School is your biggest networking opportunity; make the most of it – MC Kabutey

Ghanaian event host MC Kabutey has urged students to look beyond academic work and take advantage of the relationships and experiences available to them while in school, saying these could open doors to opportunities later in life.

Speaking on The Career Trail Season 4 on Joy Learning TV and Joy News, he encouraged young people to meet new people, explore unfamiliar interests and make themselves known within their school communities.

Sharing his experience at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), he recalled deciding to spend his first year exploring the different activities and communities on campus.

One of his discoveries was the Campus Christian Family (CCF), where students from different academic backgrounds came together to stage drama performances based on Bible stories before Sunday sermons.

He said he was fascinated by the acting, costumes and creativity that went into the productions, which inspired him to join the Communication Arts Department (CAD) when he returned for his second semester.

“That was the beginning of my theatre, acting and emceeing life. I discovered theatre, I discovered acting. And I just did it for fun because I just loved it, I was just excited about it,” he recounted.

His involvement in the department also introduced him to people who would later occupy significant positions in their respective fields.

Among them was the current Minister of Communication, Digital Technology and Innovations, Samuel Nartey George, who was his colleague in the university's mass drama group.

“Somebody like Honourable Samuel George was my colleague in mass drama. He was technical director, I was drama director. Today he's a Minister of Communications, he's a Member of Parliament,” he said.

MC Kabutey also recounted how his interest in exploring new experiences led him to salsa dancing while at KNUST.

Although some members of the Christian community had reservations about the dance style, he said he was curious to learn it and eventually joined a salsa group at Independence Hall.

He continued dancing at the Aviation Social Centre after leaving university, where he met people including Chatterhouse Public Relations Officer, Robert Klah.

He said these experiences showed him how participating in activities outside the classroom could introduce young people to new communities and relationships they might never have encountered otherwise.

He also argued that simply knowing a prominent person does not necessarily translate into opportunities, but a relationship in which that person knows you and recognises your value could make a difference.

“Who you know is a good thing. If you know a big person, if you know an influential person, it's a good thing. But do you know what is even better than whom you know? It's who knows you,” he said.

“As you and I sit here, we know President Mahama, right? What has your knowing President Mahama done for your life? No. But the day President Mahama gets to know you like the way he knows me; that is the big deal. You know I was honored to host his 30th wedding anniversary and to host a few state events. He knows me and I know him,” he added.

Mc Kabutey urged students to see their time in secondary school and university as an important opportunity to build lasting relationships.

“The university, the secondary school, is the biggest, is your final mass congregation space you will ever be in. For the rest of your life, you will likely never, ever be confined in a space that has that many people at the same time,” he echoed.