By Bilyamin Abdulmumin
Along the line of any one’s achievement, there would be some setbacks as well as some breakthroughs. These experiences, when directed to the right individuals (mentees), would become stepping stones for them, so they, the mentees, can have a chance to avoid the mistakes, bank on the gains, and eventually reach the height the mentors themselves didn’t, in less time, energy, and expense.
One of the keys to students’ success I live to learn is going ahead. When a student is ahead at any level, be it primary school National Common Entrance Exam (NCEE), SSCE, JAMB, school session, research project, NYSC, scholarship, Job, entrepreneurship grant, or loan, one would have the opportunity to, upon stepping on the program, become a jewel in the crown.
Right from primary school, a student needs to be ahead. One has to be abreast with any award to be won after primary school, so he can prepare and eventually win it, every award is geared toward making student journeys better.
NCEE is quite popular in the Southern States of Nigeria, unlike in the North where the low registration for the exam is quite shocking, 2022/ 2023 session revealed. Because while Lagos State has the highest number of candidates registered (19518), Kebbi State scores the lowest registrants with 74 registrants.
Even though I was among the best three students in the entire primary school, I too didn’t register for the NCEE, hence I didn’t reap the benefit of enrolling into any of the 104 Nigerian Federal Secondary Schools. I live to lament not being enrolled in my best choice, Federal Government Birnin Yauri
The results of the Secondary School Certificate would keep following a student bumper to bumper as far as being an applicant, especially for a scholarship, so it is very imperative to stay ahead with the competitive results of WAEC and NECO, even if it means many re-sitings for students.
I was able to pull four distinctions and four credits in my WAEC. This has given me an edge on many scholarship occasions, especially winning the PTDF award where the O’level results are taken seriously. Although I was able to win a few scholarships like PTDF (in-country), but having 5 distinctions in O’level would have given me even better edge on other scholarships.
I first came to realize the benefit of having distinctions in O’level as a 200-level student, when applying for a Mobil scholarship, they set the requirement to at least five distinctions. Thank God I was still considered although I was one distinction away from the requirement.
It is, therefore, not enough for students to aspire for credits as many do just to get enough for University admission, there are other things where one would need to stand-out, especially scholarships. If a student can pull at least five distinctions from the O’level subjects, in the realm of scholarship he has a chance to be a king.
But when it comes to preparing ahead, the first degree is the mother of them all. It is safe to say that the first degree forms the backbone of student education, the first degree signifies the time when the academic journey begins to take shape, one is going to be constantly measured by the first degree forever, for the rest of life.
As an undergraduate there is one idea I wish I had known in time so that I could embrace, that is, planning for spillover, yes you read it right, planning for a spillover, the phenomenon that sounds archaic to student’s ears, it is like death news to the student but here I’m saying I miss it, come to terms with me, is it not better to graduate late than graduating inadequate, forever?
The set of any students is like a melting pot, every student among a set would get a different pace on studies, while some can finish a course in the exact formal period, some may need a year extra, others may be ok with a year less to finish the same course.
It is not necessarily being less brilliant but there are several factors why many students’ slow pace could be justified, a factor like an adjustment to the campus life, depending on how campus life takes a toll on every student, some have virtually never stepped out of their homes, but they now come to deal with the first-hand struggle of living per head, putting the struggle side by side with the studies, for some, it would be a deficiency in primary and secondary education, financial issues but for others, it would be health problems. These and other factors clog the wheels of CGPA progress for many students.
Planning to spill for a better final result is achieved in two ways, by registering fewer courses that one can handle, second, a student may defer a session or semester altogether for readjustment, perhaps to remedy any deficiency which will make him more prepared.
To become a successful student in every aspect of the academic voyage, a student must think ahead, because one becomes what he thinks, and as the saying goes one can only step foot as far as he or she can see.