative (http://www.thefaithinitiative.org/), a youth-led nonprofit organisation in Nigeria and an ambassador for Young Womans Guide (http://www.youngwomansguide.com/), an organisation dedicated to the growth, mentoring, and education of young girls. During her undergraduate years, she served on the Columbia College Service Council, the Columbia College Judiciary Board, the Diversity Committee and was as a Global Studies Scholar for the Multicultural Affairs and Community Resources Office at Columbia College. Omotola is a national member of the Phi Alpha Social Work Honor Society, Omicron Delta Kappa Leadership Honor Society and the National Association of Social Workers (NASW). She is also a member and a researcher for the American Model United Nations. Omotola is the founder of Unusual Cube, a blog created to empower, motivate, influence and challenge young people all around the globe to do what the world considers to be hard and unusual things. Her hope is to help cultivate in today\'s generation, unusual people who will be dedicated to serving others, their communities and nations by living unusual lives driven by an unusual purpose and who will bring about unusual possibilities. Omotola Akinsola has developed and continues to demonstrate the set of skills required in a leader. She is a woman with a vision, on a mission to bring about effective and lasting changes not only in the social welfare sector but also in the education sector. Omotola\'s mission is to help the helpless, give hope to the hopeless, encourage the weary, inspire the young, motivate and empower the downtrodden and challenge people to do more than just hope for others to do what they are capable of doing.
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Pay Now, Play Later; Play Now, Pay Later!
posted on Thursday, June 14, 2012 08:33 PM
As I go through my daily activities, I see old men and women who have been endowed by God with physical fitness; they are not blind, deaf, dumb, crippled or retarded. I see them walking around aimlessly on the streets without jobs or places to live. Then I wonder, “How did they get to this point? What did they do with their youthful days? You do not suddenly grow up, life is always in stages, from one stage to the next and before you know it, time passes you by. So what were they doing when they were younger, when they had more strength, vigor and vitality? What did they spend their time doing? Why are they laboring and sweating now when they could be resting, enjoying the fruits of their labor? Why now?”
This got me thinking: when they were meant to be working, devoting time to their school work, did they waste those periods playing more than they should? Perhaps they spent too much time talking aimlessly on matters that were not of immediate concern to them. Perhaps they didn’t do much to add value to themselves; they must have whiled away their younger days doing nothing progressive and are now paying for the wasted years, wasted opportunities, and wasted privileges which they could have better utilized. Why should history keep repeating itself? Why don’t we younger ones learn from the older generation? Why can’t we learn from their mistakes and experiences?
I have realized that most of us do not want to work hard for anything. We want everything to come easily to us but do not want to do hard things. We talk about wanting this and that, owning the best ‘ride’ (car), the best house, being rich and famous, but are we doing our part in getting what we want? Are we taking on the necessary challenges in order to achieve all those dreams and desires or are they just mere talks and daydreams? Is there actions behind our words? Do we sacrifice what we need to in order to achieve our goals? Do we spend our time wisely on profitable activities like reading, studying, giving the best to our work, maximizing all opportunities that come our way that will project us forward or do we with our nonchalant attitude miss the opportunities?
It really pays to do all your work and assignments now. It pays to put in the best effort into the tasks you have in front of you so when old age comes, you will not be caught by surprise. You will have the time to relax, play, sleep and enjoy as much television and shows as you like and do whatever you want. Why not do what you have to do now? Why wait till tomorrow to finish what you can accomplish today? Why procrastinate and add more stress to yourself by piling up your works? Work the best way you know how now to secure a better, fulfilled and peaceful future.
Start planning for your future now. It is not too early neither is it too late to start. Do not waste seconds or minutes on irrelevant matters that can wait. Television will not run away, better movies are on their way, better songs are yet to be written and sung. The internet is not going anywhere. Facebook, Twitter and other networking sites will not run away. They will be there. Start securing your future, right now. You are responsible for your own life. No one else is! You are the artist of your life, you design, act out and determine how your life story is going to play out! I am not saying you should not have fun, enjoy life and play along the way.
I am asking that you consider weightier matters before weightless and unnecessary issues. We all have the potential to do great things. Do not be weighed down by the pleasures of the now. Secure your future while you can! The decisions and choices you make today will affect your life in years to come. Act now, act wisely. So, what is your decision… pay now, or pay later? Make a decision, “Pay Now, Play Later or Play Now, Pay Later.”? What is it gonna be? The clock is ticking… tick, tock, tick, tock…
You can follow Omotola Akinsola on Twitter @Tripleola
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