IF ONLY I COULD GO BACK

I Wish I’d Known This Earlier

If we could, we would turn back the hands of time and set things right, won't we?

If you read our post on dealing with distractions, you’d agree it’s something everyone can resonate with. I would share two stories of two people with you, we’d call them Sam and Jane, and their fight with distractions. Sam is a graduate from a Nigerian university, while Jane is presently in her final year.

We look at their stories in two parts and how they both handled the distractions they faced.

Sam

I was 19 when I got into school. It wasn’t the course I wanted, but we hardly get that in Nigeria, so I just accepted it as my lot and took the course, after my third JAMB exam, I couldn’t stay at home anymore. I settled in and I was actually slightly embarrassed whenever I saw younger people in my class. I wasn’t the oldest, of course, but I always kept feeling a tinge of bitterness whenever I calculated that if I had gotten admission at my first attempt, I should have been in my third year.

I didn’t like the course, even though it wasn’t a bad course. I just wasn’t motivated to study it. I wasn’t a poor student, neither was I a genius, I guess things just happen for a reason and I accepted my fate as such.

My first year was my Eureka year, I wouldn’t be told what to do by anyone. I was finally in school, a great Nigerian student, a comrade. I made friends quickly, even formed a clique in about a month. I don’t remember how exactly it happened, but I got very involved socially. My clique quickly became popular, and it paid off, or so I thought. We were at almost all first year students welcome parties, and we always dressed in matching outfits. We had a favourite Uber driver who was always there for us, so moving about at any time wasn’t an issue.

How time flew and our first semester exams came upon us was a surprise. I just heard timetable had been released and exams would start the following week. I began to scramble for how to help myself and it was clear I was going to flunk the exams.

I wouldn’t bore you with things I would rather not remember, but let’s just say I got a CGPA of 2.1 out of 5 by the end of that year. Wow! Me, with a third class result, was I that bad? I was restless during the holiday, I knew something was wrong and something had to be done about my woeful result.

I decided to summon the courage to get in touch with a senior colleague. I had met him twice before, but he looked too much of a nerd to be the kind of person I wanted to be around. This nerd, however, had a 4.32 CGPA, more than twice what I had, and he just entered his final year. I swallowed my pride and reached out to him for help.

He took me in, and this guy was able to show me, for the first time, just how messed up my academic and professional life was and how I was headed for doom if I didn’t change it. I knew it was bad, just not that bad. I asked him to help me and he did. He gave me his formula for success. We formulated a reading plan; I agreed to read for fifteen minutes daily initially, for five days per week. It wasn’t easy to do this, I admit. It was so new to me, and whenever my friends came around, I would just drop my books and hang out with them. A new eatery had just opened in town, and one of us had just turned friends with a bouncer at a well visited club, so we got free passes. It wasn’t uncommon for me to only read for five minutes only, and that was whenever I remembered to read at all. My new mentor would check on me frequently but I’d always say all was okay; at least, I was getting better.

Second year exams came and I knew that even though I was going to do better than my first year, I wasn’t going to perform excellently. My instincts were right. My CGPA rose to 2.65, and it gave a bittersweet feeling. My mentor asked me to come clean with him, and I did. He just graduated with a 4.22 and I was super proud, I even joked that at least he wasn’t up to twice my result anymore. He told me to focus if I wanted a good future for myself, and those words worked the treat.

My final two years were fast and furious. I devoted myself to reading. All the things that caught my attention didn’t seem alluring anymore, plus one of us had just secured an extra year in school. I started reading 15 minutes daily, then I jacked it up to 30 minutes, and by the end of that semester, I was reading over five hours weekly.

Fast forward to my final result, I graduated with a 3.47 CGPA, just 0.03 shy of a second class upper, but how glad I was. I had become a different person and I was already considering doing my second degree.

I’m presently in my service year, and as much as I wish I sat up much earlier, I carry my scar and my result with pride. I went, I saw, and I conquered.

 There it is, the story of Sam, her success story I dare call it. Can you relate to Sam’s story? Does it meet you somewhere? Our comments section is just below, let us know.

PS. Do you think the real Sam is male or female? Let’s hear what you think and why you think so. Also remember to connect with us today on Twitter and Instagram. Jane’s story would drop later.

 

Stay smart!