Education vs Real Education

A few weeks back, one of the attending ER physicians saw me reading the book "Warren Buffet Thinks Like a Girl" by the Motley Fools. He seemed surprised to see me reading the book but never uttered a word. A few hours later, he came back to me and said, “If I were you, I would quit medical school. If you really believe in all the books I see you read, I would never pursue a career in medicine.” I was shocked. When I asked him why, he told me there was no real money in medicine, besides, he takes too long to make ‘medicine’ money. 

This was the beginning of a semi-lengthy conversation that got me thinking. Several questions ran through my mind. How can an attending physician tell me not to go to school? How can he tell me school is a waste of time if I really want to be financially successful in this world? But he was right. Even the books I read are a testament to his advice. How many big time game changers earned a college degree? The likes of Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Dell, the owner of the Virgin Atlantic and many more businessmen make this list. These men only needed a vision, plan and capital. Today, they are bosses to some of the most educated men in the world.  

To execute big projects, you need capital. I mean HUGE capital. The ER physician proceeded to confirm the difference between him and I; he has a huge capital to execute but I don’t. Before we ended our conversation, he advised me to read other books to reaffirm his statement. I was puzzled, very puzzled. A week later, I found another book I had always wanted to read in a friend’s library. 

A couple of weeks after our initial discussion, the ER physician asked me if I had changed my mind. I replied, “no”, and I gave my reasons. His reply, “I think you can achieve that goal faster if you don't become a physician, unless you really want to treat patients.” That was where he got me. Don't get me wrong, I love money, but I want to make money doing what I enjoy. Medicine to me is not an end; it is a means to an end. Bestowing the gift of health to individuals should not be motivated by money. A passion should be observed in the practice. Yes, the degree looks fancy, but I believe the effective application of my medical education would hold more value. My reasons for going into medicine….. that's a topic for another day.

Reading these 'self help' books have enlightened me for over two years. But it wasn't until that very moment I thought about the difference between education and 'real education' (that's my definition by the way).

We have heard in previous times that 'knowledge is power.' I believe there are two kinds of knowledge; general knowledge and specialized knowledge. General knowledge, no matter how great, is of little or no importance to the accumulation of money. The departments of great universities possess practically every form of general knowledge known to civilization. Hence, most professors and teachers have little to minimal money generated in their lifetime. They specialize in teaching knowledge but do not focus on the organization and application of that knowledge. 

I think it is important to note that knowledge will not attract money, unless it is organized and intelligently directed through practical plans of action, 'to the definite end of the accumulation of money.' Lack of understanding of this fact remains one of the fundamental sources of confusion to people who falsely believe that knowledge is power. I say knowledge is only potential power. It becomes power ONLY when it is organized into definite plans of action and directed to a definite end.

Moral of the story: Before you decide to get an education, have an end in mind. That way, posterity has no regrets.

Sincerely,

LazioM.A.N

The Story Behind the Lazio brand

During a medical school interview, the interviewer asked me a question I’m often asked a lot, but wasn’t expecting at the time. She asked, " What's the story behind Lazio 'everything.' I smiled, paused and downloaded the story. Here goes the story:

I was an 8 year old boy living with my family in an economically and educationally underserved town called Ewekoro, Nigeria. Compared to Lagos, Ewekoro was fairly unpopular; but it had the fresh air, beautiful trees and landscape that Lagos longed to have. I must say the only economic power in Ewekoro was cement. That was its natural resource, hence, the cement factory.  

Back to my story, all the boys shared a room, and so did the females. It was during our male bonding
in Ewekoro that my brother began to call me 'lalazo.' Everywhere I went, he called me that name, although I had no idea what he meant. Before I knew it, all the boys in the house called me Lalazo. Three years later, I carried this nickname to my boarding school. By the end of my first term in boarding school, all my housemates called me 'Lalazo.' It's funny because neither of us knew what it meant. I guess it’s time to ask my brother.

I turned 15; I decided to change the name I had been called for 7 years. I needed to rebrand, hence, LazioM.A.N. By the time I became a 12th grader, teachers would comment on my report card by saying, "Good job LazioM.A.N' or 'LazioM.A.N put a great effort in class today.' My fascination for Lazio has nothing to do with the Italian soccer team; in fact, I am a strong Arsenal supporter (13 years strong). As I grew older, the Lazio brand followed my businesses and devotions.

In the summer of 2009, Lazio Tutoring was officially established as a tutoring company dedicated to providing tutorial services to students of all ages. I must say Lazio has brought me some good luck. The lead tutor at Lazio was recently mentioned by National Youth Leadership Forum on Medicine (NYLF/MED) as one of the most inspirational teachers by one of their participants :)

Earlier this year, Lazio Tutoring established Lazio Foundation, a volunteer mathematics and science tutorial service for disadvantaged K-12 students. We collaborated with other non-profit organizations
such as Rethink, Millions4One, ImageCasts and Life Transformation
Center.

Next, is Lazio barbershop. Yes, Lazio barbershop.

So the next time I’m asked why Lazio ‘everything,’ I reply. It has brought me good luck, plus I love it.

Lazio.......the world is yet to see.

Sincerely,

LazioM.A.N

Enjoy the game!

It was around 4pm on that sunday evening when I drove my car with a family member into one of the poorest counties in the U.S. Little did I know my summer experience in this little town would change my life forever. Ten minutes after my arrival, I stepped into Bromley, my home for the next 6 weeks. This was the beginning of my medical journey. I remember my Uncle whispering to me, work hard, but play hard. Playing was easy, but staying focus was the challenge. Nevertheless, I was determined to succeed. My uncle opened my folder and said, "I see you will be taking Gross Anatomy." When I heard this, my heart sank since I had never had any experience with Anatomy, talk less of cutting cadavers open. This fear caused me to develop a stress- release outlet, my sister. I can tell you she didn't see this coming. After settling down in my room and meeting my colleagues, I decided to take a walk on a street perpendicular to court street. I reminiscized about my past struggles, my fights against failure and this opportunity to prove myself. An hour later, I was ready to win by all means. Through blood, sweat and tears, I had two options; go hard or go home.



I had never met so many smart and intelligent people in my life. Everyone had a story and wanted to show how intelligent they were. My nervity increased when I saw this, so I decided to give my all, make the best of friends and enjoy the game. Within a couple of days, I developed friendships with several colleagues that would become memorable. We woke up at the same time, went running together, ate together, studied together, went to classes together and did every other thing together besides taking a shower together.lol.



I remember cutting my first cadaver open. At first, I was so fearful that the cadaver might show up in my dreams at night. By the end of the first week, I was eager to cut more cadavers open and I had no doubt that bestowing the gift of health was my life's calling. It was like doing surgery on a patient. After our first round of exams, we all found ways to celebrate our successes. We had all spent at least 8 daily hours of studying but we were never jaded. I hated the process of studying, but I loved it. I hated the stress, but I loved knowing that I was not in it alone.



Six weeks later, my life had turned around. I made friends from different cultures and was excited to be part of the process. Overall, I realized that success is less of a result but more of enjoying the process towards one's goals.



Moral of the story: Enjoy life and never give up!



Yours Truly,



LazioM.A.N

FE(male)

In my previous article, I mentioned some views and psychological factors that affect the way men and women think. Say for example, a guy meets a girl, woos her, uses her and dumps her; he succeeds in his game of enchantment and tells his buddies of his recent accomplishment. The lady, on the other hand, thinks about the situation differently.

As the guy begins to do things to impress the girl, she begins to evaluate. In the process of evaluation, she discovers his strengths, weaknesses, capabilities, failures, and success, what works for him and what does not. She connects to his emotional side and brings out his emotional flaws without his realization. This tells why most women say that men are such ‘babies.’

When the guy eventually sleeps with the girl, he celebrates his pseudo-victory and tells his buddies. However, the girl sees it differently. First, the girl is filled with grief and hurt, thinking of how she had began to trust to trust the guy only to end up with a broken heart.  The lady says, “You think you have won, but you haven’t. All the while you were talking to me, I was evaluating you and looking for ways to truly understand you. You rejoice amongst your friends in sleeping with me, but you forget that I allowed you to sleep with me.’ The girl continues, “Remember you begged and I ALLOWED you to sleep with me in the first place (except for rape cases).”  As a result, the lady makes some strategic moves not to show the guy that she is a winner, but to send a message that she has more understanding  and manipulative control of the human than he does. Below are series of events that would be expected to take place:

1.  1.   She tells her confidant/best friend about the situation. She says, ‘Can you believe it? The guy I was talking to finally slept with me and left me. He thought he could get away with it. I thought he was a man, but he has only proven that he is a boy. This shows that he cannot handle a woman like me.’

    2. With this belief, the woman concludes that the guy is incapable of handling bigger and other serious issues of life. The girl tells her friend, who tells another friend et al. It’s just a matter of time that a community of female friends would discover the guy’s reputation and code him as a player.

So when the same guy approaches other girls in the circle, they listen to the ‘sweet talk’ but eventually tell other friends. They say, ‘can you believe it, that BOY tried to talk to me after all he did to my friend.’ This is why we see many cases of highly reputable men who become infamous for sexual atrocities. We have seen cases of Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinski, Tiger Woods, Kobe Bryant and the mistress, Herman Cain and his pizza accusers and several others. The women involved in these cases do not care about winning or losing, In fact the monetary reward they get is secondary to their understanding. Their ultimatum is to prove to the men involved that they have the ability to understand men and manipulate their presumed thoughts.  

WOmen 1

Happy New year guys...Miss me yet?
Recently, I found myself thinking and pondering about the human being. I began to wonder why men think differently from men. Why do men see things differently, why do they act different? Talk differently? And react differently? My curiosity led my research and my results have led me to share the things I will reveal in this blog. Big thanks to Brains!

Growing up, I always wondered why my sisters fancied feminine materials. I wondered why my mom’s interpretation of situations was different from my dad’s. And I wondered why my female cousins were more emotional than their male counterparts. You see, history and modern society has always placed similar gender roles (with the exception of a rural society in western India) that eventually define who we grow up to become. As young boys, we are taught to be wild, aggressive, competitive, spontaneous and win by all means. We are taught to do everything to win or lose; the process of getting there is of lesser value.

However, little girls are taught differently. At a young age, a little girl begins the process of understanding the human mind. She tries to understand how the body, soul, and spirit of a human being work. Thus, we see the connection to her emotional side. While the young boys are busy playing soccer, a female is concentrating on Barbie dolls, using them as tools to figure out the subconscious part of the human mind. The girl’s fundamental goal is not to win or lose, but to understand how the ‘human being’ works.

A decade later, the little girl becomes the beautiful teenager/young adult while the little boy becomes the handsome guy. At this stage, both sexes begin to attract. When a young man sees a beautiful lady, neurons in his brain are activated to recognize the beauty. The guy’s first question is “how do I win over this girl?” or “How do I make her mine?” Without realizing it, the guy’s ultimatum is to win over the girl. If the guy were to be a player, his ultimatum would be to sleep with the girl. I will go with the player’s point of view henceforth.

When the player/guy makes his moves to win the girl’s heart he makes all little tricks to woo the girl, gets her number and ‘sweet talk’ her into the honeymoon period. The main goal of the guy, precisely a player, would be to sleep with the girl. So if the guy finally sleeps with the girl, he considers himself a winner of the game. But if he doesn’t sleep with the girl, he considers it a loss.

When the guy begins to ‘sweet talk’ and woo, the woman, on the other hand, thinks way beyond. She begins to ask herself, “Is he a ‘man’ enough to handle me, my wants and my needs?” While the guy is thinking about winning, the lady is trying to understand how the guy works; she begins to activate the subconscious and humane part of the guy. As both individuals begin to spend time together, the lady continues her quest to understand the man. In the process, she finds out his weaknesses, strengths, likes, dislikes and so forth. This is why a woman knows what to do to get a man to ultimately do what she wants him to do. Why? She has understood the man.

Going back to the case of the player, let’s say the player succeeds in winning his game of enchantment a.k.a sleeping with girl; he tells his buddies and discusses his most recent accomplishment. The lady, on the other hand, thinks about the situation differently. How?

I’ll explain in my next blog.

Yours Truly,

LazioM.A.N

What If I Was a Poor Black Kid

So I was at work the other day when I read an article that sparked my interest on an important issue, racism and inequality in America. Two weeks before, a friend of mine had sent me a video of a poor African American woman in Florida with fifteen kids and no money. So today, I thought to myself, What if I was a poor black kid in America with no money?

Last week, President Obama gave a speech in Kansas City about inequality in America. He said, ‘This is the defining issue of our time. This is a make-or-break moment for the middle class, and for all those who are fighting to get into the middle class. Because what’s at stake is whether this will be a country where working people can earn enough to raise a family, build a modest savings, own a home, secure their retirement.’

He’s right. The gap between the rich and the poor in America has gotten wider over the decade. In recent weeks, Occupy “this and that” has been the popular movement in America. Why? A majority of American citizens are tired of the current state of the economy.

The article I read and the President’s speech got me thinking. The rich kids I have tutored are no smarter than the kids from the inner city. The richer kids have it much easier than their counterparts from the ghetto. The world is not fair to those kids mainly because they had the misfortune of being born two miles away into a more difficult part of the world and with a skin color that makes realizing their dream harder. This is a fact in 2011.

I’m not a poor black kid. I was raised in Nigeria in a family of seven. My father worked around the clock with the hopes of providing food, clothing and shelter. My mother worked as a teacher with the hopes of providing additional income, but the Nigerian government never ceased to delay her salary by at least six months in a row. That granted, I’m an African man in my twenties living by myself with hopes of maximizing the resources that this beautiful country has to offer. So the fact that I immigrated to the United States means that things should have been worse for me. Why? I’m black and I have a thick African accent.

But that doesn’t mean that the prospects are impossible for those kids from the inner city. It doesn’t mean that there are no opportunities for them. Or that the 1% controls the world and the rest of us have to fight over the scraps left behind. I don’t believe that. I believe that everyone in this country has a chance to succeed. It takes hard work, perseverance, brains, a little luck and a little help from others. It takes an ability to know how to use the resources that are available. Like technology and others.

If I was a poor black kid, I would first and most importantly make sure that I have the best grades possible. I would make it a top priority to read sufficiently and effectively. Even if I attended the worst public school at the worst community, the truth is that the worst have their best. And the very best students, even at the worst schools, have more opportunities. Getting good grades is the key to having more options. With good grades you can choose different, better paths. If you do poorly in school, particularly in a lousy school, you’re severely limiting the limited opportunities you have.

If I was a poor black kid, I would use the technology available to me as a student. Libraries and schools have computers available. If I cannot afford a computer at Best Buy, I would check Tiger Direct, thrift stores or Dell’s Outlet. Professional organizations like accountants and architects often offer used computers from their members, sometimes at no cost at all.

If I was a poor black kid in America, I would use the free technology available to help me study. My best friend would be Google Scholar, and I would become an expert at sites like Sparknotes and Cliffnotes to help me understand books. I would watch relevant teachings on Academic Earth, TED and Khan Academy. In addition, I would get my books for free at Project Gutenberg and learn how to do research at the CIA World Factbook and Wikipedia to help me with my studies. I would take advantage of study websites like Evernote, Studyrails, Flashcard Machine, Quizlet and Free Online calculators. I would use Skype and Oovoo to study with other students who want to do well in school.

Is this easy? No. It takes a special kind of kid to succeed. And to succeed with those tools is much harder for a poor black kid than for a white or rich kid from the suburbs. The fact is that the tools, technology and opportunities are there.

There are nationally recognized academic magnet schools in every state. Yes, they are more difficult to get into, but more than 90% of the kids that attend these schools go to college. Most private schools are filled to the brim with the top 1%. But most of these schools have scholarship programs that provide opportunities to kids that can’t afford the tuition. These schools want to show diversity. They want to show smiling, smart kids of many different colors and races on their fundraising brochures. If I was a poor black kid I would make it my goal to get into one of these schools.

And once admitted to one of these schools, I would make it a point to seek advice of teachers and make my guidance counselor my friend. Why? These are people that would one day help me go to a college. They would advise me on financial aid options, college scholarships, grants, job programs and minority programs.

A poor black kid who goes to college will have opportunities. America is a country of business owners who are starved for smart and skilled people. Yes, President Obama was right in speech. There is a huge gap between the rich and the poor. But the biggest challenge we face isn’t inequality, its ignorance. A lot of kids from poor black communities don’t even know that these opportunities exist for them. Many of these kids come from single family homes who mom (or dad) works at least two different jobs, and is too tired to do anything within the few hours they are home.

Many of these kids don’t have the brains to figure this out themselves, unless they are lucky enough to have parents and a well-funded school system to push them in the right direction. Several resources can help these kids, but only if they want to be helped. Yes, there is racism and inequality, but there is still opportunity for those who are smart enough to go for it.

Sincerely,
LazioM.A.N

The Confidant...

You cast your eyes up to the sky,
you groaned, though you said not a word;
Yet GOD was not deaf to your cry,
The friend of the fatherless heard.

For since you have trusted His care,
And learned on His word to depend,
He has kept u from every snare,
And been ur best Father and Friend.


Yours Truly,
LazioM.A.N

Special thanks to Tayo Adekoya