The year 2020 has indeed been a remarkable year and one that will be indelible for many years to come! With surging waves of a Covid-19 pandemic the world still grapples with, socio-economic halt in cases of shutdown across various countries of the world, socio-political unrest in various countries around the globe, promises for better welfare of people becoming a mirage, one can appreciate how easy it is, to lose sight of time in the heat of an "uncertain" year 2020. To youths I mentor across various sides of the spectrum, with reference to my country Nigeria, currently experiencing academic paralysis of its higher institutions of learning due to inept political leadership and response, I say,  as much as uncertainty mounts, we can't afford to let time slip away because the future is ours to build.To this end, I have written some useful tips to making yourself purposefully engaged in the middle of this pandemic!

• Develop the habit of preparing yourself for opportunities, so that when they come, you won’t be caught unprepared!

• Enrol yourself for free online courses or read books that will help you develop your mental strength & well being, self-confidence and winning capacity! There are tons of free books around or online courses available, be sure to use Google very well! You can DM for recommendations, but choose what works best for you.

• Develop a skill; from writing, ICT, health courses to almost everything and anything you are interested in!take a course online(most of which are free), upgrade your knowledge base and skills, get certifications from reputable universities, organisations, corporations e.t.c embellish your CV with these success stories of yours, feel good about it and someday, you never know, it will eventually pay off!

• Go for competitions, from writing essays to scholarship aptitude test (this advice here drives home the importance of developing skills in these areas with a plethora of free resources online you can utilize). Doing so not only improves you professionally and otherwise, it brings awards, scholarships and so much more, all of which will help clear your path for more opportunities, moving forward!

• Seek internship/volunteering experience in areas you wish to develop your skill in! It could be a paid or volunteering opportunity! Get involved, learn on the job, acquire the skill and add it to your wealth of experience on your resume.

• Do a business – go for a safe and less risky venture! Access it across models of feasibility studies, risk assessment, capital recovery and profit making! Do this and make a safe decision for investing! Along the line, develop a financial saving culture and have a target towards saving this period for opportunities ahead! Use safe financial venture that gives you good interest returns on savings with no deficit debits like local banks (O Pay savings option comes to mind and they are many other good ones, make your choice!

• Achieve some form of financial stability as you will need it, going forward! There are many options towards achieving this including, various scholarship awards that are monetary, profit made from businesses done, financial savings e.t.c use all these options to your advantage towards achieving this goal!

• Before academic resumption and activities kicks off in earnest, acquire materials for your incoming session or semester, be sure to have read through and strengthen your understanding of them, priming yourself in the psychology of making a good result on the average if you were to undertake your exams at any moment!

• Stay healthy at all times, keep to safe healthy practices in all ways! Exercise regularly, eat fruits, take supplements and maintain a healthy diet and lifestyle remembering that we are still in the middle of a raging pandemic with hope in sight!

• Maintain good friendship and company with people that impact on you positively and also help drives the attainment of your goals in life while holding on to God at all times regardless of your religious affiliation.

• Lastly, you need to be alive in one piece to achieve your full potentials, never forget this point and stay safe.I had love to see you now, everyday, 2021 and beyond, achieving all your dreams! Shalom!

                                                                                                                                     Dr Israel. O

                                                                                                                     Physician and Youth Mentor.

                                                                                                                     Founder and Volunteer at YEFS.