HOW TO HANDLE AN EXTRA YEAR/YEARS

1 – DO NOT PANIC (IT’S NOT THE END)  - The first thing a lot of people do when they get the news is to go berserk, please for heaven’s sake, take it easy , I understand that over here in Nigeria may be Africa, we are graded based on the paper, but the truth is YOU ARE NOT DEFINED BY THE PAPER, your worth more than the paper , your more valuable than an academic degree , so please don’t let a course grade define your entire existence. I had a couple of friends who went into smoking and alcohol just because they taught that their future had come to an abrupt close.

"But Takashi u don’t get it, my parents will skin me, if they find out". OKAY, chill.  If you have parents who are super optimistic, you can give them the news, I know friends of mine also whose family’s supported them through 2-3 extra years, I mean the kids where the ones who wanted to quit not even the parents. But if you got my type of parents – AFRICAN, EDUCATED AND ACADEMIC DRIVEN, well I suggest two things,

1-Don’t tell em and raise your school fees yourself – may be through friends and relatives.

2 – Get a job during the holidays and raise your school fees, am sure by the time you’re done working to raise your own school fee for a year or two, you aint gonna get any more extra year, that i assure you.

2 – VERIFY YOUR RESULTS (& print them)

Don’t just accept board result placements hook line and sinker, did you write your exams properly? Are you affirmative you aced most questions? Don’t sit in your room crying and moaning, chin up, go to the exam officers and politely ask for course verification and result printout.

Ask for your scripts, because in case you don’t know, scripts are sometimes misplaced and sometimes unmarked – I’ve seen it happen people! Don’t sit there crying, crying don’t change nothing, buckle up , dress responsibly and walk to that office to get your results confirmed  and don’t let any lecturer scare you, remember be polite, in Africa , we respect the elderly so maintain the heritage but stand your ground POLITELY L.O.L.

3 – There’s a positive side to it (challenges are the breakfast of champions)

Have you noticed that 100 level (1st year) students who just got admission after school and those who stayed at home for a year or two think differently? The one's who stayed at home for a time will cherish their admission more than the one who had smooth sailing from the secondary school (high school), they tend to take lectures and assignment more seriously than those who didn’t. Why? you may ask, well they faced trying times before and overcame them.

You are or may just be facing yours for the 1^st time, so it’s your time to overcome and not run. It is also a time for;

3a - REFLECTION; it's time to reflect dear brother/dear sister, what were your reading habits like , how seriously and urgently did you take assignments , tests and practical's , were you okay skipping lectures ,PLEASE BE HONEST WITH YOUR SELF.

Take a proper look at your study time be honest with yourself;

• ·         Did you study as you ought to?

• ·         Did you join study groups or attend tutorials?

• ·         Did you ask for a friend or even a class colleague (that may not be your friend) for a help when you encountered difficulties during study or you rather stuck to your clicks, instead of seeking for knowledge?

• ·         Did you go over past questions / and read them thoroughly?

• ·         Did you teach anyone that which you knew? Anything that is taught is retained longer than that which is just learnt or assimilated.

• ·         Did you follow the exam instructions properly?

• Did you answer the question head on when you where suppose to discuss, or discussed when you were supposed to be direct, solve when you were supposed to derive, or derived when you were supposed to solve?

• ·         How about your handwriting, is it legible ?– a 60 year old lecturer in spectacles won't have to the time or patience to mark an illegible script when he has 128 more to mark

"Hey Takashi don't tell me that, i read all through the semester and i still failed", all right, here are some small but very helpful tips 

3a1 - SPEAK WELL OF YOUR SELF: e.g., "this course is an a Course", "i don't fail", "I am intelligent", "I understand math 102, chem. 512, physics 404" etc, the point is whatever you say will stand, your words are more important than 15hours of study, because the wrong words will in a single second can bring down an entire duration of study. USE YOUR WORDS WISELY.

3a2 - STUDY WITH OTHERS: i understand how important it is to sometimes study alone, but it is more important to study with someone who knows and understands that course better than you. Check it out , you could study thermodynamics for 12 hours alone and only understand 2 laws, but you could get someone with more understanding and the person will be able to communicate 6 - 7 laws to you within 3 -4 hours. And even answer a few exam questions with you.  So you see THE EFFECTIVENESS OF YOUR STUDY IS NOT IN THE DURATION (HOURS) BUT IN YOUR UNDERSTANDING, I'd rather read for 3 hrs and understand an 80 page course than read for 8 hrs and understand 15 pages out of that 80 page course. BE EFFECTIVE IN STUDY.... Read with those who know better than you at the moment.

That's why you should realize people are your opportunities; make friends with those who are more understanding than you at the moment. Drop every hate, dislike or prejudice to those of other tribes, ethnic groups, religion or race. Now you're in the university and a great deal of your success will matter in getting along with people from different backgrounds. BE HUMBLE ENOUGH TO 

 LEARN FROM THEM...

3b - TO PLAN AHEAD;

 You may have a semester a year or a year plus, and as I mentioned earlier it’s not time to blame or indulge in unhealthy lifestyles; pause and take a look at actions and possible choices you made that may have brought you to where you are now, and then take deliberate conscious steps to ensure that you deal with them now and for all time. This won’t work if you are not completely honest with yourself.

Remember, School is not the end, after you graduate there’s the exam of life, which will include marriage, parenting, modeling and lots more. Make up your mind that this extra year will push you to make yourself a better individual, son, daughter, future mom, dad, uncle and leader. Let the circumstance birth traits in you like patience, hard work, diligence, focus and discipline. Don’t create excuses for failure, chin up and prove to yourself that you’re better than your past.

3c - TO ADD VALUE TO YOURSELF;

Patience, Endurance, Humility, Hard work, Tolerance e.t.c and who says you can't start a business now, for those have a few courses, you could start a business right there and begin gaining some extra cash for yourself. Off course i wouldn't advice that if you have a bulk load of courses to deal with, for those with still a lot of credit loads to deal with , just focus on acing those courses.

4 – BE MATURE (TAKE RESPONSIBILITY)

Only kids blame. An adult that still blames situations, friends and systems for his or her problems, isn’t ready to face life’s challenges. I read a book that changed my life as teenager titled ‘TOUGH TIMES DON’T LAST BUT TOUGH PEOPLE DO’ BY ROBERT SCHULLER. It previewed the lives of individuals who went through terrible and sometimes gruesome situations of life but still made something beautiful out of their lives. My point; challenges are bound to come in your walk through life, some in their marriages, some in their health, some academics, some jobs etc, but you must make up your mind to take responsibility for where you are at the moment and make up your mind to make changes when and where necessary.

5 – KNOW WHEN TO MOVE OUT;

As much as this sounds like giving up, it’s not.

 it’s always good to know when s**t hits the fan, let say you got admission into school in 2005, and it’s a five years course, and now it’s 2013, that’s a 3years extra.

Dear beloved, MOVE OUT!!!, Why spend 8 years in course that was supposed to be 5 years and still paying the same school fees again, when with that same school fees you could have gotten a clipper and start a mobile barbing saloon, purchased a mini generator / projector that could be rented weekly/daily, purchase a colour printer that prints for people e.t.c
What would then be the difference between you and the ordinary barber? It’s this, you are barber with a dream, a rental man/woman with a dream, a printer/photocopier with a dream with determination to go back to school and make a beautiful life with your dream.

Never ever give up, make up your mind to become who you’ve determined to be irrespective of the situation that face you. I say unto you, cheer up it's not over until you say it is. Remember, the only one with enough power to kill your dream is YOU!!

Yours truly

F.J TAKASHI

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