10 + 3 Things Every Student Must Do Before ASUU Strike is Over:
Every Nigerian student who should be in school but is presently at home because of ASUU strike must make use of this strike to their advantage. Rather than allow their destinies to be jeopardized, they can turn this situation around in their own favor. These are 13 things every student must do before the ASUU strike is over.
1. CATCH UP ON LOST ACADEMIC WORK
If there was any academic related work that you missed while school was still in session, you do not have to wait until school resumes to catch up on them. Use this god-given opportunity (or rather ASUU-FG created opportunity) to your advantage. If you missed a class note, update your notes. Do all the omitted assignments. Write your lab reports. Complete your class projects. Do your team works. Perfect your field exercise. All of this will make you readily prepared for resumption once the strike is called off.
2. DEVELOP A TALENT
If you had ever felt school was boring to you, and that you would have loved to develop an inborn talent, but the enormous challenges of academic work will not allow you devote time to channel your energy towards a god given dream, then you no longer have any excuse. Maximize this period to develop this god given talent and make sure you achieve a part of, if not all of that dream before school resumes.
Write that book and publish it.
Go to studio with that song and release at least a track, if not the complete album.
Produce that video.
Join a football club and make a name.
Whatever your talent is, do something about it before the strike is over.
3. LEARN A SKILL
If you have never thought about a specific talent in your life, you likely may say there is none to develop. That will still not be an excuse for you to waste these precious moments. Go learn a skill. Look for something new to add to your life. Learn a skill that will be relevant to your future.
Learn how to drive.
Learn how to swim.
Learn to make beads.
Learn how to sow dresses.
Learn hair dressing.
Learn event decoration.
Learn photography.
Learn publishing.
If you don’t find something to learn, go learn how to cook (funny as it sounds). Just make sure you learn a skill.
4. ORGANISE YOUR SCHOOL MATERIALS
The best time to get yourself organized for resumption is now that there is still time to play around. Gather up all your scattered school materials and arrange them in a safe place. You do not want to be looking for a textbook or an important school note when school resumes, only to find out that it has been carelessly soiled with oil in the kitchen, or some pages torn away by a sibling. Keep all of your school material in one place so you can easily access them whenever the Almighty ASUU and the Controller Generals of the nation decides to settle their scores, be it political or otherwise. It’s time to do some more important things with your life.
5. ENGAGE IN CONSTANT WEEKLY REVISION
Do not just put your academic life on hold for now because of the strike. Constantly engage in revisions. Spread the courses you offer in school over a period of time. Say, if you have registered for eight courses this semester, spread them over eight weeks. This means you will need to study one course per week. So, dedicate at least one day in each week for the study of this course. This way, you likely may be able to cover all your courses before the strike is called off, and you will be in a better academic shape once school resumes. Take advantage of this period to give yourself an academic lift. If every student will do this, this can be their best semester so far.
6. DO A PROFESSIONAL COURSE
Life is not just about certificates; some professional courses carry much more weight than B.Sc, or at least, add to the weight of your degree. Intentionally go in search of such courses and register for them. They do not cost a fortune. Moreover, it is better than just sleeping and waking and hoping that Uncle GEJ will change his mind very soon about his stand on ASUU demands. Invest your time in a professional course organized by the professional body of the course you are studying in school. Even if you do not complete the course before resumption, their schedule is so flexible that you can still combine it with your normal academic schedule.
7. PROJECT INTO THE FUTURE
Most students do not have a well-planned out life. They just hope that life will be fair on them once they graduate from the university. If you are also one of such, this is the best time to spend enough time to plan your future and rightly channel it the way you desire it goes. What will you like to do after graduation? Service year is the ready answer in your mind! What if Service is delayed by a year, what will you do with the time? If Service eventually comes, what will you do during service year? Will you consider any pet project? What will it be about? How will you raise fund for it? What happens after Service year? Which organization will you like to work with? Do they have a specific requirement? How do you meet that requirement in order to make your dream of working with them possible? There are a million and one questions that need to be answered before time, and this is the best time to do that. And do not forget to add this all important question “at what stage after graduation do I want to be married?”
8. UPDATE YOUR KNOWLEDGE ABOUT COMPUTERS
It is sad to note that while kindergartens in the developed world are already being introduced to computers, there are still final year students in our universities who do not know how to use one of the most common applications on the computer – Microsoft Word. The closest they have ever gotten to the IT world is to check their facebook page on their java phones or reply their emails using the opera mini on same phone. Please, do not pretend to know what you do not know; go update your computer knowledge. If you don’t, you will not know what you have missed until it is almost over for you.
9. ATTEND DEVELOPMENTAL SEMINARS
You will also need to attend as many developmental seminars and conferences as you can find around you. Some of them will cost some money. However, you will also find some of them free of all charge. These seminars will help you to become a better person and prepare you for the challenges of the labour market, challenges of marriage, and every other challenges that may come your way.
10. GET A PAID EMPLOYMENT
If you feel you will be better off with some extra fund every month, then you may consider getting a paid employment. Although, no company will offer you the mouthwatering offer they give to their new intakes, no matter what level you are in the university (do not forget you are just a bloody undergraduate), but at least, whatever you get at the end of every month should save you the embarrassment of having to call all the uncles you have in the world just to renew your BIS, and you will still have some change to play around with. However, whether what they pay you will be worth your time and your effort is left for you to decide.
11. CATCH SOME FUN
All work and no play, makes Jack a dull boy. Do not be a Jack; catch some fun. Take a weekend out to visit an uncle outside your place of residence. Check on a long-forgotten relative. Attend a family function, say wedding, house warming etc. Visit the zoo. Go check out the National museum. Go for a midweek service in a big church that is far away from your home church. Give yourself a treat in an eatery. Go to a recreation center. Visit the beach on a quiet day. Whatever you can do to catch some fun, please do. It is good for your health.
12. PRAY
Take time out to pray. There are so many things you can pray about at your age. Pray for your future. Pray for your relationships. Pray for your academics. Pray for your family. More importantly, pray that God should intervene and bring a solution to the academic situation of the country so that school can resume back on time.
13. GET CLOSER TO GOD
There is no better time in your life to start a relationship with God than now. If you do not have a relationship with him, you should begin to reconsider your stand now. Those who do not give God their audience while on campus do not get his attention after graduating from campus. If you have a relationship with Him already, be more committed to the relationship.