Hustle culture and the unending desire to climb the Corporate Ladder

 With the emerging creator economy, the word on the street is HUSTLE HUSTLE HUSTLE!!

If you are not working on a gig then you are letting your future, the good days slip right through your fingers. This has given birth to the term "Hustle Culture" which am not sure is a real term but it better be. 

The other day l was scrolling through youtube, something l normally do to ignite the fire to create videos again but somehow, it's not working, lol.

Well, l stumbled on this video talking about the Cost of Hustle culture and it sparked all the hatred l have previously had for people who romanticise hard work. 

You can't turn down a job because it requires you to work Monday to Saturday

You are just fresh from school you will have to do a lot of dirty work to finally get where you want to be (the corporate ladder)

You don't have the skills yet, maybe accept unpaid internships (even when the workload is for a paid position)

A monthly salary will not take you anywhere, you have to create a side gig that you can turn into a self-sustaining project after a while

The nonstop working to the extent that even the gigs you start out of passion end up being corrupted because it is now work. You can't stop analyzing why money is not coming in, why maybe your flowers no longer sprout at the same time. 

The number of times l have felt guilty because am not doing anything "productive" on a Monday is overwhelming but when l get to think back to that last-minute edit l had to do on a piece at 9pm on a Friday night because the client wanted it urgently l gladly laze my Monday away. 

That constant "grind" is not going to be of any use if your body can't handle the stress within 5 years. That talk of "5 years of hard work will set you 10 years ahead in your life", what if you don't make it to 10 years? How about you live your life as you work on it? 

A friend of mine recently quit her job after being there for not even 3 months. 

Fresh out of school even before she graduated she was chanced to land a job that required her to work Monday to Sunday, 8 am to 8pm! 

There's no way you are going to be productive in that kind of work because if you are not working, you are thinking about the work that's awaiting you. If you tell me that's a way to live "so you can have a brighter future" am gonna be mad.

When it comes to being fresh out of school, it gets worse. I already talked about knowing which bottom to start at. Not every little job opportunity will advance your career. 

Please keep in mind that;

Working hard and working smart are totally different things

You can have your dream life while working a 9 to 5

It is okay if you have no desire to climb the corporate ladder

It is also okay if you have no desire to work a 9 to 5

Not everyone is cut out to be an entrepreneur 

Rest is not earned but deserved, allow your body to rest before it forces itself to

On a random Monday morning checking to see whether my boots still fit

Read More Related Posts;

• Staring at the Bottom to build your Career

2022 look-back: How to achieve all your set goals in 2023.

You know that wave of posting 2022 achievements on social that hit like one of COVID towards the end of the year? If you survived it, you clearly can't succumb to peer pressure. 

But when l finally got a moment to sit down and reflect on how the year went, l realised it wasn't a wave for people to recount their achievements but rather a sigh of relief. 

2022 was officially the year we felt like we were going back to normal after COVID, we finally had face-to-face interactions, gatherings started happening again, and we slightly got comfortable with public transport, (forget the Kampala taxis that have been normal since the pandemic started) finally you didn't have to panic after realizing you hadn't carried your mask the moment the bus door clicked shut.

Technically, it was the year we learned to run again after being on crutches for a long time. 

Seeing things like "l flew to this city" on people's lists made me realize that it's not just the great achievements but the things we thought we could never do again that mattered in 2022. 

When l finally got to write down my accomplishments for the year, it amazed me how l even thought some parts of the year had been in 2021. That's how long the year was! 

Here's a small snippet of my year's accomplishments. 

All random things. 

Last year was the first year in a long time that l felt l had celebrated my birthday. My birthday is at the start of the year, we all know how everything is spent over the Christmas holiday and January is lived on "vibes and inshallah". Plus it's not like l come from a background that capitalizes on birthdays. 

So yeah, having a day out with my friends on such a day, considering where my life was at the moment, was a really great accomplishment. 

Looking at my birthday being just a day after tomorrow (from when this is published) and having absolutely no plan makes me appreciate last year even more. 

Getting my own place was surely one of my biggest wins of the year and boyyy seeing the things l reluctantly taught myself finally yielding was something!

We will not talk about the man because l even had no idea l had him to begin with, haha. 

2022 surely was a whirlwind of events and here we are writing down fresh new year goals which we are very much likely not to follow through with. 

Well, how can you position yourself to achieve all your 2023 goals? 

The genuine answer is you will not, no matter how much you try. 

But being true to yourself and conquering those goals in small bits will put you far ahead and keep you energized. 

Getting a camera was one of the big things on my goals for 2022 but did l even ever save up a 10th of the money l needed for a camera? Absolutely not!

Did l want the camera so bad? I still don't know. Did l work my ass off to get it? We will never know.

Prioritize your goals in terms of value and feasibility. I know now the manifestors are going to come at me but to be honest, not all of us have strong minds to manifest whatever we want. If that were the case, we wouldn't be working this hard day in, and day out. 

Diligently work towards achieving your goals every day. 

One of my goals for 2023 is to drive, whether my car or not, the point is driving haha. I am someone who has never at one point got as close as to sitting behind a steering wheel so the whole process of getting into a driving school, getting the money, actually learning to drive, and getting a driving permit, is a collective goal. 

The small iterative steps l take towards achieving all that will be a single win and that's how you keep reenergized to chase your goals even when you feel you're not making any headway. 

2022 was a year of soul-searching for many people, l hope 2023 comes with more clarity. 

Happy new year, now go chase those wild dreams!

The only picture l could find from my birthday

Read More Related Posts;

• Is age really just a number? 
• How l became a programmer without a computer.

The heart-wrenching Netflix series "From Scratch" - Based on a true story.

 If you haven't watched Netflix's series "From Scratch" premiered on October 21st 2022, please prepare a couple of tissues before you do or wait for when you're truly sad and in need of somewhere to release your anger, haha, but that's how emotional it is. 

From Scratch 

The 8-episode series starring Zoe Saldana as Amy, and Eugenio Mastrandrea as Lino, is a romantic story about an American lady, Amy, who goes to Italy to pursue her Art studies and ends up falling in love with a Sicilian Chef, Lino. 

When her stay in Italy comes to an end, Lino chooses to follow her to America where he dreams of opening up his own restaurant. 

Soon everyone is wrapped in their love story and not even the disapproval of Lino's dad can stop them from starting their family. They have a glamorous wedding and just as when their lives start taking shape with Lino finally opening his restaurant, he is diagnosed with cancer and everything gets back to scratch! 

I don't even know why the series wasn't named From Scratch to Scratch because what is all this! 

Every episode has you on the edge of what terrible thing could come along. 

Just when Lino finally connects with the dad, the dad dies! 

At some point, you wonder if all of it was just scripted but Netflix's From Scratch is actually based on a true story from Tembi Locke's book, From Scratch: A Memoir of Love, Sicily, And Finding Home. 

From Scratch: A Memoir of Love, Sicily, And Finding Home, cover

I can't begin to fathom how much pain one can take in one lifetime! 

It is said that even after Tembi produced the series with her sister Attika Locke, she still hasn't got to watch it because writing the book alone left her wounds fresh from losing her husband.

Locke's husband, Rosario "Saro" Gullo died in 2012 and she published her book on April 19 2019 which inspired the making of the series, From Scratch. 

Tembi Locke and her late husband Rosario

My thoughts about the series.  

• Am still traumatized, more like crying from watching it but did it really have to be this sad??
• Tembi is definitely a strong woman because after going through all this and still blessing the world with this great work is next-level strength, hand down. 
• If they dare produce the next season, we will be rivals because l can't take any more crying. 
• Though some small details were missing like where Lino's sister was all through his sickness (and not just at the end), l will just take what l can get. 

Me as me, l will not give it a whole 5 stars but a 4.5 because l terribly hate sad stories be it true or fictional. My life is already a sad story to start watching more sad stories for fun. 

But well, the production and presentation was on point, and if Zoe doesn't win an Emmy, l will be so mad. 

The series is definitely worth watching but like l said, be emotionally, mentally, and teary-ready, haha and l didn't give away many spoilers!

Are women really incapable of protecting themselves?

 So my house was recently broken into for the second time in a period of a month.  The first time it happened l wasn't shaken, in actual sense l blamed myself because l had adamantly refused to buy a stronger padlock. 

Talk about living in Kampala!

I mean, l was (still is) staying in a seemingly safe neighbourhood and if you have house hunted in Kampala you well know that a house inside a gate (kikomela) is a top priority that you will even pay extra on rent because it is in a gate. 

So since l was in a gate and already paying extra, l didn't want to pay more extra on padlocks and here l was staring at my only tiny padlock that had been opened and thrown in the dustbin for me to find!

My neighbour had called me when l was on my way coming back home after being away for like 3 days and you know that line of "are you shifting, l see your door open" she hit me with it. 

The only thing that occupied my mind from that time of the call was what padlocks could l get. 

I remember passing by capital shoppers in Ntinda and asking about a certain padlock for this lady to tell me that l wouldn't be able to use it. 

Fast forward to three weeks later with my three padlock babies, on a really gloomy morning (and no the birds weren't chirping, haha) l found my door just slightly open while l was coming from the bathroom to pee. 

This was around 6:40 am and l had to travel that day so l wanted to completely finish my sleep. You know when you walk to the bathroom with your eyes half closed so you don't lose momentum of your sleep? That was me. 

It clearly was one of the most refreshing night's sleep l have ever had but at that moment, l felt chills run through my body. I must say that's the most scared l have ever been all my life! Not being robbed but having a stranger prance over me at my weakest moment, in my sleep. 

What was running through my mind was what if he wanted to stab me, what could have stopped him (at this point am sure it's a him), what if he forced himself on me. 

The only things they had taken were my 2 weeks old phone and a 10k note which was supposed to be for my transport. 

I still had my old phone so the immediate person l called was my mum, like always, because she was supposed to top up for me on my 10k for transport and now she had to look for the full amount. God bless that woman. 

The next person l called was a friend and the first thing he said when l told him l had been robbed again was "you need a full-time man to protect you". 

So to him, l was robbed because l didn't have a man in my house. I am a damsel in distress that can't live by itself. 

Would the man have chased away the thief or he would have heard my really annoying alarm padlock since "men have better hearing senses"? 

When did we get to the point that women can not happily live on their own!

So now the goal of every woman has to be finding a man to protect her?

Please teach your daughters to invest in padlocks and not in men since safe places are close to a mystery. 

The first picture this girl took on my phone when we decided it was the one l wanted

How l became a programmer without a computer

By instinct, when you hear the word "programmer" the first thing that comes to your mind is a computer, and not just a mediocre computer but literally a workstation, with many wires running under the table or somewhere. 

Now imagine if someone told you they are a programmer but don't own a computer!

You would be sceptical, wouldn't you? 

Like where do they even programme? Are they even in their right mind? 

Well, a while ago, l was attending an event called She-STEM at The American Centre and one of the topics that were discussed was The Digital Divide in the run to improve the uptake of STEM courses and careers by women. 

Digital Divide refers to the gap between people who have ready access to computers and the internet and those who do not have that access. 

If you did not grow up in Kampala, l know the term now makes a lot of sense to you. 

Growing up, power was a myth, later on internet! But we saw it all through, here l am, the first computer engineer in the clan, well on paper.

My love for tech could have stemmed from the fact that it wasn't available while growing up (in my mind). For as long as l can remember, l wanted to do anything and everything around tech, from software to computer engineering. 

Keep in mind that l had never seen a laptop but l was fortunate enough to go to a school that had a computer laboratory and that was like my first love. 

While everyone rushed to the computer lab to talk to their friends and family on Facebook, l would be practising Microsoft tools because let's face it, in my family no one even had a smartphone to access Facebook. 

Fast forward to university and l had been admitted on computer engineering, and it gets better, on government scholarship! 

It was like Christmas at home. The fact that we wouldn't afford university to begin with, and here l was, being handed my dream course with full tuition!! 

Four years and a world pandemic later, l was "crowned" a computer engineer on March 19th 2021. 

I will not lie that it was the happiest day of my life because, for starters, l graduated on TV, and l had not even washed my face! Plus, the field wasn't something l was very much looking forward to. 

So let's just say, l was glad that journey was over. 

Oh, this is where l need to add that by this time, l didn't own a computer. I had had some along the way but you know how it goes. 

Now l had to look for a career in the fields well known to a computer engineer, ie, programmer, hardware specialist, Networking, Cyber security, and so on. 

I had lied to myself that l preferred the programming route but the pandemic had opened my eyes that l was indeed lying to myself. 

Before l knew it, l was enrolled in a software development boot camp at Refactory, thanks to a friend who paid for me that 1 million tuition. At this rate, if l don't say that God is alive, l would be lying. 

This is an intensive programming course for 3 months and l was going to do it without a computer and homeless (that's a story for another day). 

Did l think about quitting? Everyday! 

Did l think about the connections it could get me? Everyday!

I had given up on being a programmer but l was required to do all the programming work for me to graduate from this program, so l programmed or something like that. 

So how can we enforce STEM with the prevailing Digital Divide?

When l say this is from personal experience, l think it will be a suitable use of the phrase. 

• Know exactly what you want and don't lose focus.

We have already established that l have always known l wanted to be around tech and l made sure everything l did was bringing me closer to that goal. 

I knew what subjects l needed to focus on to get a tech-related course at university. It may not go that far for you but make sure that your goals are crystal clear. 

• Network, network, network. 

The power of networking can never be stressed enough. Aim at making friends in the fields you want to see yourself in. They will know what you're talking about, you will know where to go when you need help and they will make the whole journey fun and worthwhile. 

When l was homeless, it was a friend who took me in! I can't begin to count the number of times l was asked how l knew her. 

Your family may not understand what you're working towards and may not even be receptive to your ideas but if you have two or three people that understand what you're doing, that's enough. 

Move out of that village, you will not make enough money to extend electricity, well not for now but you don't have to always be home for holidays! 

Plan with a couple of your friends (who are working towards the same goal) and find a place to stay together in town, closer to a cafe where you have access to a computer. 

I know it's a long shot but it's definitely better than buying a 1 million solar panel for your home in the village. 

• Be a go-getter. 

Keep your eyes and ears open for any opportunities. You would be surprised how many free study opportunities are out there but because you're always like, am not a Facebook person, l don't use social media, those things are for rich people, you will never get them. 

Browse through the internet every single day, sign up for newsletters, join communities whether physical or online. 

One thing you should always have is data, l only load voice bundles when l want to talk to my mum in the village but internet is like a basic need for me. 

I don't see the digital divide disappearing soon and yet we have to keep moving, so it's definitely upon you to fight for what you want. 

I still don't have a computer up to now but has it stopped me from going after what l want? 

Ohh am not a programmer, that ship sailed but well l think you get the idea. 

Address by Eng. Elizabeth 😊

Uganda: Women Innovation in Education

I caught up with Community Women Enterprise Network CWEN, a non-profit organization that brings together women in entrepreneurship, and their women are doing wonders in the Education sector! 

From creating dress-up games to encourage self-expression, phonics systems, and games that make learning maths fun (we all know fun and maths can't appear in the same sentence), these women are changing the education narrative!

We saw what the pandemic did to our education sector, with Uganda hitting the longest time of schools being closed for almost two years. These innovations are some of the reasons children still remembered how to read by the time schools finally got opened again.

 

Here are a few of the many women that are killing it in the Education sector;

Sarayah Namirembe is a storyteller, educator, and bestselling author of Ugandan folktales which include; the Hare and Ogre, the Hare and Hyena, and the Hare and the Lion to mention but a few. 

Her writing career started in 2016. While her dream was to write and inspire primary going children to read, she recognized a reading skills gap in the education sector which challenged her to engage in teacher training and workshops. 

Together with her team, she has reached over 30 schools and trained over 400 teachers in Kampala Wakiso and Mukono to pass on reading skills to young learners. She looks forward to learning and growing with other young women in the education sector. 

Check out her work here 

Saraya Namirembe 

Emily Banya is the co-founder of Utalii Creative, a company that promotes tourism using souvenirs starting with customized jigsaw puzzles, fridge magnets and playing cards (matatu) as a tool to highlight facts about Africa and in so doing tackling mental health.  

1n 2019, Banya, encountered mental health challenges that helped her discover how the brain works. She bought a jigsaw puzzle for its usefulness in engaging the brain to solve problems and realized none of the puzzles she saw in the shop reflected Africa. This was the beginning of her innovation. 

From puzzles to customized playing cards and the development of product lines, Utalii creative now collaborates with businesses and individuals using souvenirs and media. The use of souvenirs like jigsaw puzzles has proved to be a tool that can be leveraged for educational, promotional and mental health awareness purposes. 

These innovations have yielded a growing collaboration between the National Zoo (UWEC) and Utalii Creative to promote conservation efforts in the country with an emphasis to find a viable use for recycled plastic in the manufacturing of locally produced souvenirs.

This has created advancements in the entrepreneurship world while tackling issues that are rather not prioritized but are very important in the education sector worldwide.

Emily Banya

Agatha Kisakye Kabugo is a home school teacher who runs a homeschool support group and the Teen Mentorship Programme. 

Her innovation prioritizes an individualized approach to mentoring teenagers. She recognized a gap in mentoring children. Children are usually mentored in a crowd and they still don’t know. This puts the out of touch with themselves and struggle with vices like low esteem, negative comparison to peers, and unnecessary competition, to mention but a few. 

She encounters challenges in marketing her business but has currently mentored 30 children in 9 months. The future of her innovation she believes, will bring on board and train a team of child mentors and take mentorship to schools.

Agatha Kisakye Kabugo

Judith Peace Adongo Epuchu is a teacher who has training in early childhood psychology and has developed a Phonics system (the sounding of the letters of the alphabet) for Uganda. 

She has carried out several reading projects, volunteered in schools to run reading clubs, personally invested in libraries and carried out reading tents in various schools and organizations. 

Her innovation is a phonics system that she wishes to see enrolled in teacher training colleges, schools, and for in-service teachers to use to equip children with a foundation for them to thrive and excel. The program has been implemented among parents who homeschool their children and in communities where she does literacy. 

She founded an organization called  Serane Parenting where she supports communities in literacy. They handle reading clubs in the schools in these communities. 

She finds challenges in funding, and publicity for her Phonics system,  and peoples’ mindset toward this innovation. She hopes to see fully running, well-stocked community libraries in each community.

Judith Peace Adongo Epuchu

Estella Kabagaya, also known as Mama Children is a mentor and children’s caregiver who uses play to learn in her daycare programs for children of 0-6 years. 

Her business, mama children’s village has been running for 10 years now and the last 5 have been in Wandegeya market until 2022.  She intends to set up a green play area, where she uses nature to teach young ones, knowing the psychology behind the development of young children. 

Her innovation also involves mental games, art programs and library sessions. She finds it key for her business and whoever works with her to have knowledge about child psychology because then, that is how children’s needs and development can be met. 

Mama children considers herself an entrepreneur and continues to work with more women in her developments.

Estella Kabagaya

Melissa Mugisa is a graphic designer and illustrator behind Doli Kids Krafts, a local brand for hand crafted dress up games for girls. 

Her business, Doli Kids Crafts deals in paper doll dress up games fully illustrated and handcrafted by her. The game comes with Nambi, your paper doll, and a set of 30 clothing items plus hairstyles to mix and match according to the prompt. 

The idea is to teach little girls to explore and express themselves through fashion. 

She started it as a passion project while attempting to make a paper doll gift for her niece which encouraged her to develop a real product. 

The lesson she aims to teach is self-expression. The game comes with trivia about different themes depending on the prompt, for example, a safari includes facts about the big five wildlife animals in Uganda. 

Much as she is an illustrator, she considers herself an entrepreneur and continues to learn about marketing and branding and how to incorporate the business side of things. 

She faces challenges like finding a platform to advertise to larger audiences with the competition on social media, and without a shop to sell her products. She is dependent on market days that come up once a month. 

Her goal is to expand Doli beyond just a dress up game into more toys for kids with the vision of making learning fun, and building self-confidence even if it begins with learning something as small as their fashion sense.

Melissa Mugisa

Bwiiza Christine is a visual artist who uses drawing and painting skills to create more than just Art. She uses her skills to carry out Art workshops based on psychology whose facts aid her in understanding the needs of the age groups she tackles in order to deliver accordingly.

She has been an active artist since 2019 and taught WASH (water sanitation & hygiene) workshops through Art by developing drawing and colouring sessions through encouraging active thinking and allowing children to be themselves. 

Besides painting and illustration, she develops educational toys, illustrated colouring books, murals, paintings and more.

Bwiiza Christine

Basemera Stella Maris Mugume is a transformational math educator, creative learning methods researcher and CEO of Creative Learning Africa. 

After her last school practice in 2015, she recognized a gap in Math teaching and learning. Tr. Basemera then began her career as a freelance math tutor, and in 2017 registered her business, Creative Learning Africa.

She has since tutored, carried out teacher training, and published logical reasoning books namely; Fun Maths Activities, Math Practice Games, and Miss Math Comic book.

Her innovation develops approaches to learning math, from kindergarten to senior six. Tr. Basemera develops formulas for learning and understanding math in different classes through the use of games, art, music and all creative means available, making math fun for learners. 

She created interactive WhatsApp classrooms to enable learning amidst the COVID-19 crisis, and still uses it today. From Uganda to the United Kingdom, 500 students have benefited from her math tutoring services. 

She is currently working on Creative Totos, an online learning site in partnership with Young Treps. She continues to hire women in her business and looks forward to distributing learning materials in communities, especially the less advantaged ones.

Basemera Stella Maris Mugume

Lillian Nakiwala Nyakana is the founder of Tusome Children’s Reading Club located in Kito Magere Gayaza Road. 

Growing up, she adopted a reading culture from her mother's encouragement. She started her social enterprise in 2016 to promote a reading culture among children in her community. 

Since its inception, Tusome Children’s Reading club, has had 40 children accessing reading services, from her garage turned library at her home, this number was constant till 2019 when the global pandemic forced shutdowns. 

Her social enterprise has employed two teachers and currently works with 15 children from nursery class to primary six and this number is only growing. This works through the availability of books, space, and reading curators. 

Her challenges are lack of reading materials, space and salaries for the women she employs in her business. Lillian intends to grow Tusome Children’s Reading Club into a children’s library, collaborating with organizations that share the same goals and encouraging reading for young people going through school.

Lillian Nakiwala Nyakana

To support these women in any way, reach out to CWEN for more information. 

Thank you in advance. 

Taylor Swift receives an honorary doctorate from NYU: Did she deserve it?

 Her majesty, the Grammy queen of music herself Taylor Swift or as you would now call her, Dr Tay, received an honorary doctorate degree in Fine Arts over the weekend from New York University where she gave a commencement speech for the class of 2022 graduation.

Taylor Swift giving her commencement speech at NYU

This, however, was not well received by everyone. Like always, everyone has opinions. 

I came across a couple of comments along the line,

 "That was just handed to her"

"She already has the achievements, the doctorate wasn't necessary"

"How about it was handed to someone who really worked for it" 

" So when are we starting to hand out billions to scholars to break through life after school"

Well, for starters, what is an honorary degree? 

According to numerous websites and academic knowledge, an honorary degree is an award given by institutions to high achieving members of the community, whether alumni of the institution or the ones that have attained an equivalent level of education from different institutions or even ones that have not had formal education! 

The essence of an honorary degree is to recognize the contribution one has added to the institution and the community at large,  nationally and internationally. 

An honorary degree is currently the highest academic award in the United States of America. 

The awarding institution together with its Board of Trustees makes the decision on who gets the degree and in which field of study. 

Well now that we know that the honorary is typically supposed to be handed out, are there requirements one must fulfil before they are handed the degree? 

And the answer, my friend, is yes! You have to have exuded a certain level of achievements which should be extraordinary and long-lasting to get awarded an honorary degree, it is not about the money and the fame.  

How honorary degree recipients are selected. 

• Having contributed significantly to the cultural, social and scientific development of the state and the world for a relatively long period of time. 
• Someone whose achievements emulate the university's values and serve as a guiding direction for the current students to follow. 
• Having a reputation that goes far and beyond the walls of the institution awarding the degree. 
• Having achievements that contribute to scholarly research, arts, public service, teaching and so on. 

Clearly, Taylor emulates most of the mentioned guidelines to be worthy to receive an honorary degree, right? 

How has Taylor's music work and achievements contributed to society? 

Looking back on her career over the last two decades, it is with admiration that we lived in the same lifetime with Taylor Swift! Too much? haha

But all her music is about empowerment and dealing with hard day-to-day situations, and people will tell you that at their worst, it's a song by Taylor that gave them the energy to keep holding on. And this is not only in her hometown but across the globe!

With over 300 awards in various fields, it's safe to say that her reputation proceeds her. 

People will run to point out the fact that she didn't even attend college but will ignore the fact that she completed her high school while running around the world on tours at 16! 

The amount of hard work, commitment and self-organisation skills she had at 16 many of our modern-day scholars lack. 

We have seen her re-record her albums just because someone wanted to own her work, an initiative she started to speak up for musicians who were not profiting from their work and yet the managers and recording labels were amassing millions. 

In 2014, she pulled down all her music from Spotify in protest to get the artists compensated well for their talent and work. 

How does she relate with current honorary degree holders? 

In case you didn't know, Kanye West himself is a proud owner of an honorary degree! A college dropout! He received his honorary from The School of the Art Institute, Chicago for his transformative, genre-defying work. We have all heard his music and l think you understood what genre-defying implies in this sense. 

Kanye West receiving his honorary degree

Black-ish star Tracee Ellis Ross was awarded an honorary doctorate from her previous university, Brown University in 2020. 

We can not begin to count the number of honorary degrees Barack Obama has because we shall sleep here, haha. 

So, in my opinion, do l think Taylor Swift deserved the doctorate? The answer is pretty much obvious!

What comes to m mind when all these scholars are awarded these degrees and everyone is happy for them is that we have created a norm that musicians are not significant in our society. 

That they are just rappers babbling uncoordinated words or crying over lost love. What we forget is that these people are self-organised, do damage control on their reputation daily, and are forced to adapt to any living and public situation. 

But they are truly brilliant and their work is life-changing!

In all regard, congrats Dr Tay! (Yeah, l know she won't see it)