I spent nearly half of my childhood in Abidjan—the economic capital of Côte d'Ivoire (the Ivory Coast) and one of the most populous French-speaking cities in Africa. My neighborhood in Abidjan is called Abobo, best known for its hustlers and epic street soccer tournaments. Growing up, my best memories were in Abobo. Whether it was playing in street soccer tournaments across Abidjan or playing marbles with my friends outside our compound (an area of multiple houses shared among families), I always had a smile on my face. We didn’t have much, but we made the best out of our situation.

My favorite activity had to be playing bottle cap soccer with my cousins and friends in our compound . Bottle cap soccer is a version of soccer played with bottle caps as players and a piece of paper tightly rolled into a ball. We decorated a portion of our terrace as the soccer pitch, or field, and named it “Camp Nou”, after the Spanish La Liga champions, Barcelona’s soccer pitch. We created the goal post from sticks, the soccer net from our wash sponge, and just like that we had the most entertaining game I’d ever played in my life.

We had tournaments that could last up to a week; creating brackets and going up against each others until there was a winner. The prize/cup was a soda bottle of Fanta that we all pitched in on before the tournament began.

We created all of this out of our desire to play FIFA on the PS2. In 2000, the PS2 was the hottest thing on Earth and very expensive. None of our parents could afford paying USD $300 for a game so our own version of the game sufficed and later became the hottest game in our neighborhood. Bottle cap soccer gained so much traction that the kids that owned FIFA on PS2s were more interested in our tournaments than their games. Looking back now, it was one of the most fulfilling things I’ve ever done in my life because we didn’t complain about the situation but found a creative way to get the experience we were looking for.

As I get older, I begin to identify my interests and understand what I want to do with my life, it’s becoming clear to me that the things that excite me and that I would like to be apart of aren’t traditional career paths. Due to my current financial responsibilities, I cannot afford to quit my stable job and navigate the road less traveled. I love connecting with people on a  deep, personal level, telling stories, and providing access to people who seek and need it. Finding a career that works at the intersection of these passions has been very difficult. I find myself settling for what’s available, taking my situation as it is instead of taking the proactive approach me and cousins took when we created something from nothing. I’ve had many conversations with friends who feel the same way but all we’re doing is talking, complaining, and settling. I see so many older people around me trying to convince me that “That’s just how life goes” but I refuse to accept that my only option is to sit back watch life go by.

Instead, I decided to follow the path I forged in my childhood—creating the most of my situation—here are some steps I’ve taken to create what I want to be apart of:

1- Envisioning where I want to be
Finding careers/roles that allow me to tap into at least two of my interests.

2- Learning to put myself first
I am of the Dioula people in the south of the Ivory Coast. In our culture, children must take care of their parents/relatives before taking care of themselves. This forces me to think about my family before making any life altering decisions. Learning to sometimes put my own interests ahead  has been hard, but I recognize it’s necessary for my happiness, well-being, and growth.

3- Reminding myself everyday about my “why”
Reflecting on why I want to change, where I want to go, and how I’m going to get there, realizing that these actions define my reality.

But if I am being honest, I don’t have the slightest clue if this will work for me or if I will ever find or create the perfect lifestyle that fits in all my interests. If you’ve gone through this before, I would love to hear your journey. Please send me an email : bdsouba@gmail.com or comment below.