Bimpe raised up her hand to make a contribution to the case study being discussed in her class, feeling immensely satisfied with herself. She was easily the oldest student in her Master of Arts (M.A) class being 42 years old and pivoting to an area that she had been passionate about for a long time and which was completely different from her old area of expertise.
Bimpe had started her journey into the corporate world at the age of 23 years as a trainee engineer with one of the largest 4 multinational energy companies in the country. She had graduated at the top of her class and the company had literally headhunted and employed her straight after graduation. It was a position that most of her peers would give anything to be in but she had gotten it on a platter of academic excellence.
She could easily be described as a polymath, an all-round excellent student in high school. When the time came for her to pick a career path as a senior, she’d opted for the sciences with the view to becoming like her favourite aunty who at the time worked with an oil company.
Aunty Nneka had the best stories about work unlike her mother who always complained about going to work as a pharmacist. As a teenager, she’d known that she wanted to be a happy adult and if Aunty Nneka was so happy with her work, it surely meant that it was a good career path.
Bimpe however, was not the typical Engineering student in the University. She found that she had a strong liking for creative arts and theatre, and it was a curious thing that her closest friends as an undergraduate were from the Creative Arts Department. She was also a member of the drama unit of her church and had directed and co-produced a couple of plays.
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As Bimpe advanced in her career, her dissatisfaction grew. Her salary, allowances and the perks that came with the job were fantastic, but it wasn’t enough, and she just couldn’t figure out why. Following up on her love for theatre, she had invested in several film projects as an executive producer, and she often scheduled film production jobs for her vacation period. Using a pseudonym, she had written several scripts which had gone on to become bestselling movies. Only her closest family knew that Engineer Bimpe was a screenwriter and movie producer.
When she turned 40 years one of her friends had gifted her an executive coaching session with a life coach, so that she could ‘sort her unhappiness out.’ The only reason why Bimpe agreed to go was because her friend had paid such a huge amount for it and she didn’t want to waste it. The session marked a turning point in her life. She had come away with one question that refused to go away. “Is the path you are currently on fulfilling or not, and what can you do to become fulfilled every day?”
That was when it all made sense. Her happiest moments came from anything film-related, and she started thinking about how she could start doing that full time. She had earned quite a bit from the side jobs she had done in the film industry, and she knew that if she was committed whole-heartedly the earning potential was limitless.
The only problem was her age. How would she tell people that she was leaving her vibrant career as an engineer to become a filmmaker? Wasn’t she too old for this? But then what if she remained dissatisfied with her life? She decided to enroll for the M.A programme after taking a 3-year leave of absence from work, and it had turned out to be the best decision of her life. It totally felt like homecoming for her.
Within 3 years after the completion of her course, Bimpe had grown to become one of the most sought-after producers in her industry, with multiple collaborations spanning from Hollywood to the Indian film industry. Everyday had become satisfying and she was grateful that she didn’t allow age to stop her from going after her dreams.
