By Sotubo Ayomide
Euphoria is inevitable and joy simply cannot be held bound when a prospective student becomes a provisionally admitted student. A good number of students can attest to this, whether or not they go through an entire character overhaul largely influenced by their engagements on campus.
There is a common axiom among people which say, "if four years in the four walls of a university is not enough to change you, then you just cannot change." But change in itself is relative; you either change for the better or for worse.
Since the quest to gain admission into university in your choice course and in your preferred institution has become a face-off, you simply have to settle for whatever you're given, even if it is seen as less by people. But as a friend of mine says, "less is more, with power comes great responsibility."
This is very applicable whether or not you get your course or preferred institution of study. While it is confirmable that the perceived "powers that be" always determines the fate of students amid other factors, it is expedient to note that for many people, this is perhaps the only chance they've got to bag their first degree.
The journey of four years has become underrated among students. Some see it as a quest to obtain a paper work that will serve as a straight ticket into their dream profession. However, a small minority recognizes this is not far-fetched. The place of skill acquisition, discovery of gifting and potentials and consistency in pruning these potentials seems like an idea from a distant and far away land of the unknown in the mind of an average undergraduate.
The Vice chancellor of the Lagos State University, Professor Olanrewaju Fagboun reaffirmed the essence of recognizing potentials through the understanding of ones course. Speaking at the Maximum Impact Conference '19 held at Potters Transformation Christian Centre, he said, "it is not the course that you have read in the university that is going to sustain you. It is what you have in you, what the course has brought out in you, the potentials the course has brought out in you that keeps you going."
This statement is a really significant one, it makes it crystal clear that you must first have a planned course of action before your course can bring out the best in you. So never engage in stretched reading routines without a clear and unique plan, one that would make you the best and stand out among the rest.
The Vice chancellor also added, "when universities train people, we are not training you in your field to go and just work in your field. That field gets saturated at some point. We are training you to be fit for purpose, that is fit for the world".
While still coy on the subject of transformative leadership, Professor Fagboun shared an experience at the conference. He said, "I met a gentle man sometimes back, an Indian. When he started talking, at first I thought he must be an engineer, Then in the course of further discussion I felt, No, he must be a lawyer, then in the course of it I said no he must be a medical doctor, I'm telling you, his competencies were multiple."
"Many students do not realise not everyone is a career person. They also fail to take this multiple competencies with seriousness." He said. The case remains the same in today's labour market, you cannot make a good impression just with your certificate alone. You got to practice the knowledge you have in you.
Intentionally, universities try to train people to not just walk into their profession but to actually take their world by storm. You can only do that if you have these multiple competencies.
Failure to make discovery of potentials as prime priority results to unfulfillment and this prompts students to joint the "school na scam" bandwagon.
We are the sum total of the choices that we make everyday of our lives so it's up to you and I to allow our course set us on course to being the very best or the worst version of ourselves.
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