SELF ESTEEM- HELPS FOR THE TEENS

Have you ever experienced a scenario when you felt so incompetent in the midst of your colleagues? Do you see yourself as being inferior to your peers? So many teens suffer from same; it is called poor or low self esteem.

Self esteem is simply how you think others see you. It is a mental picture of yourself based on how you think others see you. It could also be how much we feel loved, loved, accepted and thought well of by others and how we equally value, love and accept ourselves.

So many teens, based on many reasons, have low self esteem. They always feel no one is interested in them or will want to accept them. At times, such teens think they can’t do anything right. Are you in this category? There is help; just read on.

Causes

As we all grow up, we want to create an identity for ourselves; we form opinion about ourselves based on what authority figures like our parents, teachers, siblings etc say about us. So many of us grew up with more caustic criticism than praises. These criticisms fuse to form what we think everyone is seeing about us. Some hate mathematic because a teacher sometimes made a comment on that. These perceived outlooks, formed from those criticisms, become a re-sounding voice in us, re-echoing what others have been saying. This voice tells us “you can’t pass that exam”, you are not good at mathematics”, “you are not beautiful”etc. Horrible voices! It tells us we can’t talk when our mates are talk, laugh, play, dance, write, friend well compared to our mates. But does low self esteem really matters? Yes! It matters. Have you noticed that the students accepted by the teachers, parents and pastors are always bold? They feel loved and can request for help whenever they need it. They equally believe they can solve more problems.

Way out

1. Grow with your errors and mistakes: All of us make mistakes; it is our ability to learn from them that makes the mistakes profit us. The next time you commit a blunder, ask yourself: what can I learn from this?”, “how can I do it better next time?” answer those questions and tell yourself you will do the right thing the next time.
2. Move with wholesome people: People that encourage you should be your best pals now. No matter what, you will still find people who will be supportive of you, who will positively criticize your actions when you do wrong. I am not talking of sycophants; I am talking of people who will see the positive side of you and help you to discover more of yourself. Caution: do not take solace in what somebody is saying because s/he will want to have sex with you; such people will leave you worst than they met you.
3. Weigh comments: Weigh any negative comment made about you; ask yourself whether you can’t do better really. You can always do better than you have ever done now; even if nobody believes you, I do. Don’t argue with people of negative thoughts against you.
4. Discover yourself: There are things you can do better than most people around you, discover them and work earnestly on them. Polish those skills and be ready to teach them to others. It will give you a sense of fulfillment, boosting your self esteem. These skills may include art, music, sports, cooking, maintenance works etc.
5. Leave the uncontrollable: There are some things that you don’t have control over, accept your person with them e.g. your height, complexion, parents etc. Accept yourself with them. Don’t compare yourself with others.
6. Play: Know what makes you happy and do them. Smile always, laugh when you need to. Exercise to release yourself of stress.
7. Contribute: Whenever there is work to do, don’t hide yourself; volunteer to take up chores. Help people who can’t pay you e.g. kids, old people etc.
8. Voice Out: When you have an opinion, voice it out. It is always painful when you see that the answer you are afraid to say is the answer. If you are wrong, will you be killed? No, so learn to voice out your opinion in a gentle but confident manner.
9. Project positively: See yourself in the positive always; never allow any negative opinion from another person hold you down.
10. Strive towards excellence: What is worth doing at all is worth being done well. Study well for your examination so that you can score better. Compete with yourself alone and not with any other person.
11. Work on your attitudes: Don’t do negative things; be honest always. Respect people around you.
12. God: Seek God’s help. Ask Him for help; He will help you.

FOOD ALLERGIES

Samson went to spend two weeks out of his long holiday with a family, miles away from home. He enjoyed the first week greatly. Monday morning of the second week was chaotic; he was vomiting could not breathe and talk well. Was he poisoned? No! He was just reacting to the chin-chin he ate after breakfast. The chin-chin had egg in it.

So many other people, young and old react to different food items like milk, eggs, wheat, soybean products, cashews and walnut, fish, shrimps and other shell fish. Some people react to insect bites and stings, certain vaccines and medications.

Causes of food Allergies.

Food allergies are usually caused when our immune system see some food as being harmful to the body. In an attempt to ‘help’ the body, the immune system releases antibodies to that food. These antibodies cause the release of another chemical into the bloodstream. Histamine is an example of such chemical. It acts on the eyes, nose, throat, skin, lungs, and gastro-intestinal tract and causes symptoms seen in the reaction. Any other time the person eats of such food; histamine is immediately triggered, creating the same reactions. In some, mere touching or smelling of such food triggers a reaction.

The reactions include:

1. Vomiting, diarrhea, stomach ache, belly cramps.
2. Runny nose, watery eyes, coughing, wheezing.
3. Eczema, redness of mouth and face, swelling of mouth and face.
4. Fainting.

In extreme conditions, anaphylaxis sets in; causing swelling of the airway, breathing difficulties, drop in blood pressure, loss of consciousness or death.

There is no cure for food allergies, therefore seeing a doctor or an allergist will really help. S/he will run test, discover what the food allergy is and advise accordingly. Generally, broncho-dilator, antihistamines and epinephrine are given out to the sufferers. Please see your doctor. Do you understand that?

NNPC / ADDAX National Scholarship Awards 2011

 invites qualified candidates for its 2010/ 2011 National Merit Tertiary Institutions Scholarship Awards Scheme

2010 / 2011 ADDAX PETROLEUM / NNPC TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS NATIONAL MERIT SCHOLARSHIP AWARDS SCHEME

A) GENERAL ELIGIBILITY

• Must be a Nigerian
• Must be a registered, full time 100 level undergraduate in any Nigerian Tertiary Institution
• Must have 5 ‘O’ level credit passes in one sitting including English Language and Mathematics

NOTE:
Any candidate currently a beneficiary of Scholarship of any kind is not eligible to apply
Dependants of employees of Addax are not eligible to apply

B) METHOD OF APPLICATION

i.)  To apply for consideration, applicants MUST submit an application with the following information:
a.)  Surname
b.)  Other Names
c.)  Sex
d.)  Functional Email address and phone number

ii.)  And attach scanned copies of original:
a.)  Admission letter into institution with information on course of study, year of entry and duration
b.)  SCSSE / GCE O’ level Certificate
c.)  Evidence of State of Origin/ Local Government
d.)  School ID card or National ID or Driver’s License or International passport

C) APTITUDE TEST

An aptitude test for all applicants will be conducted at the following centres on a later date shall be communicated to shortlisted applicants.

Applicants should therefore indicate their preferred centre the test on their applications:
1.)  Abuja
2.)  Lagos
3.)  Owerri

D) SUBMISSION

All applications should be submitted with scanned copies of credentials through the following email addresses not later than Friday, April 8, 2011

Applications from North East Geographical Zone – email address: CRL1@addaxpetroleum.com

Applications from North West Geographical Zone – email address: CRL2@addaxpetroleum.com

Applications from North Central Geographical Zone – email address: CRL3@addaxpetroleum.com

Applications from South West Geographical Zone – email address: CRL4@addaxpetroleum.com

Applications from South East Geographical Zone – email address: CRL5@addaxpetroleum.com

Applications from South South Geographical Zone – email address: CRL6@addaxpetroleum.com

Application Deadline: 8th April,2011.

NEXT ISSUE: SHYNESS AND HOW TO OVERCOME IT, wHy Do I fAiL?

Send your comments and questions to teensadviser@gmail.com