Things Undergraduates Should Do Or Know
Before Graduation.
In stressful academic settings like
ours, it’s very easy to get trapped in the four walls of the institution and
lose focus on what the real world entails.
When the lecture materials are so
much than you can handle, when the assignments and term papers become
overwhelming, to crown it all, the 7am-6pm lecture schedule makes it look like
we are robot.
It’s either you read all night or
fail…Social life becomes a luxury; eating a good meal as well becomes a rare
opportunity. Five years (four in some cases) later, many would graduate and go
outside, fresh out into the real wall, and they eventually become strangers out
there.
Relating with strangers becomes
difficult; writing a two-page resume about yourself becomes a difficult task
simply because you don’t know what to write about other than you certificates…
No volunteering experience, no
extracurricular activities, no award or something exceptional about you. It’s not your fault anyway, it’s just the way our educational
system is set-up…. The best part of our undergraduate days are spent in the
library, night classes and lecture room.
But then, who says it has to be like
that?
What makes you think you can’t do
other things than studying as an undergraduate?
This post will share basic ideas of
things you can do as an undergraduate to make an easy transition into the real
world when the time comes. Things you should about the world outside there…
EDUCATE YOURSELF:
It’s so easy to get confused when
differentiating between getting a degree certificate and getting educated. A
larger percentage of the graduates you see on daily basis are graduates by
certificate, and they’re not really educated, as opposed to normal expectation.
Now, what does being educated
entails? In simple terms, it means attaining a higher level of reasoning,
either based on previous personal experience, or on other people’s experience.
It’s about having a clear pattern of making a decision and acting on current
information, based on a clear-cut thought process.
Clearly, all the courses we are
taking as an undergraduate will not get us the self-education I am talking
about here.
The question now is; “How do I get
educated”?
Personal
Development:
A larger percentage of successful
people in life are self made. They understand the principle behind
constant self improvement and created a pattern for their life based on the
principle of self development.You can start your journey of personal
development by doing the following:
Read Non-Academic Books As Much As
Possible:
Get books written by successful
people in your field of study, read about their experience, read as much as you
can. Read during holidays, read during weekend, read as much as time
would permit.If you can’t afford to get new books, there are various vendors
around school area that are into old books. Get in-touch with a vendor
around your campus, and give him a list of your preferred book, and ask him to
get them for you when making his/her bulk purchase. Another option is to check
the internet for free EBooks, websites like (en.bookfi.org) comes in handy.
Read
Popular Motivational/Inspirational and Life hack Blogs:
The time we spend on Whatsapp, Facebook and other social media is enough
to make a difference if used wisely.Make a compilation of your popular
inspirational blog and create a bookmark for them on your mobile/web browser.
Check out updates from this blogs on weekly basis.
I spend a considerable number of
hours reading threads on Quora, LifeHacker, Nairaland,
Reddit
and IWT, your list of favorite blog or website should have something to
do with your topic of interest. Just start with something! And before you know
it, you are learning already.
(c) Start
Something New and Master It:
During my first year as an
undergraduate, I wanted to learn something new, so I decided to learn how to
use facebook and blog to make money. At that particular point in time, I had no
use for facebook, just only to chat with friends; I just wanted to learn
something new.
I downloaded tutorials from
YouTube and other valuable resources, and within three weeks,
I was “making good post and adverts. I later met somebody in a cyber café few months afterwards, he was making
posts on daily basics for an organization. I aproached him and told him I can
do better. He was having difficulties getting his post to different sites, so I
offered to help and we became friends. I couldn’t solve his problem, but he
learnt a lot as regards the to that from me, we exchanged contact, and I became
his go-to-guy when he runs into problem.
Two years down the lane, this
particular guy has referred over five (5) high paying clients to me for
internet business.
Take note that most of his referrals
have nothing to do with the internet, as a matter of fact; most of the projects
have to do with the common computer appreciation.
So learn something new, a new skill,
a new trade e.t.c
Prepare
For Your Intended Career:
It’s never too early to start taking
professional exams right from your second year as an undergraduate. Accounting student should sign up
for ICAN courses, Engineering student should sign up for project management
courses, Medical, Environmental Health and Engineering students should sign up
for HSE (Health, Safety and Environmental) courses and get certified. This
certification makes your Resume more attractive than the regular graduate resume.
For courses with strong student
association bodies, try as much as possible to attend at least two of your
conferences before graduating. In most of those conferences, an attendance
certificate is always issued. This type of certificate goes a long way,
especially when you require certification to practice in your field.
Sign up for internship position
during holidays, even when it’s not a paid position. It gives you a real time
exposure as to what your course of study is all about.
Have Fun:
So you really want to make
first class at the expense of your social life…The truth remains that;
everybody won’t graduate with a first class degree, and not every first class
graduate ends up fulfilled in life.
While I was in secondary school, I
missed out on a lot of fun activities, to tell you how laid back I was, I
didn’t attend my valedictory service. I was at home watching TV show re-run
when my mates were making memories. I saw the pictures years later and I
regretted my choice. So
yes! Have fun without harming your academics, the keys are to know your limit
and stay in your financial lane.
Go out, meet people and make
acquaintance. Make valuable connection with both male and female, skinny and
fat, beautiful and ugly, smart and dull, gentle and macho… You never can tell
when any one of them would come handy.
BONUS:
Learn to be trustworthy and
learn about being there for your friends as much as you can. Don’t be
identified as a liar amidst your friends, because the reputation might stick
around longer than you want.
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