15/07/2022
To Fresh Men, What Seemed Like an Ephemeral Ecstasy
From a dozen yards away, you can see her forehead creased with worries. You try to figure out what could probably be the matter, making an effort to rail back your memory to your own countenance as a 100 level student of the ‘first and best University.’ At some point, you conclude in your mind that the causative fire of the sudden smoke signaled by that sullen face can’t possibly be no way different from yours in your freshman days. But, how often do we make a mistake of epistemology? Of claiming to know what we’ve only acquired based on vague recollection and intuitionism?
You try to beat that grave mistake by asking what exactly it is that bothers her.
‘I’m tired,’ she blurted out. So predictable, you thought.
This is the tale of many freshers on campus, but beyond that, what do we know? Having started what seemed like a journey in the dark tunnel since March 2020, about two years ago, when over 70% of the newly admitted students -- whose mode of entry is UTME, sat for JAMB, followed by a year of absurd stillness, thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, before finally writing Post-UTME in April 2021. Having made a headway through the 'dark tunnel', here they are, in a dreamland filled with lights, rooted in a deep sense of accomplishment, so why would one not revel in absolute ecstasy?
Unfortunately, for an institution like the University of Ibadan, whose process therein are marked with high scrutiny and are designed in a fashion that can be best explained by your grandfathers because it all started with them, some things just never fade away with the pass of time.
That's why you need to do a hundred-factor authentication of your Admission clearance, Health Insurance registration, library registration, course, hall of residence, faculty and departmental registration at different locations, all in the same time-frame. That’s why you need 8 passport photographs, 8 document photocopies and walk 8 kilometres within the campus before you can be done for the day. Oh yes! Stress and hecticness are so cheap that you don’t need to pay before they get added to your cart.
This is one of the numerous reasons you see that fresh man’s forehead creased with worries. This is one of the reasons you perceive her once glorified ecstasy as ephemeral, slowly cracking under the campus’ pressure like that of a snowfield -- slowly melting away with the rise of the sun.
Perhaps at this juncture, we offer some words of guidance to our dear freshmen to help them navigate their boat through the stormy waters.
NAVIGATING THROUGH THE STORMY WATERS
It is no gainsaying that the University is different from secondary school. There is … and if there’s one common goal all the fresh men have, it is to have a successful sojourn on campus in this new session and well, here are few pointers from our desk;
Don’t play the negligence card
For every successful human, there must be at least a genuine source of information. Don’t forget your admission process all had checkpoints where you acted on information disseminated to usher you on to the next stages. Equally, you’d never graduate from being a consumer of salient information to make the best decisions regarding your academic activities now on campus. A good way to achieve this is by keeping close tabs on updates given in your class groups or your circle. Also, clarifications can always be sought from your Course Advisor or Class Rep. Be sure to ask whatever you are not clear about. However, lack of information is just as bad as negligence of information. Be sure to act fast on genuine information you garner.
Your Academics First
One mistake fresh men make is trying to dwell on the sense of freedom, to explore and experiment things appealing to their whims. Either out of misinformation or urge to feed self-gratification. Some get to bitten by the extracurricular-activities-bug that they lose consciousness of their primary assignment here on campus. While it is true that one’s purpose in the University transcends just grades and certificates, it is also noteworthy that we’d be deceiving ourselves to assume these things do not matter a great deal!
Ditch distractions, and focus on what matters.
Keep a Purposeful Circle
Based on observations over the last few years, those who thrive in their academic, spiritual and career path are those who have a good network of friends.
A good network of friends helps to beat procrastination, uplifts one’s spiritual and academic life and at the same time, offer supports and useful information at needed time. If you are not getting any of these, perhaps you re-consider the circle of friends you keep. No doubts, having a wrong circle of friends would deplete in you, these pristine values.
Hard Work and Prayers
I love to draw insights from the words of Muhammad Faris -- the Author of ‘the Productive Muslim – a lot, for it is a guide to self-awareness and purposeful living as a Muslim. He established that productivity is a function of focus, energy and time.
In the same vein, before your efforts can qualify as a purposeful hard work, you must have applied your energy, focus without distractions and a whole good time figuring it out. Anything short of this is mediocre.
Verily, how erroneous would it be if we conclude that success is a function of sole hard-work.
There is a popular adage called ‘Murphy’s law’ that’s typically stated as: ‘In a any field of endeavor, anything that can go wrong, will likely go wrong.’ We’ve witnessed, many a time, where unthinkable factors have wrecked the achievements of our goals. Factors beyond our control as humans. This is why we must involve the Almighty in our affairs no matter how much personal effort we’ve invested.
May Allah guide our steps to the right path.
