"Education enables the humans to achieve their fullest mental and physical potential in both personal and social life"
– Abhijit Naskar
You will always hear undergraduates and graduates complaining bitterly, disappointed at the level of unemployment in the country.
I was at a business centre on campus to make some photocopies and two guys and a lady were discussing about securing a job in a reputable organization even as an undergraduate. "Interesting," I said to myself. I stylishly moved closer to them so I could hear and benefit from what they were discussing.
Funny enough, I was amazed with the kind of words that came out from their mouths. Very funny how final year students of a university in this 21st century will settle with some funny mindset and ambition.
The lady was making a reply to one of the guys who said even as an undergraduate you can secure a job in a reputable organization, that some of his friends have done that. The Lady said " mine is just to finish school carry myself and go get a husband that will take care of me, education in Nigeria will not even give you anything meaningful, you will graduate now and no job"
Seriously, sister is this the kind of plan you have for your life, I said to myself.
The other guy said "Last last somebody will graduate and leave this school, everything is just stress, from my 100Level to 400Level now, how school take help me, make e nor bi like say person nor go school, if you even graduate from university now, where is the job, abegiii."
A larger percentage of students on campus nowadays do not SET GOALS. Everyone claims to have DREAMS, but not all have workable dreams whose FUNCTIONALITY can be measured.
Developing your self, having a positive growth and a sense of strategic planning that will better your life, is an important aspect of life.
If we must build a good life and career for the future and reduce the number of unemployed young people in Nigeria, students on campus must continue to grow and develop an influential mindset with the intention to add value to their lives and that of others.
So many graduates of tertiary institutions, especially Public Universities, finds it difficult to get a good life after school, because they fail to plan when they should have. Now that there are no more ways to collect money from parents/guardians with some fraudulent activities which they claim to be academic activities, they are left stranded on the street with no vision and a clear picture of their life.
The kind of orientation programs organised for fresh students in most Public Universities and Polytechnics in Nigeria are just for fun and social pleasure. If you do a deep study on the general population of students in Public Universities and Polytechnics, you would discover that, only about 40% have the right mindset and orientation about the outside world as a student on campus.
Many students on campus today gained admission and at first year, they were full of energy and enthusiasm to learn and make great impact, but after some time you often hear statement like " Let me just graduate and leave this school, this system is nonsense, it is not everyone that will use their certificate to work"
A number of students on campus engage in some form of indiscipline and lawless act, nonchalant about learning and fail to develop themselves for a better tomorrow as a result of wrong orientation, mindset and moral training.
Good academic qualifications without a good foundation of self discipline, strategic planning and adequate preparedness, the individual is useless to him/her self, university, family and society.
Societal values are important for the survival of any society. It must begin from the individual, students on campus must have the right attitude and approach to identify and make good use of opportunities while on campus.
It is funny how some students come into the campus with disabled orientation from home. You hear students dishing out some funny reasons why they are on campus and some don't even know why and what campus is about.
"WHO AM I?" is a question we should always ask ourselves as students. We must have a sense of PERSONAL VALUE. According to Zig Ziglar, “It’s impossible to consistently behave in a manner inconsistent with how we see ourselves. We can do very few things in a positive way if we feel negative about ourselves.”
Nathaniel Branden, a psychotherapist and expert on the subject of self-esteem, says nothing is more important in people’s psychological development and motivation than the value judgments they make about themselves. Every aspect of their lives is impacted by the way they see themselves.
As kids we would always say " I want to go to school, grow up, get a good job, build a big house and buy a big car." But how many of us are prepared to take up the challenge and responsibility of becoming successful?We must be prepared for the kind of life we want for our selves. The preparation does not begin when you are already a graduate, it begins from the campus as an undergraduate student. If you get that desired job, do you have the ability to manage the job? Do you understand your CAPACITY BUILDING?
Students should carefully harness their potentials and get rid of bad habits that militates Self development and Self fulfilment while on campus. Many students do not study, some do not attend classes, some follow the lead of friends who don't have plans for themselves, some spend their time on trivialities, attending different parties, spend much on self claimed fashionista, some spend their precious time on sexual activities and have their glory and destiny sold out and become empty vessels. At the end they just manoeuvre their ways to have good grades and they think it ends there.
Attitude goes with a sense of purpose. When you have the right attitude towards something, you create room for greater achievements and a fulfilled purpose. Our attitude is a key factor to be considered while on campus. The primary essence of existence is to add value. To fulfil your purpose of coming to school and add value to your life and society, you should have the right attitude and approach.
As students, the passion to establish goals and be progressive in a situation that seams unfavourable is another attitude to succeed. Every body is a goal setter but how many stay on those goals? We make plans every day, we should understand to set the right goals and stay focused. We do not accomplish what we desire not because we do not set goals. It is as a result of setting goals for the wrong things, so we set the wrong kinds of goals. We should know that purpose is more important than plans. Plans can only work when they are in line with your purpose. You must define your goal, write it down, visualize it, communicate your goal, believe in your goals and be committed to your goals.
Students on campus must learn to be innovative. To achieve success, one must learn from experiences of himself and others, but never live in them. We must see possibilities in every situation, we should always think ahead of life and believe we can accomplish what we desire.
We must understand never to repeat same thing twice if they are not beneficial, we shouldn't hold the mindset that something is impossible. The world is changing every day, we also should. What we do in the past should not determine our future. We should be able to combine past experiences and present challenge and create new perspective view of the future. Have passion for personal development.
Students should have a positive and right attitude as to why they are on campus. Students should always focus on solutions. There is the need for students to see the opportunity for development of a better future while on campus. "Students need to come out of being people with DREAMS to being people with a GLOBAL VISION."
Written by: Collins Odigie Ojiehanor
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