By Florence Afriyie Mensah, GNA
Kumasi Oct.19, GNA – Students at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, (KNUST) have been encouraged to develop practical career skills, build meaningful relationships, discover their identity and remain open to academic opportunities they may not have initially considered.
Speaking at the fifth edition of the Nyansapo Dialogue Series, scientist, engineer and global technology leader, Dr. Ebenezer Jones-Mensah; Ghanaian musician, entrepreneur and KNUST alumnus, Okyeame Kwame; and Prof. Priscilla Kolibea Mante, a Professor of Pharmacology and Neuroscientist at KNUST, shared experiences from their academic and professional journeys.
Their accounts explored how additional skills, mentorship, personal values and a willingness to reconsider established plans could shape students’ experiences and prospects beyond graduation.
Dr. Jones-Mensah urged students to begin preparing for their careers, while at university, saying academic qualifications alone might not sufficiently distinguish graduates competing for the same opportunities.
He encouraged them to identify the competencies relevant to their chosen fields and use their time at KNUST to acquire practical skills alongside their academic qualifications.
Dr. Jones-Mensah advised students to build their career capital throughout their university education.
This, he explained, required identifying professional goals early and pursuing relevant learning opportunities alongside their coursework, rather than waiting until graduation to prepare for employment.
He also emphasised the importance of professional relationships and the role of mentorship in helping students recognise and pursue opportunities.
The importance of mentorship and relationships also featured in the remarks of Kwame Nsiah-Apau, popularly known as Okyeame Kwame, who urged students to use their university experience to understand themselves and develop the values needed for life beyond graduation.
Reflecting on his early experiences with education, he recounted struggles with reading and writing that affected his confidence and influenced his perceptions of what he could achieve.
He said guidance from a mentor helped him develop an interest in language and literature, while his subsequent education at KNUST broadened his understanding of language and society.
His studies, he explained, helped shape his identity and music career and enabled him to appreciate how music could influence people beyond entertainment.
Okyeame Kwame encouraged students to build relationships with lecturers and others, who could offer guidance, alongside the friendships they formed with their peers.
For Okyeame Kwame, the university experience offered an opportunity to develop a sense of identity, practical skills and ethical values alongside academic qualifications.
Prof Mante encouraged students to remain open to unexpected academic opportunities, drawing on changes in her own plans that eventually led her to a career she had not initially envisioned.
GNA
Edited by Kwabia Owusu-Mensah/Kenneth Odeng Adade
Reporter: Florence Afriyie Mensah
Email: [email protected]