Steemit Ultimate Challenge 8 Weeks- Week #4
How steemit changed my life.
Firstly I would like give thanks to @dobartim for organizing this wonderful contest.
Well I must say that I have made a significant advancement in my life, academics (as I am still a student), and my finances (kind of) since joining steemit last year December.
MY SUCCESS STORY.
Life Communications.
I am an average height young man of 19 (though considered tall by many). A student in the eastern part of Nigeria where as you would guess cost of living is high even for students. Over there in my school boys do not have hostel within the school, only girls. So I am left with no choice but to lodge outside the school for the whole semester/year. Rent ranges usually from #50,000 to #175,000, for single room and self- contain respectively. You can imagine how hard it is for a student to survive there.
When I got admission, my parents took care of most parts of the accommodation but I had to support one way or another. My work an electronic/electrical engineer greatly helped me in the aspect of finance backup.
Still it wasn’t enough as I had to cope with transport fares which is high and the cost of feeding also. In my country people prefer the freedom of buying the amount of food they want. Where I lived my whole life literally, I was used to buying food of certain quantities and price where an increase in the price resulted in the quantity of food being served to you.
In my school it doesn’t work that way, you get to pay for food of a certain quantity not determined by you but by the seller and the package comes at a fixed price of #250 per plate/serving. It was very hard to survive in such a situation. Also when you consider the fact that as a student you have to be on the internet frequently as in my course of study you get allocated a project each week and it costs not only time, but also money and data connection.
My introduction or knowledge of this platform came late.
But thus the saying,
BETTER LATE THAN NEVER
It happened on the last day of my exams for the second semester prior to my entry into my 2nd year. A friend of mine had earlier that day told me about the platform while we were revising for the paper of the day. He confirmed the authenticity of the platform, but due to the efforts we had made in the previous months to find a reliable source of income on the internet and of course due to the existence of scams all over the internet I delayed my registration.
When we were on break after the exams, by then I was already home with my family in lagos; I heard the good news from that my friend @thankgodikkc. He said that he just confirmed the authenticity of the platform. I asked him how, he said that he had just cashed out 2.8 SBD which was worth #8500 in my country’s currency.
AT THIS POINT I KNEW I MESSED UP MY INITIAL OPPORTUNITY TO EARN AS HE HAD
It was this news that got blood rushing through my veins. I signed up and immediately got verified. The next two days came my full registration steps. And I felt like I had arrived on steemit but it was not to be so.
Financial Communication
As I had said earlier, living as a student in my school is like passing through hell. My financial life was nothing to write home about. My work didn’t pay me even close to quarter of what I used to earn in Lagos. I struggled even to eat talk more of paying school dues.
In my school there is this textbook policy thing “it is not compulsory to buy my textbook but it is necessary”. You are not compelled to buy textbooks but the lecturer will tell you that it is necessary.
The smart guys in class will easily decode this because after all said and done the lecturer will still request the list of students who bought his textbooks from the class representative. It was later I found out that his reason for doing that was to award marks to those who bought his textbook.
Due to my financial incapability I was unable to keep up with most of these demands from lecturers. Still as engineering students we had to be involved in practical and these really cost money, which at that time I was short of.
Well assuming I knew of steemit earlier, I would have had it easier, because ever since I joined this great platform I have earned just enough to subscribe for my data connection.
As the first child in a family of 5 children, it was not easy as I am like the torch-bearer. Though my parents say it is not yet up to me to cater for my siblings, a situation always comes up where I have to give one of them money for something important especially academically related.
While I was in school I thought of so many business proposals using projects I have designed previously but still all had no sponsor to back it up.
Due to shortage of cash I had to expend other things like clothings so as to meet up to my academic needs and also that of my siblings. The clothing part made people really look down on me and seriously it almost shattered my self-esteem.
There was this wonderful thing steemit did for me.
It got me my Arduino ATMEGA328P board for programming electronics along with the jumper cables which cost roughly around #5000.
This fund came from my first massive steemit payout, the untalented adjustment contest organized by @surpassinggoogle for minnows on the platform. I cashed out 2.7 SBD which was worth roughly #5,130 in Nigerian naira. I am still grateful to @surpassinggoogle for that chance to earn.
Business Communication.
Well I haven’t started using steemit to expand my business (though I plan to do so in a week time or so).
As I said previously I am an engineer currently residing in Lagos and schooling in Anambra, What I basically do is build any kind of electronic design proposed by the client, ranging from security systems to monitoring and power systems.
My major product as of now (and of which I plan to introduce to steemit) is Inverter. The inverter is speak of is that which provides back up power in case of power failure.
As we move forward in technology, scientists strive for ways to produce power in a much more greener way. Well the perfect solution so far is THE INVERTER. This inverter I speak of is built using locally sourced components and can be easily sent to any client all over Nigeria.
A working version of this inverter is being used at my house right now in Lagos. The power supply from the electricity company in my state is limited as they share the generated MegaWatts of electricity to different substations located within the state. The supply comes in the morning as early as 6:00am and is cut-off by 12:00pm. This time of supply is utilized by the inverter to charge the battery powering it.
Now the beneficial part comes at night when there is no power supply. Due to the noise and smoke generated by our generating set we put off switching on for a while, once the inverter is on it powers exactly the same devices the generating set would power. These devices include Tv, energy saving bulbs, fans and my laptop.
Below is a video of the inverter in full operation using my 100 amps battery.
I really do urge you steemians to patronize this inverter as it is the future of power generation.
All you need do is contact me and find out the size convenient for you and if the price suits you. If the deal goes on then you go get yourself a good deep cycle battery recommended by me of course in respect to the size you ordered.
Now depending on where you stay I will be able to come install or if not I will guide you on the installation process as it is not very difficult.
You can confirm from @thankgodikkc, he has seen one of my numerous inverters in operation.
On the long run I convinced and guided a friend @happymichael to join steemit. I also introduced @ djdada and @ajaniakeem (though he is not active yet due to long lecture hours) to this great platform.
So far I am proud to say that @happymichael has gone very far on the platform even more than I, because I am so busy with projects that I can’t dedicate much time to steemit. I hope with time I will be able to spend more time here.
Connecting with these great steemians I mentioned above have really helped my academic life.
@thankgodikkc is my Photoshop instructor and master.
@happymichael is my book-worm buddy, we read together, prep for exams together and so much more.
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@djdada is my wing chun instructor (though he is a student too). It is kind of interesting to delve into the world of martial arts.
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@ajaniakeem is my arduino programming instructor and also my partner in electronics (though more of a boss). Connecting with him really helped me understand the world of electronics programming.
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COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION
Communities that have helped my steemit growth are @steemstem, @stemng, @stach, @minnowsupportproject, and @steemitpioneers.
They have made me feel welcome on this platform and given me a sense of belonging.
Few people I have heard of (though I have not received their support) are @ejemai and @tojukaka. I heard they have a big heart for upcoming potential steemians.
I have really seen their efforts on promo-steem and the likes and I hope that one day by the grace of GOD almighty they will notice a small minnow like me.
I can’t just forget @velimir, @surpassinggoogle, @shikika, @ceepee, @runicar, @fessikay….. they are the cool new friends I got to meet on steemit.
Through steemit I have been able to make a connection I have never made with any other social media platform especially on discord chat. Steemit has broadened my view of life, and
Now I see it not as a give hoping to receive in return but as a give in hopes that you have supported in your own little way.
Now do not forget to join this contest organized by @dobartim, your story might just help a steemians keep steeming.
Thanks to @dobartim, @aidasfg7, and @flysky for supporting this wonderful contest.
Here is the link to join the contest.