How to succeed as a student

HOW TO SUCCEED AS A FRESH student

Silver and gold, I do not have but my experience here will be of great help to you, the newly admitted students. What I have to say here may not actually be the 100% ultimate steps to succeed however, they were brought out of my personal experience here in the university.

1.    GOD FIRST

As a Christian, I believe that the God factor must come first in anything journey that you decide to take. The recognition of this will sustain you through the good & rough times you will meet here in Unizik. I want to believe that we are all aware of the fact that there are several fellowships here on campus and it will be of good use to identify with one for your spiritual growth and support. There are so many fellowships on campus, I can’t start listing them but I’ll strongly advise you as a brother to identify with just one.

2.    INFORMATION

The regular saying “information is power and if you are not informed then you are deformed” is undeniably true. As a fresher, there are still many things you don’t know concerning class & exam activities. Hence, in order to bridge this gap, try as much as possible to be close to your course rep so as not to miss any vital information. It is very helpful especially in situations whereby passing across an urgent information to the whole class becomes difficult. KEEP YOUR EARS OPEN!!!

There have been cases whereby students miss fixed classes, “QUIZZES” and “EXAMS” due to the fact that they were unaware, which is really bad and I don’t want that to happen to you guys so KEEP YOUR EARS OPEN even while sleeping..loool.

3.    TIME MANAGEMENT

Time management, time management, time management…..  This is a very crucial factor to success that you shouldn’t joke with so as to avoid deadline rush or RUSH HOUR. Sometimes, I wish I could pause the time so that I would be able to do other things that interest me. Its as if time rushes in school, you may think that there is enough time to gallivant but hell no!. Yes, exam isn’t near, I think exam starts by April or so. So many students will be very happy since its far to them but don’t have that kind of mind set. Don’t wait till exam timetable shows up before you start studying intensively, EARLY PREPARATION IS KEY.

Few weeks ago, a year 1 boy met me in the hostel and asked me if going to parties will prevent him from passing his exams. Within me, I felt like…this guy really wants to pass, but maybe he likes to party.. I was mute for some seconds then I answered him by saying “Actually, partying isn’t the issue, the issue is how you manage your time in school.” Some of us love partying which I wont 100% condemn but the BIG QUESTION is how many times do you party In a month?  In a semester?  In a session????  You need to plan your activities here, don’t just move anywhere the wind blows you to, you need to have self control. Fortunately for me, I’m not a party freak, so I have more time for my books. Though, I have friends that go to clubs to party but they still excel academically. WHY?? THEY HAVE LEARNT HOW TO MANAGE THEIR TIME.. Please plan the way you use your time. BE GUIDED.

4.    FRIENDS YOU KEEP

Show me your close friend and I’ll tell you your GP. It sounds funny but its kinda true though not always true. The kind of friends you keep here especially your close friends, have an impact on you whether you like it or not. When I got admitted, I looked out for serious students (not only in my dept but in engineering faculty since we were all doing the same course). It may seem hard to figure out those that are serious because in year 1 everybody forms serious student…everybody wants to graduate with first class.lool..

So, try as much as possible to get close to students that know what they came to school for. IRON SHARPENTH IRON. Avoid bad and wayward friends, they could get you into trouble that you didn’t bargain for.

5.    READING/STUDY HABIT

In this area, you need to understand yourself. Let me assume that you guys just left secondary school, so there’s no mummy or daddy or uncle or aunty to force you to read your books anymore, the highest they can do is to call you on phone. You are now on your own. During this early resumption period, you should try and understand yourself. Know what time is best for you to read. Build up a study habit or even a reading group and have laid down study plans that you must follow. Another person’s reading plan may not favour you so, write out your own by yourself.

Learn how to sit down and read on your own. If your lodge or hostel doesn’t look comfortable for reading, you can read in school even at night. Get materials and PAST QUESTIONS, they will help you to concentrate on what to read!!!! Don’t wait till exam comes up before you lay your EYES on past questions, START NOW!!!

During your free time in class, you can just pick up materials and past questions and go through them, it is far better than just chatting the time away. DON’T DEPEND FULLY ON TUTORIALS!!

6.    CONNECT WITH YOUR PREDECESSORS

I’ve found out that many freshers don’t try to reach out to their predecessors. Meet those in year 2, for God’s sake they just left year 1 and they are in the best position to tell you how to scale through year 1 hurdles. Some of them will even still have their year 1 materials which they may give to you if you ask them, this will help you to save cost of photocopying or buying materials and past questions. Look for them and ask them for it.

7.    APPLY FOR SCHOLARSHIPS

I cant tell you about success as an undergraduate without hitting on this part that puts smile on students faces. There are several scholarship opportunities open to undergraduates. However, they may not be so easy to get due to the number of applicants that write their test but IT WILL BE VERY BAD OF YOU NOT TO APPLY FOR IT unless you are DANGOTE’S or OTEDOLA’S CHILD. You can just give it a try, who knows, you can be awarded and once you win a scholarship, you save your parents the stress of paying your fees. In some cases, applying for these scholarships could be stressful but the thing is that you know what you want. Scholarship is free money and it wont be on a platter of gold, YOU MUST APPLY FOR IT AND PASS THE SCHOLARSHIP APTITUDE TEST.

Some of these scholarships include; Agbami, Chevron, Shell/NNPC, FSB (Federal Scholarship Board), MTN, TOTAL, PTDF and so on. Some people will tell you that these scholarships are scam but I’ll advise you not to listen to them and apply for it when the application starts. I know of a friend that just graduated, he got up to 4 scholarships while in school and after I calculated how much he was paid altogether, it was up to 1.4million naira (I’m not exaggerating). With this kind of money, its even you that will be sending money to your parents and not the other way round.

Getting a scholarship makes your parent/guardian to have respect for you, I’m a living witness.

Also note that when applying for some of these scholarships, they will requIre that your GP should be up to 3.0 or 3.5 or 4.0 depending on their criteria. And this is why you need to study hard and smash you exams so that you can have a high GP.

8.    GIVE TIME TO OTHER THINGS.

Yes, we are all students but try and make out time for other activities. Don’t just be with your books 24/7 without knowing who your next neighbour is. Participate in sporting actitvities. Try to learn some handskills & how to use certain softwares. Attend good seminars and conferences, this will expose to you to what the world wants and will make you connect with professionals.

With these, I believe I have laid a 70% foundation for you guys. I wish you success as you sojourn in this prestigious university.

Have a wonderful 5 years of learning