Here are the top ten most powerful secrets that
are known by only few students who emerge
with First class, get this secrets now and join
this team of outstanding scholars.
1. NATURAL BRILLIANCE:
There is a minimum level of natural brilliance
that is required before a student can think of
First Class. I do not intend to put limit to one’s
capabilities, for I believe like most people that
impossible is nothing. However, realistically
speaking, that is an exception to the rule. Most
First Class students have a track record from
lower levels of education. That is the first
foundation.
2. THE POWER OF DREAM:
Most first class students dream. I do not mean
metaphysical dream, I mean the Luther King
definition – vision, forward- looking, even
though awake. In secondary school I had a
friend who once looked up and said, ‘the last
time someone made an aggregate 6 (i.e
minimum of 6 A1 ’s in SSCE) in this school was
12 years ago, I want to be the next’. He made it.
Same boy told me he wanted to ‘enter the back
of JAMB brochure’, meaning he wanted to be
among the top 3 JAMB students in Nigeria
(JAMB print at the back of the brochure for a
year the names of the best 3 candidates in the
prior year’s examinations). He didn’t make it,
but he scored 296. When this friend of mine
entered Ife, he went to his faculty’s board,
where names of best students are engraved
every year, looked up and said, ‘when I leave
this school after five years I want my name
written on this board’. He worked for it. He
didn’t make it. But he not only came out with a
CGPA north of 4.7 (of the possible 5.0) but he
also emerged as one of his faculty’s best. After
that, he told someone that he wanted to have
his PhD without doing Master’s degree. The
person told him it was hardly possibly, and
counted on his fingertips the number of
Nigerians that performed that feat. My friend
proved our doubter wrong. He got the PhD at
age 29, skipping Master’s. That is the power of
dream.
3. COMPETITION:
What most people don’t know is that there is
usually a subtle competition among best
students in classes. The competition is not
necessarily unhealthy. They may be –and in fact
usually are – friends, but they compete. In my
undergraduate days, story is told of a guy that,
at the beginning of every semester, went to ask
what X, the best student in the class
immediately preceding his, scored in each
course and he would tell those cared to listen to
him that he would break the record and score
higher than him. He did, most times. Most First
Class students compete. Each wants to be the
highest scorer in each subject. That is why it is
always good to go to a competitive institution,
rather than enjoy local championship status
without stiff competition.
4. CALCULATION:
When you see some students reading a purely
theoretical course and having calculator by the
side, don ’t think they are insane or doing ‘over-
syllabus’. No they are just running the
permutations – if I score B in this course, what
will my CGPA be? What is the worst case
scenario? What is the best case scenario? How
many A’s do I need to make X-CGPA? etc. These
are calculations that go on in their heads. Some
don’t even compute their GP’s at the end of a
semester, they have the template in their heads
already, having done the permutations over
and over again even before writing the
examinations, and they just insert the course
scores into their mental template.
5. OPTIMISTIC MENTALITY:
Some students die many times before their
academic death. How can a student gain
admission into a school and the first thing he
hears is, you can never make a First Class, they
wont give you. Well, I don’t believe this. This is
what kills many students. How can you go to
battle with a defeatist mentality and expect to
win? Many First Class students defy these
“messengers of doom” and pursue their target
optimistically. I finished from the Obafemi
Awolowo University and this is one thing I must
commend students of the school for. As a
Jambite, what you hear are stories of one Deji
Akere that shattered school records, or one
Hammed pootu that effortlessly broke any
record breakable. You even hear of stories of
students that had graduated since the 1970s.
These are stories that motivate you, not some
tale by moonlight about a sadist lecturer
denying you First class. This is another very
vital feature of First Class students. They don’t
believe rooster and bull stories.
6. ACADEMIC ENVIRONMENT:
Academic environment also helps. In a school
where you spend most of your time queuing for
water or transport or forced to read with
candle, chances of academic success are very
low. This is why Nigerian students do well
abroad where they have all the facilities and
learning is conducive. This is also why schools
like OAU, UI and to some extent, Unilag, with
strong students body that fight for students
welfare like good transport system, power on
campus, good water system etc, produce more
First Class students. Same for private schools,
where there is little or no worry about welfare.
7. COURSE OF STUDY:
Course of study is another very important
factor. It is better to choose a course you are
interested in, not one you are forced to do.
Some otherwise brilliant students don ’t
perform up to potential because they are not
interested in what they are studying in the
university.
8. THE EARLY YEARS ARE CRITICAL:
Some students get taken away by the euphoria
of being a university student and spend their
first year faffing around. Still, in some schools,
year 1 performance is not aggregated as part of
the overall grade. For most students, after
performing woefully in their first two years,
they now grab straw to salvage the situation in
the later years. Needless to say, it is most times
a futile exercise. But there are cases of great
come-backs. The best two students in my class
during my undergraduate days were not among
top 15 in class after our first semester year 1.
They were not even in First Class then. But they
came back to overtake all of us early flyers.
Well, that means there is still hope if you didn’t
do too well after your year 1. But after year 2,
the bridge may have fallen.
9. KNOW THYSELF:
The problem with many student is they try to
‘copy-cat’. While it is good to learn from the
method of another high performer, it is
important to know how to adapt it. Some
students don’t need to read for more than 3
hours a day before they pass, indeed do
excellently well and top the class. Some must
read for at least 7 hours a day. I know First
Class students that watched football and
participated actively in campus religious
activities. Some even get involved in
departmental politics. It is about knowing
oneself. But for most First Class students I
know, reading the notes while still hot, and not
waiting till they accumulate, is a common
denominator.
10. …AND KNOW THY TEACHER TOO AND
KNOW GOD:
Knowing how to approach a question in an
examination is an art itself. How do you
organize your answers? It goes beyond just
picking the answer script and writing down
what you think is the answer. Know what the
lecturer wants. Does he want ‘lengthy story’?
Or he wants it ‘short and snappy’? You may
have a clue into this through your seniors who
had taken the course earlier.
are known by only few students who emerge
with First class, get this secrets now and join
this team of outstanding scholars.
1. NATURAL BRILLIANCE:
There is a minimum level of natural brilliance
that is required before a student can think of
First Class. I do not intend to put limit to one’s
capabilities, for I believe like most people that
impossible is nothing. However, realistically
speaking, that is an exception to the rule. Most
First Class students have a track record from
lower levels of education. That is the first
foundation.
2. THE POWER OF DREAM:
Most first class students dream. I do not mean
metaphysical dream, I mean the Luther King
definition – vision, forward- looking, even
though awake. In secondary school I had a
friend who once looked up and said, ‘the last
time someone made an aggregate 6 (i.e
minimum of 6 A1 ’s in SSCE) in this school was
12 years ago, I want to be the next’. He made it.
Same boy told me he wanted to ‘enter the back
of JAMB brochure’, meaning he wanted to be
among the top 3 JAMB students in Nigeria
(JAMB print at the back of the brochure for a
year the names of the best 3 candidates in the
prior year’s examinations). He didn’t make it,
but he scored 296. When this friend of mine
entered Ife, he went to his faculty’s board,
where names of best students are engraved
every year, looked up and said, ‘when I leave
this school after five years I want my name
written on this board’. He worked for it. He
didn’t make it. But he not only came out with a
CGPA north of 4.7 (of the possible 5.0) but he
also emerged as one of his faculty’s best. After
that, he told someone that he wanted to have
his PhD without doing Master’s degree. The
person told him it was hardly possibly, and
counted on his fingertips the number of
Nigerians that performed that feat. My friend
proved our doubter wrong. He got the PhD at
age 29, skipping Master’s. That is the power of
dream.
3. COMPETITION:
What most people don’t know is that there is
usually a subtle competition among best
students in classes. The competition is not
necessarily unhealthy. They may be –and in fact
usually are – friends, but they compete. In my
undergraduate days, story is told of a guy that,
at the beginning of every semester, went to ask
what X, the best student in the class
immediately preceding his, scored in each
course and he would tell those cared to listen to
him that he would break the record and score
higher than him. He did, most times. Most First
Class students compete. Each wants to be the
highest scorer in each subject. That is why it is
always good to go to a competitive institution,
rather than enjoy local championship status
without stiff competition.
4. CALCULATION:
When you see some students reading a purely
theoretical course and having calculator by the
side, don ’t think they are insane or doing ‘over-
syllabus’. No they are just running the
permutations – if I score B in this course, what
will my CGPA be? What is the worst case
scenario? What is the best case scenario? How
many A’s do I need to make X-CGPA? etc. These
are calculations that go on in their heads. Some
don’t even compute their GP’s at the end of a
semester, they have the template in their heads
already, having done the permutations over
and over again even before writing the
examinations, and they just insert the course
scores into their mental template.
5. OPTIMISTIC MENTALITY:
Some students die many times before their
academic death. How can a student gain
admission into a school and the first thing he
hears is, you can never make a First Class, they
wont give you. Well, I don’t believe this. This is
what kills many students. How can you go to
battle with a defeatist mentality and expect to
win? Many First Class students defy these
“messengers of doom” and pursue their target
optimistically. I finished from the Obafemi
Awolowo University and this is one thing I must
commend students of the school for. As a
Jambite, what you hear are stories of one Deji
Akere that shattered school records, or one
Hammed pootu that effortlessly broke any
record breakable. You even hear of stories of
students that had graduated since the 1970s.
These are stories that motivate you, not some
tale by moonlight about a sadist lecturer
denying you First class. This is another very
vital feature of First Class students. They don’t
believe rooster and bull stories.
6. ACADEMIC ENVIRONMENT:
Academic environment also helps. In a school
where you spend most of your time queuing for
water or transport or forced to read with
candle, chances of academic success are very
low. This is why Nigerian students do well
abroad where they have all the facilities and
learning is conducive. This is also why schools
like OAU, UI and to some extent, Unilag, with
strong students body that fight for students
welfare like good transport system, power on
campus, good water system etc, produce more
First Class students. Same for private schools,
where there is little or no worry about welfare.
7. COURSE OF STUDY:
Course of study is another very important
factor. It is better to choose a course you are
interested in, not one you are forced to do.
Some otherwise brilliant students don ’t
perform up to potential because they are not
interested in what they are studying in the
university.
8. THE EARLY YEARS ARE CRITICAL:
Some students get taken away by the euphoria
of being a university student and spend their
first year faffing around. Still, in some schools,
year 1 performance is not aggregated as part of
the overall grade. For most students, after
performing woefully in their first two years,
they now grab straw to salvage the situation in
the later years. Needless to say, it is most times
a futile exercise. But there are cases of great
come-backs. The best two students in my class
during my undergraduate days were not among
top 15 in class after our first semester year 1.
They were not even in First Class then. But they
came back to overtake all of us early flyers.
Well, that means there is still hope if you didn’t
do too well after your year 1. But after year 2,
the bridge may have fallen.
9. KNOW THYSELF:
The problem with many student is they try to
‘copy-cat’. While it is good to learn from the
method of another high performer, it is
important to know how to adapt it. Some
students don’t need to read for more than 3
hours a day before they pass, indeed do
excellently well and top the class. Some must
read for at least 7 hours a day. I know First
Class students that watched football and
participated actively in campus religious
activities. Some even get involved in
departmental politics. It is about knowing
oneself. But for most First Class students I
know, reading the notes while still hot, and not
waiting till they accumulate, is a common
denominator.
10. …AND KNOW THY TEACHER TOO AND
KNOW GOD:
Knowing how to approach a question in an
examination is an art itself. How do you
organize your answers? It goes beyond just
picking the answer script and writing down
what you think is the answer. Know what the
lecturer wants. Does he want ‘lengthy story’?
Or he wants it ‘short and snappy’? You may
have a clue into this through your seniors who
had taken the course earlier.
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