Regina Askia On Quiting Acting For Nursing

There comes a point in everybody’s life when you
begin to wonder what meaning you have made of
your life. We have all been put in this world to
make a difference to humanity and leave this
world a little better than we met it. The way we
choose to do this leaves us fulfilled or unfulfilled.
Caring for someone as a nurse gives me the
experience and skills to make a practical
difference, and I love that.

I am a people’s person, a social person, and a
nurse is socially oriented. Acting is also a way to
make a difference but it was not enough,
especially the way it is set up in Nigeria. No
royalties, no job security, no investment tools for
health plans and retirement. With acting, there is
the necessity to maintain a front; a sort of image
which you could use for endorsements, and so
on. A level of “fakeness” is required. Now, where
does that stop? It gets difficult to be true to who
you really are as a person and having to tow the
line of being politically correct, or keeping up
appearances, or saying what you think will make
everybody happy just to be liked. I cannot live
like that.
I have always been an army of one. Like me or
hate me, I am who I am. I love the freedom to
be true to self. That does not mean that I will
completely stop acting. However, you will now
know me as a nurse; a skilled health care
provider.