So once they created money and the fear to loose your life without them
They created institutions to administer them
To issue them
To lend them
To give them a growing importance and

How to become a SUCCESSFUL academic: a guide 1/n

How do I know how to become a successful academic? I don't, but I have received plenty of advice. As a good academic, I will just summarize what I have learned from listening

1) Be the ultimate collaborator but also don't be

Say yes to as many collaborations as physically possible: co-produce papers, LEARN, co-write grants, DISCUSS, it is all about synergy. But also, collaborations slow you down, have your own ideas! Just say no to collaborations

2) Be the methods ninja but also don't be

Science is only as good as its weakest link: don't be satisfied by applying the default analyses in the field. But also, don't let perfect be the enemy of the good and don't confuse reviewers. Just apply the default analyses in the field

3) Be the superstar teacher but also don't be

Professor means teacher, it is LITERALLY in the name. Being a good professor means being a superstar teacher. But also, focus on the science and minimize the hours of teaching, don't try to become a superstar teacher

Social Intelligence 101:

If your friend is telling you about an accomplishment, do not try to one-up them by sharing an accomplishment of your own.

Tame your ego.

Sit back and actively listen.

20 lies that the world feeds us everyday

A thread...

Lie 1:
If you don't settle in your 20s, you are gone!
This is the decade.
You don't get another chance.
Study fast, get a job, get married, kids, that car, that house.
Quickly!
Time's running.
Look at everyone else doing it!

Lie 2:
People who are poor are lazy.
People who are rich are hardworking.
It is your fault if you haven't made it in life.
Look at everyone else who made it.
There is nothing granted or gifted in life.

Lie 3:
Those in corporate jobs, are unambitious.
They have sold their soul.
They are addicted to the salaries.
They could have done so much more with their life.
But they decided to spend it working for someone else.

Lie 4:
Starting your own business is the surest way of making money.
You can never get rich earning a salary.
You can never get rich working for someone else.

Y’all... please check on your kids, they might not be okay.

My husband and I had no clue that a major crisis was coming for our 14 year old. She was so good at faking “okay” that we were totally blindsided.

I’m apprehensive about sharing all of this, but other parents

1/15

might need to see this and talk to their kids.

To make a long story as short as possible:

On Jan 13th, I came home from work to find my 14 yr old unconscious in a pile of vomit. Thought maybe it was the flu or something at first.

I got her into a bath to clean up and

2/15

she was incoherent, slurring her speech, and not really in control of her body. I put it together and realized she was drunk.

She had never done anything like that. Ever. She then started babbling about being so lonely and wanting to go to sleep and not wake up.

3/15

My heart and stomach dropped.

We took her to the ER for alcohol poisoning and told the triage nurse what she’d been drunkenly mumbling about.

It took almost 24 hours to get her BAL back to normal, then she was transferred to a psychiatric hospital.

4/15

They kept her for 6 days, and we weren’t allowed to see her. Just one 10 minute phone call per day.

They started her on two medications for depression, anxiety, and sleep. She seems to be feeling a bit better since coming home, and now knows that she needs to talk

5/15

I found myself unable to discuss or see people in a negative light
It was a strange place to be
A whole new realm that isolated me in some way
When I am among people and the topic goes in the direction of Mr. So and So did this evil thing to me or Mrs. Such and such said the

following things about me
I find my skin crawling and my defences up
I don't do this naturally, it just is.
When I am with my team and we're discussing stuff, I dodge all the unnecessary stuff
I don't want to know who is doing that bad thing or who is not performing up to par

I find it nauseating to say the least
Talking ill of people even when it ought to be discussed
A brother caught covid from his girlfriend
They were not married and ought not to be together that way
Someone pointed my attention to it and I felt somehow
Like the person wanted to

force-feed me poison
The person meant well and I should know what is going on but I really couldn't bear the heaviness of such talks
I understand that it is normal for people to share such talks and bond over it
I once worked as a personal assistant to a pastor who will pick a

person and talk about the person with his wife all the way from Lagos to Ibadan and will still chew the person like a bone all the way from Ibadan back to Lagos
He will keep digging out faults and misdeeds like a dog unearthing buried bones
It was a crazy habit I could barely