Frances Okoro: Reflections Of An Ex-corper On Her Meaningful Service Year (Interview)

Hi people!
I hope you are loving the day that Friday is? Workers, students… can I get a yay? 🙂

 

Okay.

Like I mentioned in my Chronicles of my last day as a youth corper post, (click on the link and read if you haven’t yet :-))  my friend David Adeyemi who was a part of Awakening Youths on the blog sent in some questions for me to answer on my NYSC year.
So I thought “what better way to wrap up this segment than to end it all with me sharing on whether I lived what I believed/projected to others?”
So today you have me on the hot seat, and simultaneously also wrapping up the Awakening Youths segment of the blog FOR NOW (more things are coming up).
It is my prayer that in the years to come, every corper/would be corper who comes onto this category of the blog will be inspired to impact their world positively with their NYSC year and not waste the gift of one year that’s been given to them.

 

So enjoy…

(1) David: Hello! So please introduce yourself for the benefit of those meeting you for the first time!

 

Frances: Hi!
My name is Frances Oghenerukevwe Okoro. I am a lawyer, author and Christian blogger and of course, I recently passed out from NYSC.
(2) David: How would you describe your service year?

 

Frances: My service year was fun, full and fulfilling!
It was a year of me just living life to the fullest, along with a fierce determination to pour out of myself, fulfil purpose and impact lives positively!

 
(3) David: Tell us about an accomplishment you’re most proud of during NYSC.

 

Frances: Like I said in my NYSC post for Bella Naija, the accomplishment I am most proud of from NYSC is hearing the words “Aunty when next will you come back” from the Secondary School students I spoke to during my seminars.
It was being able to answer questions like “Aunty what is the right age to be in a relationship” and steer young teenagers in the right direction.
My biggest achievement from NYSC is imbedded in the heart of my fulfilling purpose and impacting lives while at it.

 

(4) David: Are there things you would have done differently, any regret whatsoever?

 

Frances: Absolutely no regrets.
I came, I saw, I lived and lived fully, and I conquered Ekiti State (my PPA State)! 🙂
And I can say that with all sense of humility and sincerity.

 
(5) David: Walk me through the step-by-step process that you went through to get to where you are today.
What was the first thing you did?

 

Frances: The first thing I did was to pray.
Yes.
I started praying even before NYSC, asking for God’s will to be done during my service year – for Him to take me to where I was meant to be, for my purpose to be made known to me, etc. Etc.
And then when He took me to Ekiti, I had to understand the season I was in.
It wasn’t a season for me to play around like other corpers were doing; it was a season for me to soak in lessons from God and set the foundation and groundwork for the bigger things He would do with me in the years to come.
And once I understood this truth, I knew that it wasn’t a year to be wasted… So all I simply did was ask for grace to run with the vision, lay aside the weight of distractions and follow through on everything He laid in my heart to do.
So let’s just say that the step by step process was simply me placing God at the foundation of everything – giving Him His place and of course doing my part, which included my refusal to blend in with the mentality that NYSC is a wasted year and then purposing in my heart to make my year different.
Once I got my head/heart set on what I wanted my year to look like, I followed through on it.

 
(6) David: If a prospective corps member walked up to asking for your advice and you only had a few minutes to give ’em your best advice on maximizing service year, what would it be?

 

Frances: I would say live like it would be the last year of your life on earth.
What would you do if God said you had a year left on the earth?
What would you pursue?
Sowing seeds that will matter in lives for years to come or wasting your allowee on drinking in bars and buying clothes on credit?
Would you leave a good scent of your name behind with your last year on earth or make sure that curses are rained on you wherever your name is mentioned?
Will you stay idle waiting for your last year on earth to be up or will you go out and live life to the fullest?
Would you run the race God has set before you with your last year on earth or will you meddle with little distractions, tripping yourself up even before you’ve made a move in your God-given path on earth?
What would you do if your NYSC year was your last year one earth?
Go out there and do it.
That’s the secret to maximizing your NYSC year.
(7) David: Message to those who say NYSC should be scrapped?

 

Frances: News flash! NYSC is not going to be scrapped because I have a manuscript to bring to life as a book on NYSC and until I do so, NYSC is not going anywhere. Lol.
But seriously though, it doesn’t look like NYSC will be scrapped anytime soon.
So if you aren’t above 30 and perhaps can get an exemption letter, simply run with my mindset to milk the year dry of everything you can get from it.
Make up your mind to not waste the year and live purposefully… trust me, you won’t even notice as the year goes by if you are pouring into lives and doing what you are called to do IN THAT NYSC SEASON of your life.
(8) David: What are your post-NYSC plans?

 

Frances: I wish I can tell you that I have got my life all planned out, that would be nice right? (yep, really nice)… but I don’t.
Now, I am not leaving anything to chance or being a lazy girl, of course with my works in school, you should already know that I go after goals hard.
BUT before I passed out from NYSC, God dealt with me on the kingdom mindset for the real world.
Now what do I mean by this?

 
The kingdom mindset for the real world simply means that I do not pursue after what most persons pursue after. That is, a job/money isn’t my focus right now, my focus is walking in God’s purpose and plan for my life and advancing His name further wherever He has placed me.
I understand that even if He gives me a job, I am not there to blend in with the stuff that takes other people away from Him, I am there to still sow seeds in lives and establish His name even in that workplace.
So for now, God hasn’t told me to send in CVs yet (that may come later I presume), but He has laid on my heart some seminars to organize in some different places.
First of all, I just released my book “10 Steps To Walking In Purpose” and I am still a bit swamped with getting it out and then holding some book readings/discussion on purpose round table sessions.
I also have plans to hold an #Awakening Youths seminar in Ghana and also a discussion on purpose with some youths there…
So my work in Secondary schools hasn’t ended with NYSC, it’s meant to go further.
I speak of these things that God has laid in my heart to do with confidence but the truth is I am on a faith walk that scares me sometimes.
I don’t have any source of income right now and it seems crazy for me to be doing stuff that doesn’t guarantee me money but that’s the kingdom mindset isn’t it?
Trust me, I have analyzed this every which way and I am just certain that this path with God is the best.
It may not be conventional, it may take me a lot of tears and lots of faith to even see the way ahead of me, but I have decided that I want nothing less than what God wants for me… and if that entails going a different path from the path of others, as long as He is with me, I am with Him.

 

So basically I am saying that my plans for after NYSC are wherever God takes me/whatever He tells me to do.
And I don’t see much farther than the things He has placed in my heart to do for right now.
I don’t even see up unto January… would I be working then? I am not sure.
What I do see right now, is the burning plans He has laid in my heart, one that even at that, only faith can birth them to life.

 

And oh, I do have a plan to get out my book on NYSC.
I think I maximized my year too much to let the experience go to waste and thus deny others of the opportunity to make a difference with their service year.
I’m still actively pushing out my recently released book so I don’t know how I am going to get on the book on NYSC, more especially because I hand wrote a lot of the chapters and it’s a pain getting to transfer them to the laptop…
But by God’s grace, the book should be out before the next batch goes to camp next year…

 

Now tell me, will you buy my book on how to make a difference during your NYSC year? 🙂

Is it something you feel like you’ll need?

*****************************************

 
And that’s it people.
It’s sad to see this category on the blog go but if I obey God’s tug on my heart and if it’s time for it, we should probably have a whole different website on #Awakening Youths soonest… featuring my work in schools, etc.
#Grace.

 

 

And this is 2015… but if you stumble on this post/category of the blog some years from now, would you please leave a comment and let me know? 🙂
My earnest desire is still to see mindsets about NYSC changed when people come on here… so if that’s you, do well to holla at me.
I’ve stepped into the next phase of my life.
Let’s unwrap the good plans that God has for me, shall we?

 

 

Love,
Frances.

 

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