Waris attributes his success to education

Ghana striker Abdul Majeed Waris insists that without formal education, he could not have become a successful professional footballer.

According to the former Nike Academy player, his attitude towards education changed for the better when he was enrolled into the Right to Dream Academy (RtD), where he was awarded a student-academic scholarship to study at the Hartpury College in the UK.

Waris made this known at the third edition of the Liquid Sports Ghana mentorship programme dubbed “Making it Happen seminar”, which was held last Tuesday at the Presbyterian Boys Secondary School in Accra.

“Using myself as an example, if I had not taken my education seriously, I wouldn’t have got the scholarship to study in the U.K. and I wouldn’t have got the opportunity to sign my first professional contract,” he said during a question and answer session with the students.

Waris, who scored three consecutive goals as Ghana qualified for the 2014 FIFA World Cup, advised young students to learn to do multi tasks in order to achieve their goals in life.

“We are still young but we have to learn to do multi tasks. We have to learn how to use different things. We cannot concentrate on only one thing because you never know what you will pass through to achieve your aims in life. 

“So even though I said I wanted to be a professional footballer, I had to go through education to become a professional footballer. Some of you might say I want to be this or that but you might go through a different way to get what you want while others go straight. That is why we say you have to pray and work hard for everything.”