Recently, rapper and entrepreneur; Kanye West, was awarded an Honorary Doctorate. While reading the story and listening to his acceptance speech, I figured out 5 exciting lessons I am now willing to put to good use.

You can read (if you like) the whole story at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/11/kanye-west-honorary-doctorate_n_7259938.html. See a summary below along with 5 pieces of advice for students.

The Summary

Kenye received an honorary doctorate from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) Monday for his "transformative, genre-defying work."

In his acceptance speech Kanye said,

"When I was giving a lecture at Oxford, I brought up this school because when I went on that mission to create in other spaces -- apparel, film, performance -- it would have been easier if I could have said I had a degree at the Art Institute of Chicago."

Lisa Wainwright, dean of faculty and vice president of academic administration at SAIC, told the Los Angeles Times that it had decided to give West the honorary degree after he publicly mentioned the school.

“I read it and thought, ‘Wow, this is a fantastic moment.’ Here is this major figure in the cultural landscape promoting art school, this guy from Chicago saying art school is cool. So we thought, ‘This man deserves an honorary doctorate from us!’ He should have gone here."

West attended Chicago's American Academy of Art for one semester on a partial scholarship before transferring to Chicago State University, where his mother, Donda West, was head of the English Department, according to Rolling Stone. After one semester there, he dropped out to pursue his music career. And the rest is history.
The 5 Pieces of Relevant Advice

Smart students know that learning from the mistakes, experiences or stories of other people is a better approach to learning. Haven read the Dr. Kanye West story; here are 5 relevant pieces of advice for every Nigerian student:

1. “…it would have been easier if I could have said I had a degree…”

Your certificate is important.

Please don’t start mentioning Bill Gates and every other name you can remember simply because they dropped out of school but became successful – I will touch on that some other time.

Now, based on Kanye’s statement, his pursuit would have been easier if he could say he has a degree.

Advice 1: Be serious with your studies and grades. A Certificate might not assure automatic success however, a certificate can ease your journey to success

2. “When I was giving a lecture at Oxford…”

You cannot give what you don’t have.

You can’t teach what you don’t know.

Kanye West didn’t graduate from college but why was he called upon to lecture academicians?

Simply put, he has acquired knowledge beyond the walls of the classrooms hence he was able to lecture the folks at Oxford.

Advice 2: Don’t be a local champion. Learning is beyond the walls of our classrooms. Read wide. Read relevant books, blogs, essays, etc. don’t restrict your learning. What you are thought in class is but a little fraction of the knowledge required for success.

Please learn what you need to learn to succeed; it mustn’t be in your course manual.

3. “…when I went on that mission to…”

Mission equals a task or goal assigned to a person.

Every successful person you know has got a mission he/she is on to. What is your mission as a student? What is your goal?

Advice 3: Develop a sense of mission and go with it if you want to succeed in life. Assign a goal to yourself today and gradually work towards it.

4. “…to pursue his music career”

West didn’t drop out because Bill Gates dropped out. He dropped out because he had something to pursue; A career.

Advice 4: Find your career path today and begin to pursue it.

For instance if you got into studying chemistry but later discovered you are passionate about a career in fashion, I advise you pursue your career path along with chemistry; you really need not drop out of school.

5. “…after he publicly mentioned the school”

The guys at the school who gave the honorary degree must have been damn happy after Kanye mentioned the name of their school. They wanted to associate with him hence they called him for an award.

Advice 5: Stop worrying about your mates and everyone who thinks you will amount to nothing probably because your grades say you aren’t smart enough. Work at succeeding and they will be calling for your attention someday.

Source:See http://graduatewell.com/article/56e2f1b3182b21789c9409d81a253f84 for details

Way up he feels blessed

Advice #5 makes a lot of sense