Every student in Nigeria looks forward to graduating and having a good grade. Having a good grade means that the student is going to graduate with either first class or second class upper as the case may turn out.
Now in the cost of achieving this goal most times it becomes a herculean task to even graduate out of the university with a pass. Why is this so? This is so because most times these Nigerian students lose focus once they are admitted into the tertiary institution.
This is mostly seen in the cases when teenagers gain admission newly into the tertiary institutions. The strong urge to flea from the strong arms of their protective parents and the urge to explore the world without any form of parental guidelines make them more prone to distractions at this early stage in life. In the same vein this could be applicable to young adults and some adults but in essence the totality of the message here is that most students tend to lose focus once they are out of their parental guidance since they tend to live on their own do things on their own and explore and get to see more life than what they already know or what they’re already taught.
The essence of this article is to highlight important steps that will help to keep students in focus if truly they want to graduate out of any Nigerian institution with first class. Remember that discipline and consistency are major attributes that every student should have in mind.
Because the educational system in the one that encourages the teaching-learning process most students want to have first class certification that will enable them have a better opportunity in the labour market when they graduate. It is assumed or rather it is strongly believed that a better result equals a better opportunity in the labour market hence the struggle of every Nigeria student to have a very good grade which includes first class or in some cases second class.
it is important to note here that some Nigeria schools especially Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka has as of the year 2017 mentioned that students who do not perform well in their studies throughout the academic sessions will not be given a “Pass result certificate” any more, rather, they would be issue with an “attempted result certification” and this means that people like this will rarely get a job in the labour market. It remains that their opportunities out there is very low. It equally means that years of studies and paying huge fees have been wasted. Hence when people say “school na scam” it goes directing to people like this who went to school for the sake of just going to school because at the end of the day they had achieved nothing and at the same time they are in tune with people who did not see the four walls of any tertiary institution.
So, you agree with me that going to school is one thing knowing why you are in school is another thing entirely and finally graduating with a good and satisfactory result that will earn one a very high opportunity in the labour market is a totally different thing altogether. And so, that’s the reason students should buckle up once they are in school to avoid wasting four or more years in school, their youthful years and equally their hard-earned resources without achieving anything afterall.
If one truly wants to be a first-class candidate in an federal institutions, here are some basic tips for guidance.
1. The first most important thing is to have a target or to set a target: It is assumed that one does better be it academically, financially spiritually or monetarily if they’re stipulated target. Now what is Target as regards to what we are saying which is having a first class in Federal Educational institutions. Students should have the ability to have a completed target for themselves.
A lot of students are in school without having any kind of target as they don’t know what they want to achieve they don’t even know how to achieve them. Having a target is a first step to guard and direct one in the course of one’s academic life from year one.
One should know if truly they want to graduate as a first class student because without that mindset there is no first class candidate vibes. It’s important you have a set target that your CGPA would not be nothing less than 4.0 then that’s the target and with this target you would not want to accept distractions because you know that distractions of any sorts would have you not meeting your target. One could possibly have one or more target depending on what you want to achieve the more your target the more focus and goal-oriented you would be but the lesser your targets the more less concerned one would be coupled with continous procrastinating till you find yourself graduating and then there will be absolutely nothing left to be done but the sad story of “had I known” In essence target is very crucial in achieving any self mapped-out goals.
2. Time management: the popular cliché that all work and no play make Jack a dull boy is still relevant in the life of most students in the tertiary institutions. I said so because it is not even advisable that one reads all the time.
There’s a psychological effects to that habits and so that’s where we apply the “all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy” ideology. Of course we all know that there are many activities in a typical Nigerian institution so it is advisable the one knows how to manage his time among these activities. There’s no such thing as reading 247 without a break so a very serious Nigerian student who wants to have first class should know how to manage his time and dabble his attention between Church activities, social activities leadership activities, sports activities and other miscellaneous activities in school at the same time dedicating a maximum attention to his reading time table.
Time management is as essential as money management time is money and a lost time can never be recovered so students should know how to double-check the time they spend on chitchat, gossips, rumour social media frivolities, TV shows, bling shows and the rest of them. These should not take more of a student’s time in as much as there should be need for a break in the life of a serious student but it is also advisable that a student knows when he/she has crossed the limits of play.
If a student truly desires to be a first class candidate they should know that time for reading should supercede time for other activities in the ratio of 60 is to 40 where 60 is the time mapped out for studying and critical learning while 40 is the time stipulated for other extra curricular activities. It is worth noting that maximum adherence of this stipulated time management will create an unsaturated environment for any student.
3. Friendship: as simple as it may sound, I strongly believe that friendship is another bridge that either mars or destroys a student’s focus in school. Friendship could have a positive effect and as well it could have loads of negative effects.
The old adage of “show me your friend and I will tell you are” is still very much applicable in this contest. The type of friend you have in school will determine who you turned out to be. If you move with fashionistas, social media engagers, wannabes, gossipers, informants, party and club goers unfortunately you will be the third person in there midst. Likewise if you should follow nerds, critical thinkers, and serious minded people that love to ask questions definitely you’ll be the third person in the wheel. So, friendship is another building block that could mould someone into becoming a first-class candidate or marely a pass student.
Now having said this, it’s left for any student to choose whom they will serve. Like I mentioned earlier, one’s target will direct them to the type of company to keep. A sudent with a set target of 4.0 GP definitely would know that party goers and clubgoers are not the type of friends to have around. The effect of a well meaningful friendship could not be over-emphasised as it aids good grades and poor academic results.
4. Consistency: aside imposed discipline, self discipline is one greatest tool any student could make use of in achieving any goal. Without consistency, target is useless. Without consistency no goals shall be achieved. If procrastinating is the only thing a student is consistent on, then there’s a huge disaster.
The need for being consistent in whatever goal one have set would yield a favourable result. One thing with consistency is that it naturally becomes a habit over time and habits could not be getting rid of easily. A healthy habit of studying in due time is one step ahead of being a first class candidate in due time.
Finally, none of the above would be easy without the God factor. Prayer remains the key no matter how disciplined or self reliance one might be. Always pray like everything depends on praying at the same time putting same maximum energy in the above mentioned. Nothing good comes easily. It’s either we push harder to win or we loose without trying!
