This season with Gamers Change Lives has seen an array of exceptional esports projects taken off from different angles, and in different countries despite their “strict” rules when it comes to esports and its involvement. We have seen that of the military perspective (with West Point), as well as branch off from gaming agencies and fundraiser platforms. Today we have one using STEM to establish an esports business, all the way from Nigeria, and she is Jadesola Adedeji, the co-founder of STEM METS. This is an educational enterprise that uses alternative educational platforms to equip children with future necessary skills through science, technology and engineering and math based programs.
Jadesola’s journey with the use of STEM began after she and her family decided to move back to Nigeria after being in the pharmaceutical industry for 20 years and their decade-long stay in Canada. They realized upon their return to their homeland there was not much of a change in the educational system; rote learning still being a thing and little to no hands-on learning experiences. So she had to do some research on non-academic learning which would help children have a learning experience similar to what they had while in Canada. Then she found STEM, which provided an alternative and innovative way to carry out practical learning and teaching methods. Bricks For Kids was among the first things she chanced upon, which uses Lego to teach STEM, and through this got connected with the co-founder, who was a physician based in Florida and also showed interest in starting up something educational. This became a business and has been that way for almost a decade, with the idea of bringing in new and different ways of innovative learning experiences that the kids in Nigeria have not been exposed to.
Her involvement in this overtime is what has earned her and made the coinage a “social entrepreneur”, which she describes as having your business focus on addressing a social need, aside the profits it is very likely to rake in. What Jadesola seeks to help kids understand with her programs is with the way STEM (or STEAM) carries out its approaches with learning – that it is interdisciplinary; gathering from concepts of science, technology, arts, engineering and mathematics, and these come together to help them to solve problems in an array of different situations. It is to help with how to think, and not what to think, and these are skills that can be transferable to any sector.
What are non-conventional ways that children can learn? What are non-conventional ways that they can develop skills? And it has to be fun and engaging for goodness sake. — Jadesola Adedeji, Co-founder, STEM METS
Jadesola’s entry into esports was through her son, after seeing him spend time playing video games, thinking it was eating into other activities he should have been doing but turned out to be what will now be the path she’s on — combining STEM with esports. After a thorough amount of time spent in researching esports she found that there are a good number of career pathways to explore in this sector, to which her son is now pursuing similar in a gaming studio in the UK through his degree in computer games programming.
With Jadesola, her goal is to get more involved. Previous summer camps organized by her company have had more males sign up than the females. Reasons why are stemming from parents really not comprehending the need to have their daughters in there engaging with the boys as esports is a community hosting all people.
So her next thing is to have information sessions leading up to the camps breaking down the programs being carried out, because to be serious about involving women and girls in esports there has to be that adequate amount of sensitization for the community, schools and parents. Establishing interests on these levels can convince them to have their girl-child not only participate but further this into careers that will be resourceful to them and their communities.
The dispelling of the notion that esports is sitting behind a television set and console mashing buttons is what the organization seeks to continue to do, and it does require time to do so. Nonetheless there is still the push to help with its acceptance as first off a sport, and one that can have a fruitful career built off of, with communities created and be resourceful to one another.
There are success stories from the camp, from her children branching into aspects of technology and engineering (i.e. computer programming and biochemical engineering) and children who interned with STEM METS going on to host their own camps at their various spots and furthering into esports jobs that will helpful to them and their communities.
Esports has helped create jobs for lots of people. Interested in knowing about the business side of esports? Listen to the Gamers Change Lives Podcast! We get experienced guests from all around the world featuring.
Written By Jeffrey Osei-Agyeman
