So it is another semester and we are back to the exact same position we found ourselves in the previous semester. We face this headache at the beginning of every semester in our academic life where we have to select the courses we want to study. I wrote this piece to share my experience, on how I make decisions concerning my academics. I believe this would be of help to others who find themselves in the same situation.

If you are pursuing an Undergraduate degree at the University of Ghana and you specifically find yourself in the Physical and Mathematical Sciences, then you definitely have this headache as well. Your headache may not be as severe as others because maybe you made your career decisions long before you gained admission or you have had good career guidance but the underlying decision making headache involved in selecting courses every semester can’t be overlooked. Be it Mathematics, Statistics, Physics, Computer Science, IT or Actuarial Science, there’s a sea of courses you can offer in a semester and sometimes due to preferences and popular opinion, it can be very difficult to choose from. These are a few “goto” guidelines to help you make the right decision.

1. Know Yourself.

This is on top of my list because, everything comes down to you in the long run. The final decision is yours to make and the consequences lives with you alone.

Ask yourself these questions:

• What do I want to become in life?
• What do I need in order to get there, that I don’t have?
• Am I passionate about this?(i.e Can I do this and not get tired of it?)

This will probably reduce your options to the bare minimum. Honest answers to these questions will let you discover that, some options, weren’t even options in the first place. So please read the questions again and write down your answers if you can.

2. Research.

Well, you are here so that’s a good start. Read and know what your field is about. Read answers to career questions and career articles related to your field on quora or any online forum of your choice. When you don’t find answers that you seek, please ask, there are professors and experts willing to help you because they have been there and they know what it feels like.

3. See a Professional.

Talk to Career Guidance professional, they know better. University of Ghana makes it possible for students to have access to quality career coaches in the University’s Counselling Centre. It’s about time you paid them a visit if you haven’t done that already.

Also there are course advisors for various levels at every department, provisioned by the Head of department. Please find them and talk to them, they will be more than willing to help. John Boye Quaye (Math Lecturer) and Dr Richard Minkah (Stats Lecturer) have been my personal favorites, I love how they take time to tell you about their personal journey in their careers. Dr Louis Asiedu(Stats Lecturer) and Mr. Micheal A. Soli (Computer science Lecturer) also deserve to be mentioned for the awesome work that they do.

Pro tips:

We are all different individuals and have passion for different things, don’t fall into others passion.

Your strength is in your passion, when the courses get tough that’s what will take you through.

Mathematics, Statistics and Physics are equally lucrative fields and highly sought after skills in the job market, just as Computer science and IT, both locally and internationally, don’t let people kill your passion with their ignorance.

The fact that you made a ‘D’ doesn’t mean you are bad in that area of study, it will surprise you to learn that some lecturers made E’s and F’s in the courses they now teach.

Don’t let course names or titles scare you, read the course descriptions in the course handbook, and do further reading about it online or in the textbooks recommended in the course outline(if you can get it).

The aforementioned guides tend to focus on career choices at large. I believe once you know where you are heading, your decisions are always “pre-figured” and the the problem boils down to “so which path do I take now?”

The Answer is — Repeat the entire process: Know Yourself, Research and see a Professional.

I Hope you make the best choice now. Good luck.