I recently graduated from the Bible Communication Center, BCC Corporate Program offered by the Evangelical Restoration Church (ERC) and everyone congratulated me on getting a PHD. If you consider the spiritual meaning of PHD "Pulling Heaven Down” it was indeed one.

For the last one year I was using my spare hours twice a week from 7:30PM to follow the BCC’s seven class program targeting to convert Christians into disciples of Christ and several areas of my life were touched mainly in line with personal growth and understanding Christian concepts like deliverance, spiritual maturity and being an agent of change in the society.

The beauty of the program is that it is fully conducted online from registration to payment to attendance. You only need to meet occasionally to pray with your peers and reflect on each lesson.

Fast forward to my graduation, we gathered in the ERC auditorium to celebrate our achievements with friends and family. My sons were beaming with pride, and I received congratulatory gifts and messages.

I had almost forgotten the satisfaction that comes with learning. I believe the mind is always hungry for information and should be well fed with useful information to avoid the consequences of the opposite, per the popular saying "an idle mind is the devil’s workshop”.

Upon completing the program successfully, I seized an opportunity to enhance my French (which is not at its best) and I embarked on this journey using my very eloquent children’s coach who hates grammatical errors. I will soon pursue French language certification so watch out for my next publication it may be in French.

I can now crack jokes in French but will soon be cracking lucrative deals for my employer in the Francophone part of the world as ICT solutions know no geographical boundaries and the Rwanda Government has been deliberate and successful in its agenda to lift economic and trade barriers across the region and the world. If you have a business requirement or a lead related to Telecommunication (communication or connectivity) needs, please contact this aspiring bilingual writer (email address shared).

The point I am making is that it is never too late to learn and once the mind stops learning you stick to your old ideologies and notions which may no longer be relevant as the world changes daily. Use your spare time to learn new things like languages, business courses, people and social skills to complement your field of expertise. Consider extra-curricular activities like learning a sport, cooking, music etc. which will unwind your thoughts and refresh your mind.

Most importantly, dedicate time to develop your faith and belief system because it will take you through the most challenging times since you will always have the power of mind to resolve issues and the resilience to face different situations.

I will wind up with an excerpt from Chinese Business Tycoon Jack Ma’s popular advice quoted below from the following link: Jack Ma: How to be successful in your 20s, 30s, 40s and beyond (cnbc.com)

"When you are 20 to 30 years old, you should follow a good boss [and] join a good company to learn how to do things properly," Ma said.

"When you are 30 to 40 years old, if you want to do something yourself, just do it. You still can afford to lose, to fail," he added.

Soon thereafter, though, Ma recommended that people start prioritizing stability, family and the future generations.

Instead of diving into a new field or subject toward the later years in your career, he said, "when you're 40 to 50 years old, my suggestion is you should do things you are good at."

"When you are 50 to 60 years old, spend time training and developing young people, the next generation," Ma added. "When you are over 60 years old, you better stay with your grandchildren."

Though in his last statement Ma seems to retire middle aged people, I want to reassure you that it is never too late to learn or develop going by the KFC founder, Colonel Sanders’ success story quoted below excerpted from the following link: kentucy business owner age of success story - Google Search

"The real Colonel Sanders was an entrepreneur who didn't become a professional chef until he was 40, didn't franchise Kentucky Fried Chicken until he was 62, and didn't become an icon until after he sold his company at 75. The tough times made him a tough person.”