The Spectacular Student

YOU were brainwashed...! Actually...Yes! Who told you that holidays translate into no-book days or no-academic-work days? Who told you that? Now, know this: Holidays are not just a pause for school, but an opportunity to sharpen your sword for the next battle.  In fact, the way you use your holidays can affect your academic performance in the next semester and beyond. Here are 7 things you can do to make your holidays benefit you academically: 1. Review the Last semester Take time to think about how well you did last semester. Even if the results may not be out already, you can tell if you did well or not. How well did you achieve your last semester goals. What associations or habits helped you or pulled you back. Do a thorough review. 2. Set a Holiday Goal Have SMART goals set for this holiday. E.g., complete all the chapters under Organic Chemistry, Finish the 2 novels we would use for next semester, complete an assignment, finish a project, etc. Set as many goals as you can. But...

24 hours are never enough! For a day? They are never enough! I do feel this way sometimes. I wish I could just add more hours to the 24-hour day. Maybe 100 hours or something. But then, it is how it is. For a student, time Management is usually very important. The time you spend studying is of great importance. One way to be able to properly manage your time to be able to study effectively is to have a study timetable. Here are 10 strategic tips that will help you create a study timetable that actually work: 1. Set Your Priorities. Write down your classes and subjects. Note the subjects that appear bulkier, more difficult, with higher unit loads and that are core courses. Give these subjects more time on your timetable. Then give shorter periods to other subjects 2. Understand Your Circadian Rhythm When do you study best. Is it during the night or the day, before or after lectures, etc. Set your timetables around those hours. If you don't understand your circadian rhythm yet, try ...

Hey! Congratulations! You are now a student! You prayed for this; you dreamt of this and now you have just started living out your dream Whether you have already resumed your first semester or you are about to resume, here are 7 Essential things you must know as a freshman in school: 1. Time Management is so important You must be able to use your time judiciously. This is to enable you catch up with classes, assignments, library sessions, projects, your social and spiritual life, etc. Shun procrastination. Avoid last minute stress. 2. Campus is not for Children; Take Responsibility Yes, I get it. You may not even be up to 18. Or maybe you're above 18. But remember that as long as you are in Campus, you are not expected to still be a child. I'm not taking about age here. Children are always reminded to read. Children pursue pleasure instead of choosing discipline to face their works. Children don't take responsibility. Don't be a child. Remember that you are solely respo...

I have heard many students say that school is a scam. As a result, they toy with their studies while in the higher institutions. And this is even fueled by the myriads of distractions faced around the school environment and also by the fact that they are far from parental monitoring or guidance. However, I have said it before that every student must do their best to take their studies seriously. This cannot be over emphasized. I'll be giving you 10 reasons why you must be serious with your academics , now that you are a student. Here are the reasons: 1. Solid Foundation You still have a long way to go in your chosen career. And even if you do not settle in the field you are currently studying, taking your studies seriously will help solidify your foundation.  2. Better Employability As a student who finishes with good grades, you have a better chance of being hired in better-paying jobs than people who didn't do well in school. In fact the first job I got after my NYSC, was fr...

So, finally, we are back I'm sure you noticed that we didn't post here for about 15 days. And you've been wondering what actually happened. I'm tempted to tell you the details, you know. But I wouldn't like to bore you with all that. Just know that we are sorry for allowing the lull for those number of days. Yes, it's not easy dropping these contents daily to spur you to academic excellent. We know it's not so easy. But we have chosen this path - the path of doing everything to see you become the best student that you can be. And we must stick to it. We are finally back. This time, better, bigger and stronger.  In fact, we are currently loaded. We can't wait to offload value from us to you. We remain committed to the purpose for which this Blogpost was created . Meanwhile, let me remind you of some of my posts that I consider my favorites 1. Nobody Cares Why you fail 2. Master your unique circadian rhythm 3. Read actively . 4. First Things First Yeah, I ...

Hey everyone, We had a short break for some time We are back Bigger and better. We are still committed to bringing you great contents that will push you into being the best student in your University. Today, we wish to remind you of our first 3 most viewed posts in the last month Can you guess? They are: 1. We are online 2. What Exactly Do You Want 3. First Things First 4. Learn Excellence From These Ladies You may need to refresh this once again so you don't miss out on what we have here to offer. Have a great day. Dr Tochukwu Onu, PT 

 Hello, it's February already. Happy new month to you! We thank you especially for reading our blog here. Since the past month, precisely on January 4th, 2025, I started this journey of making daily blog posts that are aimed at making you the best student in your university or college. I want to push you unto good success. This new month, we want to remind you that repetition is very important. Reading again what you already read before is so so important. Why? Find out why from our previous post here:   From short to long term memory Also check out these posts that many students love so much. 1. Master your circadian rhythm  2. Read actively So far, what have you learnt from this blog. I'll be glad to read from you in the comment section. This new month, we shall do more. Do well to come along with us on this ride to excellence. Let's have fun together. ✌️ 💕  Dr Tochukwu Onu, PT 

Two days ago, I recommended that if you want to be the best student in your university, you should engage more in active reading . I gave you important steps on how to go about active reading. There are different active reading strategies. One of the most popular is the SQ3R Reading strategy. This strategy was first proposed by Francis Robinson, a prominent American educational Psychologist in 1946 in his book titled Effective Study What is SQ3R The SQ3R is an active reading strategy that helps the reader engage intentionally with the material before, during and after reading. SQ3R is actually an acronym which stands for Survey, Question, Read, Recite and Review. 1. S - Survey First, quickly go through the materials you are to study. Take note of the headings, subheadings, as well as the notes under the pictures, tables and charts. Don't spend so much time on this. This step will give you an overview of what to expect from the text or material you are to read. 2. Q- Question or Que...

Someone once said that life is not fair to many of us. We all face different challenges over time. These challenges affect many of us. They are like pebbles being cast at us by life itself. Many people allow these pebbles or stones cast at them to get them injured or broken or depressed. As a result, they fall and never rise again. They give up. They abandon everything and go home defeated. Yes. Defeated. For others who face similar or even worse challenges, they gather the stones and build a bridge. Remember that nobody cares why you fail . This itself is not fair. I know. But that's just the gospel truth. Everybody will become interested in your story when you succeed against all odds.  I want you to learn excellence from these two students who lived with sickle cell anemia, one genetic condition that you will not even wish your enemy to have. But they excelled. They excelled, and that, very well. They came out with first class. They are our world's unsung heroes. Let's l...

Many students do not know that the way you read a novel or some entertainment blog post is not the same way you read your academic materials. The difference is just that the former is passive and the latter requires an active reading pattern. This post will teach you how to engage in active reading, as this is key if you want to understand what you are reading, if you want to be able to recall during exams/tests and if you want to be an outstanding student. Passive Reading Passive Reading is the kind of reading usually employed while reading for entertainment purposes. For example, reading an entertainment news, scanning through a newspaper or reading through a boring novel, etc. In passive reading, you are not actively engaging what is being read. You are not reading to fully understand the details in the text. Understanding may be superficial. Passive reading requires superficial attention. One's attention may be divided while reading. Focus is lacking. One could even be mul...

Have you ever gone in to write an exam and you just 'offloaded' all the answers needed to pass the exams into your answer sheet, and then, the next moment you are unable to remember the information you just 'offloaded'? The reason is because you didn't read to understand. You only crammed the information. Many students fall into this category. They do not read to understand. As a result, they find it difficult to remember. Is Cramming that Bad? While cramming can sometimes be of great benefit, it is not a good way to study, if your aim is to understand what you are reading. Some students, however, have mastered this process of cramming and use it to their benefits, especially to pass exams. Cramming is simply trying to learn a lot of information within a very short period of time. In cramming, you just mug up the information within a short time, especially when about to write an exam. Cramming can be very useful in emergency test/exam preparations and this has helpe...

While in the University, I had a schoolmate who would complain of reading and reading her course materials but then will get to the exam hall and not remember what she read. At a a point, one of her campus pastors felt she was having some spiritual problems. He had to pray seriously for her. It didn't stop. It continued. I think it wasn't a spiritual problem. Many Students have this Common Problem I have interacted with a lot of students over time and I have noticed that this is a very important problem that students face. They find it difficult to remember what they read. As someone who have passed through schools, I can say that remembering things that you read is not as difficult as many put it. While I don't rule out the fact there there could be some spiritual undertone to matters like this, I usually want to believe that before we say it is a spiritual matter, let's assess the physical and ensure that there are no loopholes. A thorough assessment of your study pat...

Have you ever been in a situation where you did good to someone and he paid you back with evil. Or maybe he was just so ungrateful. Have you ever been in such a situation? How did it feel? I'm sure you must have felt so bad. Whenever we do good to people, we expect them to be at least grateful. I'm sure this is the case for everyone.  At Least One Person I'm sure you would be grateful to one person or the other that you are a student today. It could be your family or friends who encouraged and supported you to this point. It could be some individual you knew previously who helped make admission possible. It could also have been some strange Good Samaritan who you never knew from Adam but went ahead to help you one way or the other to secure this admission. It could even be that you are grateful to yourself for taking the courage and putting in the efforts in order to make the merit list.  Did You Miss Out the Main Person While it is good to be grateful to one person or the ...

Have you heard of Helen Paul , the famous Nigerian comedienne with the little baby's voice. She is not just a comedienne but also an actress, singer and now a professor who has bagged multiple degrees. Rejected, now Accepted If you have never heard about Helen Paul's life  story , maybe you should look it up here . She grew up as an unwanted child, born out of wedlock. Even her relatives detested her and called her all sorts of names.  Today, she is a notable comedienne, actress, singer and has bagged several degrees and awards including different masters degrees and PhD. Today, those who despised her now want to be associated with her.   A Strong Source of Motivation Here is one source of motivation that I've come to develop over time. I'm sure you will learn from it too.  Whenever someone tells me that I can't achieve something that I put my mind to, I do my best to prove them wrong. I find some uncommon energy created in me to push towards my goals. I find myself...

My dad has always been a very hard man. Yes, he is such an amazing individual but hard. Very hard. The day I saw him almost skip in excitement was both funny and instructive. License Exam After returning as a fresh graduate from India, we were told that we would write a license exam in order to be able to practice in Nigeria. The exam day came. We were gathered at the venue in Lagos. We had fellow fresh graduates who had finished from universities in almost all the continents of the world, as well as graduates from Nigeria. I had written the exam, not as a competition, but just to pass. We were not told that there would be prices or something for the best candidates. So, we wrote the exams. We were told that only those who passed would be contacted to come for the induction. Induction Day Induction day came, and I was seated there with my dad by my side. Other candidates had also arrived. Some who wrote the exams were missing at the induction. I later heard that they didn't pass th...

Today, we want to pause briefly to take some excellence lessons from these outstanding ladies. These 18 ladies from the University of Lagos graduated with first class degrees in their field of study just last week. More interestingly, this year the department of Mass Communication graduated 18 first class students and all 18 were females. Talk of the female super power  Their brief stories will inspire you. Click here to read their stories Let me know in the comment session which lessons you got from them. Again click here to read their stories. Enjoy. ✌️ 💕  Dr Tochukwu Onu, PT 

Anatomy was one of my most favorite courses in school. We were required to learn the structure of the human body in details, noting every point. While, learning Osteology (part of Anatomy), we would carry human bones around studying them and marking the points, the contours and the grooves.  Skeleton in my cupboard In fact, while in my Indian University, I had two human skulls in my cupboard with other human (not artificial) bones. That's, literally having skeletons in my cupboard. And No, I was not a native doctor. I was just an anatomy student who was doing everything required in order to learn. The long bones of the arms and legs were easier to learn. But you see bones like the skull, the shoulder blade and the hip bones, they were so difficult. The hip bone, for example, is actually three bones fused into one. This particular day, I took the shapeless hip bone to one of my lecturers and told him how difficult it was to master this bone. Another lecturer sitting near him retorte...

There's a saying which goes thus: 'He who fails to plan, plans to fail'. This is true for all areas of life, including your academics. People who eventually become successful don't become successful by chance or luck. They had a plan which they followed. Here are 7 things you should do to develop an academic plan: 1. Make sure you have written down your SMART goals Have you written down your goals? What are your long term and short term goals? What exactly do you want to achieve this semester, this session and when you graduate. Write them down. Make sure they are SMART. You may need to read our previous articles on 'Write Down Your Goals (Ep. 3) and SMARTen your Goals (Ep. 4).  Remember to break your large goals into smaller bits. For example, if you have a goal of getting a 5.0 out of 5.0 GPA this semester, you could break it into smaller bits of making A's in every course you offer this semester 2. Identify where to get your academic resources. Where can ...

Imagine that you need to get to Ibadan from Lagos. You know that you will need to board a vehicle heading to Ilesa (your destination).  Your destination (Ilesa) is your goal while the vehicle you are boarding is the plan you need to get to your goal.  Simply put, your plan(s) is (are) the vehicle(s) that will take you to your goal. I already taught you in previous episodes how to create a goal for your desired academic excellence. I also wrote about creating SMART goals. Without a plan, your goals can never be achieved. For example, if I have a goal of making A's in all my papers this semester, I have to develop plans on how to make that happen. My plans may include spending 2 hours each day in the library, reading the course every morning, doing assignments same day it is given, etc. Be creative and flexible enough in your planning. Be disciplined also. Make sure the plan is good enough to take you to your desired goal. To succeed, you must plan. If you fail to plan, you plan...

The University of Lagos, recently, had their convocation ceremony. A lot of students posted their grade point averages (GPA) on Twitter. I noticed that a good number of them, had their worst GPAs in their 100 levels Many Students Fail in First Year Many students, usually, do not do well in their first years (100 LEVEL) in the University or college. Many accumulate heavy luggages of carryovers in their first years. Some eventually recover from these carryobers while others do not. Many who should have become first class materials ruined that opportunity in their first years. Whatever be the reason, many students regret how they treated their academics during 100levels. Mostly The Student's Fault For a lot of students, their failures in first year is mostly their fault. Many came into campus in so much frenzy. Some get carried away with a lot of excitement of having finally become an undergraduate. Others are so happy that they have been freed from the clutches of staying at home and...